He switches from soft, sublime beauty to raw power with consummate ease. Ramin Karimloo offers a sublime level of tonal control in his voice, providing everything needed to sing the challenging part of the Phantom.
Vocals are indeed about 10 million times better than in the film, and even compare favourably to the original London cast album CDs which I've owned and enjoyed for years (and owned on cassette before that). Bad or even uneven casts often annoy me, but there's none of that here. There are a couple of effects lost from the theatre - the chandelier doesn't move, and some of the visuals are achieved via LED screens - but overall the feeling of watching a full performance is very much there.Īh, performance. The Masquerade scene makes up for the one from the film and then some in its lavish, colourful splendour. Choreography is faultless and the costumes sublime. I love the two Les Mis concerts, particularly the 10th Anniversary, but it's a real shame there doesn't exist a direct equivalent of this production for that show.Īs other reviews indicate, the staging is imaginative and well-implemented, making intelligent use of the space available in the Albert Hall. Seeing a proper staged version, set in the majesty of the Albert Hall, was an intriguing prospect, made even more so by the overwhelming number of positive reviews. It and Superstar stand well above Lloyd-Webber's other shows, for me.
Les Mis is my favourite musical, but Phantom is up there. Some decisions were baffling too, like the design of the Masquerade scene with its total lack of colour. I liked aspects of the film, but the vocals offered by the Phantom let it down.
Cards on the table, briefly: I've seen Phantom twice in the theatre, both times more than a decade ago.
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