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Post by ToniW on Jan 18, 2023 15:57:58 GMT
I heard the soundtrack before I even knew what the show was really about and fell in love with it. I think I heard it from Entertainment Tonight when it was on. My brother and I was considering flying to London to see Michael Crawford, but we didn't. I wish we saw his version with Sarah Brightman. Anyway, I did end up going with DH. He normally falls asleep when we go to shows (expensive nap!) but he was wide awake the entire show. I believe the Phantom was played by Davis Gaines.
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Post by katlady on Jan 18, 2023 16:36:59 GMT
I’ve never really wanted to see it a second time. Sacrilege! Same here. If offered tickets, I would go, but I would prefer to see Les Mis a second time. I loved that show!
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Post by birukitty on Jan 18, 2023 16:40:27 GMT
I saw Phantom I think back in the 90's in Washington DC, I think at the Kennedy Center. I can't remember when or where I saw it (what theater) but I know for a fact I saw it and I probably still have the play bill but am too lazy to go look for it. I remember distinctly the scene of the boat on the water and the fog all around.
More than 10 years ago I had some ECT treatments done and they wiped out some of my long term memories. The above being one of them.
I do remember loving it very much and wanting to see it again. I adored the music and had the soundtrack before going to the show. I haven't had a chance to see it performed on stage since then. Would love to see it again one day.
I do really like the movie that came out in 2004 with Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. No, it isn't anywhere near as wonderful an experience as seeing the play live on stage, but I thought they did an excellent job on the film and it still gives me the "feels" watching it.
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casii
Drama Llama
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Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
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Post by casii on Jan 18, 2023 16:43:55 GMT
Did not see anyone notable perform in the show, but it was fun. We are season subscribers to the Hippodrome in Baltimore, so we've seen it there as a part of the yearly series. We also sat in the nosebleeds to see it in NYC after buying from the TKTS booth in Times Square. The Hippodrome also brought in Love Never Dies which was a wild ride.
My DH is a much bigger fan than I am, but I did enjoy it. Now Cats? Never again. LOL
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Post by wholarmor on Jan 18, 2023 16:49:31 GMT
I saw it in '93 in LA. David Gaines was the Phantom. We were on choir tour. I sat up in the balcony. I wish I had brought binoculars. It was an experience for sure.
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Post by freecharlie on Jan 18, 2023 17:06:34 GMT
I've seen phantom 6 or 7 times and will continue to go if it tours.
I am so dad that I'll never be able to see it on broadway
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Post by epeanymous on Jan 18, 2023 17:17:32 GMT
I saw it in 1990 in LA with Robert Guillaume of Soap/Benson fame as the Phantom. He actually took over for Michael Crawford -- my friends and I (who lived in then-rural central California about a five-hour drive away) thought we were getting Michael Crawford when we bought tickets, so were a little miffed, but he was actually really pretty great. We did a road trip down to LA to see it and crashed on my friend's older sister's couch (she was a grad student at UCLA).
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Post by paperaddictedpea on Jan 18, 2023 17:25:11 GMT
I saw it in Toronto several times with Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom. I love Colm and prefer his voice over Michael Crawford's, but I've only heard Crawford on the soundtrack and not in person so probably not a fair comparison.
I also saw it in NYC once but don't recall who was the lead at that time.
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Post by Lurkingpea on Jan 18, 2023 17:29:16 GMT
it and Cats are the only two musicals I know of that I don't like I didn't really like Cats. It was the first big musical that toured here but we could never get tickets so I missed out. Then I saw Phantom and Les Misérables and loved both of those, and they both had proper stories. Then Cats toured again about 15 years later and I finally got to see it, and I was disappointed because there was no real story and after all of the amazing set changes of the other two, the Cats set wasn't that impressive. If I'd seen Cats first I think I would have liked it better. I would have loved to see Miss Saigon with Lea Salonga, it had a big run in Sydney, but it never came to Melbourne, I heard it was because we didn't have a theatre that could accommodate the helicopter prop. I like 'proper' musicals that are specifically written as musicals, I'm not a fan of turning Disney shows and movies etc into musicals. Phantom of the Opera was a book first. It is no different then your example of turning other shows and movies into a musical. It was not written as a musical and is very different then the source material.
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Post by Neisey on Jan 18, 2023 20:26:21 GMT
I saw it in Toronto sometime around 1997-98. I was travelling for work and we splurged on tickets while in the big city... I was not aware of the spoiler lol
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Post by mellyw on Jan 18, 2023 22:54:50 GMT
I’ve seen it in Phoenix, Toronto and London. Wasn’t lucky enough to see Michael Crawford or Sarah Brightman, but did see both in a tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber music. That was one of my favorites, open air concert in Phoenix with a huge mix of music!
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Post by pjaye on Jan 18, 2023 23:08:29 GMT
I love musical theatre, I remember seeing Starlight Express back in the day I loved Starlight Express too, I still have a few of those songs on my playlist and I got the best T-shirt at the show - that I still have & wear, it's so soft now. I've always wanted to see it again.
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Post by papersilly on Jan 18, 2023 23:10:11 GMT
i've seen it a few times here in Los Angeles at various venues. such a visually stunning musical and the music is so memorable. this and Sunset Blvd are a couple of favorites musicals i've seen.
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kate
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Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
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Post by kate on Jan 18, 2023 23:35:36 GMT
I saw it on Broadway in 1991. A colleague of DH (before we were married) was in town and had 2 tickets - I don't remember whether he had a date who canceled, or what the situation was, but I ended up being his "date" for the evening. I hadn't been to many Broadway shows at that time, and it was magical.
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janeinbama
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Jan 29, 2015 16:24:49 GMT
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Post by janeinbama on Jan 19, 2023 0:38:22 GMT
My mother's favorite. We took her to see the touring production in the 90's, to see the movie in the 2000's. She played the soundtrack and other Andrew Lloyd Weber productions all the time. When we were in NYC, my sister and I opted not to see it. Just not our favorite and Mom had burned us out on it! One of my DDs saw it in Las Vegas and loved the over the top performance.
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scrappinghappy
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“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say “Hello.” Goodbye. I’m late...."
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Jun 26, 2014 19:30:06 GMT
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Post by scrappinghappy on Jan 19, 2023 1:07:44 GMT
HotTix, Last minute Tix or what ever the equivalent was in London in the 80's.
Third row left orchestra with Michael Crawford AND Sarah Brightman (GBP10!!! each). We were young and it was the first big show we had ever seen. We didn't even know what we were going to, we were students from Africa with no idea what a show like this even was. We would have seen anything but this was a show with available tickets, the price was right and the sales person highly recommended it. We were blown away. We came out of the theater on a high. Couldn't sleep, we were so hyped. It set us up and cemented our love of big shows. We have now seen it at least 4 times but nothing compares to the first.
We were lucky - right place, right time for the tickets because we found out afterwards when we wanted to go back that the tickets were almost impossible to get and scalpers were selling them for huge amounts of money.
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stittsygirl
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Jun 25, 2014 19:57:33 GMT
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Post by stittsygirl on Jan 19, 2023 2:00:04 GMT
My husband took me to see it in while it was on tour in San Francisco for my birthday, 28 years or so ago. I loved every aspect of it ❤️😊.
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Post by piebaker on Jan 19, 2023 11:20:38 GMT
Hugh Panero was the Phantom for our show in NYC 2005."Les Mis" is the overall favorite. My husband prefers "Wicked."
My supervisor and his wife had front row seats to Phantom for their 20 wedding anniversary. He was a romantic soul.
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Post by lg on Jan 19, 2023 11:42:48 GMT
Cats - saw it in a big top. Boring as hell. Spent the whole time watching one of the performers who could get her leg up and behind her head…was there a story??? Miss Saigon - saw it in Sydney with the helicopter prop. Such a sad story, and yes the helicopter was breathtaking/unusual/worth seeing so I’m sorry you missed it pjaye Phantom - long time lover, first time watcher late last year at the Sydney opera house. The ONLY musical/opera hubby actually wanted to see and bought tickets to see without my input. Covid closures etc etc delayed it but I loved it…. There are certain parts in songs that really resonate with my inner bass loving trombonist in a former life self
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smcast
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Mar 18, 2016 14:06:38 GMT
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Post by smcast on Jan 19, 2023 13:10:42 GMT
I saw it in London as a 22 year old college student in the 90s. I hate to say it but I fell asleep. 🤭
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