phantom of the opera 25th anniversary final lair

The camera adores her, and she performed beautifully.

I’ve never seen her perform before, and she was truly lovely. The big surprise and delight for me was Sierra Boggess. Then the front stage became backstage at the opera house. She turned her back to the actual audience, and the panels were used like mirrors to reflect the audience applauding. My favorite use of these panels was during Christine’s bows after her first big solo. I imagine it was fine for the live audience at the Royal Albert Hall. It was very hard on the eye, and I hope it’s something they can fix digitally for the DVD release. Now, I don’t know the proper terminology for this, but the little colored light circles making up these projections didn’t react very well to certain camera angles and movements. There were four panels at the back of the main stage that had different backdrops projected.

The set was gorgeous, with the orchestra above the main platform and sometimes covered by a scrim. This was due to the angle and the lens distortion. Every time they switched over to that camera, it made me a little seasick. There were probably four cameras doing the coverage, and the only one I didn’t like was the one at stage level, literally along the footlights. Overall, the quality of the broadcast was excellent. Our cinema had a 255 seat capacity (trust me, I looked) and there were probably about 60 of us in attendance. I’m sure nobody wants to hear what I had for breakfast, so I’ll cut right to the good stuff. We drove down early, ate breakfast nearby, and then got to the cinema for choice seats. Here in San Francisco, the simulcast of The Phantom of the Opera Live from the Royal Albert Hall began at 11am. Wow, am I exhausted! I got up at 7am this morning, and it’s been POTO25 ever since.

Phantom of the opera 25th anniversary final lair