The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
Short description
A disfigured musical genius lives in hiding beneath the Paris Opera House, where he terrorises the opera company. He trains a young singer, Christine, and takes an interest in her career, while she finds herself torn between him and her childhood friend Raoul. Terror and an unrequited love drive the Phantom to acts that threaten everyone around him.
This 2011 British production captures a special staged performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical at London's Royal Albert Hall, marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the show's first public performance. Directed by Nick Morris and Laurence Connor, it was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and staged in the Victorian surroundings of the hall, with an orchestra and company of more than two hundred performers and some guest appearances. The screenplay is credited to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart. Ramin Karimloo plays the Phantom, Sierra Boggess is Christine, and Hadley Fraser is Raoul, with Wendy Ferguson, Barry James and Gareth Snook among a credited cast of thirty-three. It is the first of two films Morris directed.
The recording's audience response has been strong, standing at 8.3 out of 10 on TMDB from close to two hundred votes, which places it firmly among the better-received filmed stage productions rather than a niche curiosity.
What's left behind the scenes
- Colm Wilkinson (one of the four Phantoms) was the first to perform the role of the Phantom. This happened in 1985 as part of the Sidmonton Festival, held at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Hampshire estate.
- Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess reprise their roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater and Charles Hart's musical 'Love Never Dies' (2010), a sequel to 'The Phantom of the Opera'.
- Kira Duffy was initially cast as Carlotta, but the singer fell ill at the last moment and was replaced by Wendy Ferguson, who played the same role in the London production.
- To give the masquerade scene a sense of 'scale,' both actors and mannequins were used in it.
- The final note in the main song, a high B-flat taken by Christine, was pre-recorded. This was done to avoid straining Sierra Boggess’s voice unnecessarily. This note is rarely sung live during performances of 'The Phantom of the Opera'.
- When the lighting technician Joseph Buquet falls, a mannequin was used instead of the actor playing the role, Nick Holder.
- Contrary to popular belief, this is not the candelabra used in the film 'The Phantom of the Opera' (Joel Schumacher, 2004). This candelabra was created specifically for a concert in memory of Maria Björnson, the musical’s designer, who died at the age of 53 in 2002. The name 'Maria' is engraved on its base.
- Each production of The Phantom of the Opera uses 230 costumes, 14 dressing tables with mirrors, 120 cues for the orchestra's entrance, 22 set changes, and 281 candles.
- In the musical The Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom is never named, but in Gaston Leroux's original novel (1909-1910) his name is Erik.
- The production uses over 220 kilograms of dry ice and 10 smoke machines.
- George Lee Andrews, a member of the original musical cast, made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. He performed the same role on stage more times than anyone else in the world. In August 2011, Andrews ended his career, having played the Phantom a total of 9,382 times.
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