The Phantom of the Opera - His Majesty's THeatre, London - Weds 17th May 2023

This Andrew Lloyd Webber classic had always been on my 'to see' list and last night, I finally got myself a ticket!

The show labels itself as 'The Best West End Show of All Time'. Did it live up to that reputation? Did I walk out stunned and in awe? Read on to find out!

Story & Cast

Set in 1800s France at an Opera Theatre recently bought out and under new management, there's drama happening all over as the strange Opera Ghost wreaks havoc on all who step into the theatre. Specifically Christine, Raoul, the two new owners and Madame Giry.

The story starts off very strong with the introduction of Christine Daaé as the shy and reserved chorus girl, Carlotta and Ubaldo as the Primadonna cast members of the Opera house and Monsieur Andre and Firmin as the two new Opera house owners. And of course the opera ghost himself... the Phantom!

After these character introductions and the iconic song 'Phantom of the Opera' the story kind of goes downhill. There isn't much substance to it apart from Christine loves Raoul, but is also pretty much falling in love with the Phantom and the Phantom doesn't want Christine to be with Raoul so tries to stop them in every possible way.

There's a lot of dead space and filler throughout, especially in act 2 with the scene of many notes! (if you've seen the show, you'll understand what I mean!). Lloyd Webber shows traditionally aren't the most amazing stories and I feel are quite lazy. I'd hoped this one would have been a little bit different with the fact it's been on London's West End for as long as it has.

Moving onto the cast, we had a night of covers galore which was amazing to see! I didn't have any knowledge of the cast prior to tonight so was pleasantly surprised to know most of the leading cast were covers.

The cast were as follows:

The Phantom - James Gant (Cover)

Christine Daaé - Paige Blankson (Cover)

Raoul - Matt Blaker

Carlotta - Kelly Glyptis

Ubaldo Piangi - Greg Castiglioni

Monsieur Andre - Tim Southgate (Cover)

Monsieur Firmin - Matt Harrop

Monsieur Reyer - Andrew York (Cover)

Madame Giry - Emma Harris (Cover)

Meg Giry - Ellie Young

Christine (Paige Blankson) was wonderfully naive and reserved when speaking and going through the dialogue but absolutely blew the audience away when she sang the classic songs such as 'Think of Me', 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' and 'All I Ask of You'. Her notes were Crystal clear and had such a beautiful tone. It's easy to see how the Phantom could fall in love with that voice!

The Phantom (James Gant)... wow! What an incredible performance. Cunning, devious, masterfully poised and dark when the mask was on but erratic and vulnerable when the mask came off! It was a really 180 degree spin in character which was stunning. His songs and sung lines were booming and commanding which is exactly what I think of when I see the Phantom in my head.

The rest of the cast did a wonderful job at holding down such mediocre characters in my opinion. Carlotta and Ubaldo (Kelly Glyphs and Greg Castiglioni) had the audience laughing as the over the top Primadonnas of the Opera. Apart from that, the rest of the characters weren't much to shout about, although they all delivered a great performance.

Music

Phantom is known for its iconic music... or should I say one or two songs... The title track is hit of the show and it really does give you chills. Other great songs are 'Think of Me', 'Masquerade', 'Music of the Night' and 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again'. Every other song falls into the abyss and I can't really remember them. There's a lot of reused phrases and melodies which becomes boring as you've heard them at least 50 times in the show so far. But this is a trope that Andrew Lloyd Webber uses in all his work.

The saving grace was the cast's vocal performance throughout. Some really great 'hairs on the back of your neck' moments from Christine, Phantom and Raoul which is my favourite thing about any theatre show.

One thing I was very disappointed with was the blatant miming by Christine during the WHOLE of the title song' Phantom of the Opera'. I understand the last note is ridiculously high and has been pre-recorded for a while but I didn't expect the whole song to be. It was so obvious it had been done too as Christine's vocals were too loud compared to the Phantom's when he was singing live through a microphone.

I expect live theatre to be fully live so to hear that this song was mimed and pre-recorded did put a damp moment on such a great song.

Set & Sound

The set was the star of the show this time around! Such amazing set pieces with regality and royalism in the Opera House scenes and then dark and cavernous themes with candles literally popping up from every hole on the stage in the Phantom's lair.

Every new set piece that came on stage was bigger and better than the last and the creme de la creme of the show is the chandelier!!!! I won't give it away if you've not seen it but being sat in the Grand Circle really helped see the full effect in all it's glory!

I've mentioned sound in this as a lot of shows I've seen recently haven't quite got it right. This is something that The Phantom of the Opera hits the nail on the head with. The orchestrations were booming and loud where needed but we could hear the cast's every word through every song, spoken line and vamp.

A nice little trick I enjoyed was the spatial audio when the Phantom is being 'Phantom like' and giving ghostly speeches around the theatre. You literally cannot tell where the sound is coming from. It's creepy and eerie and I loved it!!

Overall

This is definitely not 'The Best Show in the West End' but I'm very happy I got to see the classic production and can now tick it off my list.

The cast do a wonderful job to keep you hooked even though the material they are working with is quite 'meh'.

Story ⭐⭐

Cast ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Music ⭐⭐⭐

Set ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sound ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall ⭐⭐⭐