Phantastic!

It was supposed to be an ordinary Monday night at the mall. I decided to get my haircut so I took a jeepney ride to SM North EDSA. I usually get off in front of the Main Building and head straight to Fix. But tonight, partly because I was sleepy, I absent-mindedly got off in front of SM The Block. On the way to Fix, I passed by SM Cinemas, and saw The Phantom of the Opera on schedule. I asked the cashier until when it will be shown, and she said tomorrow would be its last day. Thinking that I could try to watch later, I still went to Fix to try to get my haircut as a walk-in client. Unfortunately, my stylist would be available at 8:30pm, so I decided against waiting for my turn and told myself I am watching The Phantom of the Opera tonight.

At the ticket booth, I was surprised to find out that it only has one screening time for the night. I bought my ticket and still had time to take dinner. After dinner and buying a few more stuff, I went to the theater.

I was not expecting that the first part would contain interviews here and there about the show. To some extent, I was getting impatient and I wanted the show to start immediately. But what can I do? It's The Phantom of the Opera's 25th Anniversary Performance, and this should be expected. So I watched, I waited, and updated my Facebook status.

And then the show started. I was in London. Nah, but it felt like it. The Royal Albert Hall had so much people, and I was excited to see how the stage would transform from scene to scene. Sure, I watched the movie version of the musical years back (only to be horribly disappointed with the execution of the musical numbers) and the producers can do almost anything to make scenes believable. But production on stage is more challenging. And I must say, the scene transitions and stage design are simply breathtaking.

Can I just say I fell in love with Sierra Boggess? I first heard her in the cast recording of Love Never Dies, together with Ramin Karimloo. And it was such a treat to watch them play their roles in the original Phantom musical. Sierra gave life to Christine, and it was refreshing to see Christine in a different light, as compared to Emmy Rossum's movie portrayal. Ramin had quite a few misses here and there, but his portrayal of the role was powerful, convincing, and moving, nonetheless.

The way Christine and The Phantom parted ways towards the end somehow made the story of Love Never Dies plausible, as it sent me the message that Christine was at this point in love with The Phantom but just had to go with Raoul.

There were still quite a few surprises after curtain call, and to say that I loved them is an understatement. Haha I won't spill the beans since my very few readers might still catch the show and I do not want to spoil the surprise.

Watching the 25th Anniversary Performance of The Phantom of the Opera made me want more for it to be staged here in the Philippines. I hope someday they would bring it here. But for now, I will just wait for its DVD release.

Have a phantastic night! :)