The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall - Double Play (Blu-ray + DVD)[Region Free]

I have just received this on Blu-Ray (Which also includes a copy of the DVD in case you haven't upgraded yet) and it is wonderful. This is not a concert like the Les Miserables 10th anniversary, but the fully-staged production in its entirety. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are enchanting as The Phantom and Christine and the rest of the cast excel in their roles in what is a beautifully staged and directed show. The designs are as gorgeous and sumptuous as they looked when the much-missed Maria Bjornson first designed them a quarter of a century ago. The lighting is atmospheric, the costumes and make-up sublime and the music as iconic, memorable and powerful as it has ever been.

To cap it off, after the curtain falls on the show, the legend that is Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber makes a speech that pays tribute to all those who have made the production a success over the last 25 years. He is joined by the original cast on stage, including Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, the latter of whom then performs with four of the actors to have portrayed The Phantom (Alas, not Michael Crawford but he joins in with everyone else on stage for the final line of 'Music of the Night'). There is only one Special Feature on the DVD version at least which is a documentary about the making of the Royal Albert Hall show and features interviews with the original choreographer and make-up designer. I've yet to check if the Blu-Ray disc itself includes any extra Special Features, but even if it doesn't this is still excellent value for money and a definite must-have for anyone who loves the show or musicals in general.

I personally feel that The Phantom of the Opera is the single greatest piece of entertainment of all time in any medium. This is a fitting tribute to a genuine phenomenon and one that I will treasure. It truly is a masterpiece and what happened in 1986 was genuine magic that has quite clearly endured and will continue to do so forever.

A marvellous production of Phantom. The music, the acting, the set and design. Not much to talk about as most watching will already know the production.

The cast are excellent with one of my favourtie singers, Ramin Karimloo, booming as the Phantom. I was in love with Michael Crawford's original interpretation but Ramin's voice puts the role into a different class. As good as Crawford is, this guys voice is perfection.

I watched the production at the cinema for the live streaming and was very impressed by Sierra Boggess. I would recommend judging her on the whole package as the CD sometimes makes her sound a bit off but when you watch it you realise why as there is so much emotion in her performance that she is crying through her lines. Again, I have never liked the voice of Sarah Brightman and it was always a turn-off for me when listening to the OST. Sierra is brilliant as Christine and really works well with Ramin and Hadley as her two suitors. The relationship with Ramin was also helped by their work together on Love Never Dies (which I saw them both in at the Adelphi Theatre), the disappointing West End sequel to Phantom only saved by the quality of these two performers.

Hadley Fraser probably impressed me most as I already knew what to expect from the two leads, having seen them impress in the roles before. I saw Fraser as Javert in Les Miserables at Queen's and he was the stand-out performer. There are some reviews which say it is 'Javert does Raoul' but I think the more assertive side of Hadley's characterisation actually works better for the role. In fact I am surprised that so few have done this with the role before. Raoul can be such a weak and wet character but Hadley really gives the Phantom a rival and this makes the dilemma all the more plausible for Christine. Great performance, and a great voice to boot.

The orchestra are massive starts in this as well with fine playing and huge power. There are certain disappointments in the production, although I admit the staging in the Royal Albert Hall gave restrictions. The biggest of these is that the chandelier doesn't crash down. I was waiting...and waiting..and waiting. All that happened was that they wired the chandelier with pyrotechnics and let them blast away at the end of Act I. Again, I am sure they were restricted but it is such an important moment in the show and is one of the enduring iconic moments for which it is remembered. There is also an excessive use of digital screens (again restrictions were there), which was what I didn't like in the staging of Love Never Dies.

The other main disappointment was with the lack of extras. The movie (a visual spectacle with poor vocalists) had amazing extras with the old music videos, making of and a documentary about the original producion lasting 60 minutes. All we have here is a short 15-minute backstage pass to the production. It's good, don't get me wrong, but they could have done so much more. There was a great programme about the show on Sky Arts, which I think could have been included on the Blu-Ray disc at the very least given the space on them.

Having said all this, the sheer scale and joy of the music is enough to warrant this 5-stars. You must watch this if it is the last thing you do.

Anywhere you go, this should go too!

This review is targetted more to those outside of Europe who may be interested in purchasing this. I live in the US and I just received my copy of "Phanton of the Oprea at Royal Albert Hall" by way of Amazon.com UK. Contrary to the info on this page the Blu-ray version is region free and will play on any machine regardless of location. Therefore anyone who wants can pick this up from Amazon.com UK without having to wait for the February 2012 release in the States. The DVD is region locked unfortunately. Rather than this page reading "Region B/2" it should actually read "Region free/2,4,5" (see my EDIT section below).

Now on to the review: The performances were excellent and the show in general was well filmed. There seemed to be a lot of chemistry between the two leads and they did not disappoint. I was only bothered by the use of the LCD screen in the stage background which I found distracting. It was definitely a five star viewing experience.

EDIT: I thought I would add a little more information on the region encodings of the DVD disc that is in this set. According to the ALW Really Useful Group website the DVD will play in region 2, 4, and 5. Regions 1 and 3 are out of luck. Since I have a Region 1 player I personally cannot play the DVD.