# Who plans to see Phantom of the Opera? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677 "2004-11-19T16:53:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/21 "2004-11-19T22:46:56Z")
I’ll see it. I’ve always enjoyed Phantom and have seen it on the stage. Though, I must agree the mask in the trailer is teeny tiny… Anybody else like the A&E version? I was so happy to finally get it on DVD. I love the deut they sing together at the end of _Faust_. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/22 "2004-11-19T22:55:06Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > There’s an understatement. Apparently, Webber’s a mensch of epic proportions… If it’s not too much of a highjack, could this be explained more? What did Crawford do that was so horrible? Was it that the play was a rip-off of Phantom, and thus ALW should be irritated? Was it that Crawford just really sucked in it (in which case if it was a talent issue, wouldn’t the problem still be there, and why would ALW be annoyed just because Crawford is getting old and losing ability)? Something else? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/23 "2004-11-20T00:22:18Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > If it’s not too much of a highjack, could this be explained more? What did Crawford do that was so horrible? Was it that the play was a rip-off of Phantom, and thus ALW should be irritated? Was it that Crawford just really sucked in it (in which case if it was a talent issue, wouldn’t the problem still be there, and why would ALW be annoyed just because Crawford is getting old and losing ability)? Something else? To be fair, it can’t be laid only on Crawford’s shoulders, but the musical flopped badly ([here’s](http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/DanceVampires.html) one review) and Crawford’s over-the-top but still lackluster performance only hastened the end of the run (which lasted less than 2 months, anyway…the damn thing had more previews than actual shows!). ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/24 "2004-11-20T01:25:02Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > To be fair, it can’t be laid only on Crawford’s shoulders, but the musical flopped badly ([here’s](http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/DanceVampires.html) one review) and Crawford’s over-the-top but still lackluster performance only hastened the end of the run (which lasted less than 2 months, anyway…the damn thing had more previews than actual shows!). I had seen the reviews, but that still doesn’t explain why Crawford was extremely lucky to have ALW take him back. I don’t understand why the failure of a play would make the guy some kind of jerk or reprobate; and if it is simply the failure itself that is at issue, I’d saying that most actors might not mind having Dance of the Vampires balanced out by Phantom. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/25 "2004-11-20T01:29:22Z")
Incidentally, to go back somewhat closer to topic, I just watched the trailer and discovered that after listening to the Broadway version soundtrack about 3 billion times, the non-Crawford voice seems just so wrong and odd that I’m not sure I will be able to put it out of my mind when/if I go. ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/26 "2004-11-20T01:42:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Cervaise** > Thanks. Now I don’t have to be the first to remind you all that the film is the work of one of the five worst Hollywood directors getting regular gigs. You’re quite welcome, **Cervaise**. I must admit, I thought the trailer was rather good: The chandelier, the abandoned theater becoming “alive” again, the masquerade. Very nice. While it didn’t make it a must-see movie for me, I was thinking, “Hmm. Well if the reviews are good, maybe…” Then the words “A Film by Joel Schumacher” appeared on the screen… ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/27 "2004-11-20T08:49:46Z")
Well, I _wanted_ to see it, but I cannot, in good conscience, put one more dime in Schumacher’s pocket. Oh well, I’ll catch it on HBO or something. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/28 "2004-11-20T12:40:43Z")
The actress that plays Carlotta (Giudicelli?) is half the age of the actor that plays The Phantom. Emmy Rossum is 18 and Gerard Butler is 35. :eek: It fits with the story though, I guess. Someone said that The Phantom is too handsome. You think he looks handsome there? Have you seen Gerard Butler [without the mask](http://imdb.com/gallery/hh/0124930/HH/0124930/7.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Butler,%20Gerard)? He wasn’t even recognizable to me with that black, slicked hair. I remember my music class studying this musical back in grade 8 and I really enjoyed the music. Maybe I’ll check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/29 "2004-11-20T13:25:59Z")
After Crawford’s rise to god-like status as the Phantom, his “triumphant return to Broadway” made him an easy target in DotV. “Tanz der Vampyr,” the original German version of the show, had risen the orginal Raoul, and Broadway Phantom #2, Steve Barton to the same status. But Crawford just fell on his ass. There was a serious “Don’t make the movie without Crawford” movement. The older he got, the more ridiculous it seemed. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/30 "2004-11-20T14:55:09Z")
This past Wednesday, I came out of the subway thinking that some schmucky musician was blasting their keyboards quite loudly. Only to discover that a full Broadway orchestra was sitting outside Bloomingdale’s performing Phantom :smack: However, since I only saw Phantom a couple of weeks ago, I’ll pass on seeing the movie. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/31 "2004-11-20T17:24:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …I wonder if there are any new songs. I can’t for the life of me remember where I heard this, but yes, I did hear that they wrote a new song for the movie, kind of like “You Must Love Me” for _Evita_. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/32 "2004-11-20T23:03:36Z")
> [@Vision of Love](#): > > The actress that plays Carlotta (Giudicelli?) is half the age of the actor that plays The Phantom. Emmy Rossum is 18 and Gerard Butler is 35. :eek: It fits with the story though, I guess. Ooh! Yeah! That’s another thing that bugs me about the movie’s casting. Christine isn’t just half the Phantom’s age, she’s half Raoul’s age. Raoul, who is supposed to be her “childhood sweetheart,” a boy she grew up with. Le sigh. I’ll have to see Miss Rossum’s performance to judge, but I think 18 is just too young for Christine. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/33 "2004-11-22T03:43:20Z")
My feeling is that ALW wrote a grand total of two plays: _Phantom_ is one, and everything else he did is the other. But I rather liked _Phantom_ on stage, and the effects (even on stage) were spectacular. So yeah, I reckon I’ll go see the movie, unless I hear great trials and tribulations from you’uns the first few weekends (I never see any movie the first weekend). ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/34 "2004-11-22T04:38:04Z")
> [@Just1Lurk](#): > > Andrew Lloyd Webber, as directed by Joel Schumacher…the mind boggles. Having seen how well slick packaging and shallow intelligence appealed to the American public earlier this month, I expect this movie to be a box office recordbreaker. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/35 "2004-11-22T16:17:09Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Having seen how well slick packaging and shallow intelligence appealed to the American public earlier this month, I expect this movie to be a box office recordbreaker. Wow, do you engage in this type of non-sequitur for every topic? It’s really appealing; perhaps you like to piss in the punch bowl at a party everyone is enjoying as well? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/36 "2004-11-22T16:42:48Z")
> [@SlyFrog](#): > > Wow, do you engage in this type of non-sequitur for every topic? It’s really appealing; perhaps you like to piss in the punch bowl at a party everyone is enjoying as well? Nonsense. This isn’t an ALW fan thread and others have already alluded to ALW’s limited talent as a composer. Not to mention, Joel Schumacher just plain sucks as a director. I plan on seeing the movie, but I have no great hopes for it being good. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/37 "2004-11-22T16:47:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My feeling is that ALW wrote a grand total of two plays: _Phantom_ is one, and everything else he did is the other. “Everything else” covering: The Likes of Us Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Jesus Christ Superstar Gumshoe The Odessa File Jeeves Evita Variations Tell Me on a Sunday Cats Song & Dance Starlight Express Requiem Cricket Aspects of Love Sunset Boulevard By Jeeves Whistle Down the Wind The Beautiful Game The Woman in White My mind boggles 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/38 "2004-11-22T17:05:44Z")
There are a lot of Broadway snobs who consider ALW to be “not Broadway”, even though he and his Euro-musical pals (Schönberg and Boublil, in particular) have packed the theaters for the last 20 years. I’m kind of tired of hearing tired old chorus queens sighing dramatically whenever someone mentions Lloyd Webber, to be honest… ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/39 "2004-11-22T18:52:44Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Nonsense. This isn’t an ALW fan thread and others have already alluded to ALW’s limited talent as a composer. Not to mention, Joel Schumacher just plain sucks as a director. I plan on seeing the movie, but I have no great hopes for it being good. I think SlyFrog is referring to the election reference in a thread that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677/40 "2004-11-22T18:59:20Z")
I’m wary. I loved the Musical, but the trailer doesn’t tell me much. There’s too much quick editing to really tell where anything fits in. I agree that the Phantom does seem far too handsome. Schumacher gives me pause, but he did do Phone Booth, which I liked, even if he did do Batman and Robin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-plans-to-see-phantom-of-the-opera/275677.md?page=3)