Young Writers Society

I don't know if there are many musical junkies out there... but the last two big ones that came out (Chicago and Moulin Rouge) I've been an absolute groupie over. Well, just recently the film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webbers 'Phantom of the Opera' came out, and I wondered if anyone has seen it and if they did... did you NOT love it? You better have.

Anyway, here's musicals discussion. Please, discuss all movies that are musicals. I would personally love some recommendations of musicals that I can get stuck in my head. Like Singing in the Rain.

Does anyone else suffer from my affliction?

oh my gosh i love phatom of the opera.i had the orignal cast recording and i listen to it all the time

Actually.. I didn't LOVE the movie. Before you kill me Tess, let me explain.

I am a total Phan of the original play, the original cast, and the original book. So when they changed a bunch of lyrics in the movie and took out some parts, I wasn't very happy about it. I admit, it's still a good movie.. Just didn't stand up to my expectations.

Besides, Michael Crawford is THE Phantom.. the one and only phantom. No one can replace him.

I agree crysi.

I loved it for the sheer fact that if it weren't for Phantom, I would not be in theatre today. That said, I love ALW's music, but I hated the casting of the film. I've never heard a worse Christine in my life. And the Phantom, though decidedly BEAUTIFUL, was no Michael Crawford.

I did love Minnie Driver as Carlotta. She was the only one who looked as though singing took effort, and she was the only one lip-syncing. Gah!

I agree, Crysi. Minnie Diver was hilarious! The voices just were not up to par, and marching, i do the same thing! oh course, the tourture chamber was there.. (read the book. it was pretty good. big complatint in general, no persian! (name of character) and that gave raoul a backbone, kinda) anyhoo, it was still a good movie visually.

I'm a musical-addict too. I loved Phantom - the colours, the music and the overall beauty of the film really blew me away. At that time of course I hadnt actually heard the original recording but so far as I'm concerned anyone who can hit those notes is amazing LOL. I'm working my way through all the musicals I can find, the most recent being "My Fair Lady". I've seen "The King and I", "Moulin Rouge" (modern version), "West Side Story" and of course "Sound of Music". Probably others that I'm forgetting. I'm currently hunting down copies of basically everything else. Recommendations for good ones to look out for would be appreciated

I remember seeing 'West Side Story' in school, but I didn't get into it. I was RAISED on 'The King and I' (the one with Yul Brynner), and I recently saw both My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music for a Homeschool assignment. So, naturally, I loved POTO.

I was listening to the original UK casts POTO recording for the last year and a half. I've never seen the play (I'm never going to forgive myself for missing the preformance when it came through town two and a half years ago. I even had someone willing to pay for my ticket. Never going to forgive myself. Never, never, never), so this was naturally the BEST thing I've ever seen. Seeing it again tomorrow, in fact.

But I'm a big musical junky. I have the POTO play DVD on my Queue in Netflix and the book is being ordered next week. I'm turning into a monster ^^.

i agree the casting wasnt all that great but i liked the ending much better in the movie because it gave more closer.also i liked the effects.theres stuff that they could do in the movie that they cant do in the theater.They have a POTO dvd out?

The BIGGEST issue I had (voices aside) with the movie was the random spoken lyrics!! I absolutly dispised that!

However--all cuts and changes were made with Mr. Webber's knowledge and consent. So I suppose since the composer agreed to it, we can't complain.

*mutters* wanna bet?

I COMPLETELY agree with you about the spoken lyrics! OMG IT DROVE ME CRAZY!! I kept singing them in my head while they spoke the lines.. I think the one that absolutely killed me was near the end when Christine says, "I gave my mind blindly." GRAAAH! I have every line from the 2-CD sountrack memorized, so when she SAID it instead of SINGING it, I wanted to choke her!! It was supposed to be such a powerfully angry moment. And the way the Phantom tied up Raoul against the gates.. No, no, NO! PLEASE do it like the play - the Phantom pulls out the punjab lasso and throws it over Raoul's neck, then the end of the rope "magically" hangs in midair. After Christine kisses the Phantom (wow, she enjoyed it in the movie lol!), he goes over to the rope with a candle and burns the thread holding up the lasso. The thread is so thin that it's invisible to everyone but himself.. It works. Gah.

*walks off ranting about how, while Gerard Butler is agreeably VERY good looking, he cannot sing and the phantom is ALL ABOUT SINGING!!! THE PHANTOM SHOULD NOT BE GOOD LOOKING!*

i laughed when the phantom and raoul were singing and looking back and forth at each other at the end. i found it unbelievably funny. they both look so...upset, but it's nearly comical. bwa.

you know, gerard butler didn't bother me at. i couldn't STAND emmie whatever--christine. the only good thing about her is she's incredibly good at looking confused and beautiful all at the same time. deer-in-headlights, jeebus! her voice was so wrong for the role, it was unbelievable. she was too airy and too reserved. christine needs to have a crystal clear confident soprano voice and that girl didn't. it was just wrong.

the end itself bugged me too. in the version i saw on stage, the phantom climbs into his giant armchair and rotates it so that the back faces the entrance to his grotto and the audience. when the mob reaches the cave, meg turns the chair and all that's left is a mask and a rose. that was SO MUCH cooler than the end of the movie, it kept him a mystery.

ok... what's her name did this weird swooping thing with her voice as well.. i'm no great singer, but i've never done that! and it sounded horrinle! deer in headlights, perfectly described, i must say.

The ending wasn't strong. I thought that's how the musical ended, and i wish ALW and Co. had left it that way.

Spoken lyrics *shudder* it didn't sound good at all that way.

I went and saw it again and, honestly, still love it. I think the ending is marvelous and though I do have an issue with some of their voices, I'm cool. I think that the casting was only half-hearted, and if they did some real searching they would have found some MUCH BETTER characters. But they seemed to rush it. Bleh.

Going through the Netflix list it looks like I put a bunch of POTO knock-offs on there. Some made-for-TV adaptions that I'm really not interested in at the moment and have deleted. I don't have time for bad stuff. Heh.

Oh, and, now that I think of it, I have a question. What's with the "keep your hand at the level of your eyes" thing? I didn't understand.

With your hand at the level of your eyes you can keep a noose from choking you.

yep. It's explained in detail in the book.