POO review

Here’s the long awaited POO Review.

(The colored words in my blog are just that, colored words. They're not links.)

I have now conducted a syntopical study of the Phantom of the Opera music comparing the original Andrew Lloyd Webber music CD featuring:
Sarah Brightman as Christine,
Michael Crawford as the Phantom,
and Steve Barton as Raoul

with

the motion picture soundtrack featuring:
Emmy Rossum as Christine,
Gerard Butler as the Phantom,
And Patrick Wilson as Raoul.

I’m afraid I will make both the movie lovers as well as the original cast lovers equally mad as I list the all time best playlist for POO.

It is as follows:

Overture – Movie Score – The full orchestral performance on this CD just makes me sigh, I’m so happy. The sounds are satisfyingly rich.

Think of Me – Original Broadway – This role was created for Sarah Brightman and here’s why.

Angel of Music - Original Broadway – Brightman keeps us mesmerized.

The Mirror - Original Broadway – Michael Crawford as the Phantom is powerful and just plain scary.

The Phantom of the Opera – Sarah Brightman’s A.L. Webber CD – Sarah B. made an Andrew Lloyd Webber CD and here she sings this song with Michael Crawford and she hits the final note with such force it literally made me jump the first couple of times I heard it.

The Music of the Night - Original Broadway – Crawford glides slithering up to each note in this song. Beautiful, or more like intoxicating.

Prima Donna - Movie Score – The owners are a hoot, the Prima Donna is schmaltzy, and the full chorus has its time to show off. I like the huge, dramatic breath they take together before belting out the last note.

All I Ask - Sarah Brightman’s A.L. Webber CD – Cliff Richard who sings Raoul on the Brightman CD makes me wish he had sung with Sarah on the original. He sounds young and in love.

Intermission - Original Broadway – These Broadway shows are known for their intermissions where the major tunes are woven together in medleys. This one is a classic.

Masquerade - Movie Score – Once again the full orchestra and chorus in the movie out shines the original. But to be fair – I don’t think Broadway shows are striving to have a full orchestra sound anyway.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Sarah Brightman’s A.L. Webber CD – Sarah just flat sings better than Emmy – especially on the high notes.

Point of No Return - Movie Score – On these last two selections, other POO enthusiasts strongly disagree with me. They love Brightman and Crawford’s strong performances in the end, and I see their point since these are very projected and emotional climaxes. But I have to chose the movie interpretation over the other because of the emotional elements they explored.

Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer - Movie Score – Here in the last song is the perfect example. The Phantom goes from determined fiend, to wicked torturer, to impatient lover, to vulnerable boy, to a mature man with a love so great that he will let the one he loves go with another just to see her happy. Christine goes through similar stages. The movie actors capitalize on these ever changing emotions with entire believability.

So I suggest listening to the entire Phantom of the Opera with this superior playlist.

*Note* For those of you wanna-be music critics, housework is the ideal companion activity for critiquing music - especially with music as exciting as Broadway or opera. I highly recommend cleaning house (or your dorm room) while critiquing great music. Quite thrilling.



Also, I just wanted to tell you that last night, I went to a ladies’ night out with the women of our church and we prayed for the Ortiz’s family. My heart goes out to them and the whole campus as you all deal with such a terrible loss.

The Lord’s ways are higher than ours and unsearchable. Blessed be the name of the Lord.