I believe, as I write this out, that I wasn’t going to have many other opportunities before I left London for Europe, so I’m guessing I was feeling the pressure, and the dread. It was a charity performance, they said, on the day I chose to go, so the pickings, we were told, might be pretty slim, but I waited and held my breath. I felt optimistic, but as the clock ticked towards the moment they might start giving out tickets, I grew more and more nervous. Luckily, I was third in line, and over the next few hours, the line grew and grew. It was going to be a long day, but it was the only way that it would happen. I arrived early in the morning and waited most patiently in the cancellation line. I, of course, did not have a lot of money for theatre at the time, nor did I know very much about the show, but I knew somehow that it was a ‘must-see’ before I left London for my summer jaunt around Europe. It was the fall of 1986 when I first made my way to London, and at some point during my six months there working at the Limelight Nightclub, I went to see a performance of Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End. Entertainment is one of the things we need the most, and featuring a cast and orchestra of over 200, this streaming sumptuous gift from Andrew Lloyd Webber on his ‘ The Shows Must Go On” YouTube channel is the perfect antidote. And for that, we can be truly thankful, especially on this weekend of continued self-isolation, staying safe against a virus creating havoc around the world. Inspired by the original staging by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne, this lavish, fully-staged production was first meant to be a concert celebration, much like the one done for Les Miserables, but Mackintosh had other ideas. It is grand and opulent, matching the sumptuous Victorian splendor of London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall where it was held on October 2nd, 2011. It was created to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, and the determined Cameron Mackintosh found the exact, most perfect way, to produce this new and unique, spectacular staging of the musical on a scale worthy of the celebration. This streamed Phantom is “past the point of no return”, in the best of possible ways.
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