The auctioneer I saw when I went to Broadway gave so much enthusiasm when saying "with a little ILLUMINATION, GENTLEMEN!!!!" I believe that shouting gentlemen adds so much excitement to that first spine chilling chord.
Thank you for posting this! This gave me chills. I've never seen phantom of the opera in person but I always wanted to. It makes me sad to know it's off Broadway now.
@@christinedaae7323 it will never be this version again. This way they don’t have to pay the estates of the deceased set designers and director. It will always be the scaled down version moving forward unfortunately
The estates of the deceased Costume Designer and Director don’t need to be paid. I am confident that Phantom will return to Broadway in it’s entirety someday!
The last few times I saw this on stage, audiences starting clapping and cheering as soon as the overture started, then really cheered as the chandelier started to rise.
……first time I saw this wonderful PotO stage production was in the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. I’d goosebumps at that rising chandelier scene! This particular auditorium is believed to be actually haunted by a 19th Century opera singer, Federici……… I’ve seen it about a dozen times’ since, in various cities’, & still love it………
I watched the recorded musical for the first time at my friends house a few weeks ago before we flew to Japan (just got home last night) and watched it live in person in Japanese for the first time, and this has to be the best intro to anything I had ever seen on a stage. Those organs and drums are real epic.
Great clip, and a great production to boot! I seriously hope that chandelier finds use again or gets a real auction as is illustrated here. What likelihood is there of the latter now that POTO on Broadway has just closed, anyway?
i highly doubt any auction will take place, sadly. in london, when the show closed in 2020, the chandelier was taken into storage and has been there since... until they ripped off the lyres to put them on the new chandelier for the revival that opened in 2021. my best guess is that they'll put the chandelier in storage and take parts they need of it if they need them when the show inevitably reopens on the cheap, with a halved orchestra and cheapened sets and costumes.
@@_zeerosd It's only when and not if that happens... but at this point, I'm still wondering why the hell that Australian production earlier this year had the full 27 piece orchestra, and the sets / costumes were not as cheap as I expected. I really don't trust Cameron Mackintosh at this point.
I hope it's put into a museum. I hear they have a museum or at least an archive dedicated to the designer, Maria Bjornson. It should go there, safe, but still loved
@@CakeKitty135 That's what I'm saying - but, it might be too late now because they may be putting it in storage, or ripping that beautiful piece of work apart.
@@_zeerosd I was once reliably informed that where you were was the best place to be. I was at the back of the mezzanine or what we call the Dress Circle in the UK when I first saw it. It was like watching through a slot. But I did see it again from a better seat later.
unfortunately, some people actually reduce the quality on their bootlegs. for what reason idk. i uploaded at high quality because i just want people to be able to enjoy this production in as realistic of a way as possible!
@@chrisparkes2179 probably. if my videos get taken down so be it. i don’t care about that, i just want to get them out to as many as i can. and besides, the show has ended so i don’t really see an issue with it
political opinions aside, rising production costs are far from the only reason the show closed. the show's producer, cameron mackintosh, has been waiting to close the show for years now, so that he can replace it with a watered down version to get out of paying royalties to the late director hal prince & late designer maria bjornson's estates. the show closing has been inevitable for a long time now.
@@lepetitchat123 sadly yes. if you look at london where this show originated, this exact scenario occurred. during the pandemic, the original production was removed and replaced with a cheaper version. the proscenium was changed and no longer features the nymphs and satyrs lining the sides or the angel at the top, all of which were described by the original director hal prince as "key to the show". the original dark, gaslit lighting, used to further enhance the illusion of 19th century paris, was changed and is now bright and over-saturated, stripping the vintage and timeless feel to the show. the direction was modified and now feels clunky at times. many illusions and effects were cut. and, perhaps worst of all, the lush, 27 piece orchestra (as featured in this video) was reduced to a 14 piece band comprised of mostly synth keyboards, stripping the score of its richness. mackintosh has confirmed this will be the version to "return" to broadway.
