Yeston & Kopit's Phantom

[IamErik771]

Greetings, all. Have any of you heard of a POTO musical written by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit? It's the stage show that the miniseries (starring Charles Dance and Teri Polo) was based on. It's not quite as well-known as ALW or Ken Hill's versions, but it's supposed to be quite good and has enjoyed many revivals and traveled to many other countries since it first opened in the US in 1991. Phantomoftheopera.info (http://www.phantomoftheopera.info/theate13.htm) has some very good information about the show, as does the unofficial homepage. (http://www.ykphantom.8k.com/)

[Gypsy]

I have heard of it many times, I would love to buy the CD but I can't find it in shops here :(

[welshrose]

Did you know Richard White also played Gaston in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"?

[The_Persian]

Has anybody here seen it? I have never even heard of it, but I alway's love seeing different versions of The Phantom of the Opera.

If anybody has seen it, is it...

As good as ALW?

Close to Lerouxs version?

Worth trying to find a soundtrack of?

[Christine Daaé]

This musical -- in my opinion, anyway -- is far too "lighthearted" to be a true POTO epic. The songs are so . . . well, light. Not dark and sweeping, like I always thought a POTO score should be. Now, some of the songs are really nice. I'd dig up an example, but I haven't listened to the soundtrack in a while. That's how much I didn't like most of it.

And to think that I know some people who prefer this one by far over ALW's version! Pfft.

~ Zelda

[AAW0487]

I have yet to see the version. But it still sounds interesting! It's going to be hard to find anything better than ALW, but I think there are still some other decent versions of POTO out there. I wouldn't mind seeing this play if it came some where close to where I live.

[Kristin Chenoweth]

I have some of the music in my books from voice lessons, and I've got to admit, I looove singing the one. "This Place is Mine," Carlotta's rant/rave.

As for the show itself, I've heard it's not as good as ALW's, and I'm sure this is true, because it's kind of hard to compete with Mr. Webber. *nod* But it's not terrible. Just really different.

[ErikClaudin]

I think it is quite good myself. I've read the libretto and heard quite a few songs. The Charles Dance POTO series is based on 'Phantom'.

I think Ken Hill's Phantom is the best of all.

[Mrs Nadir Khan]

I have the CD and it didn't have a "Phantomy" feel to begin with. Melodie de Paris is what turned me off from it. Count de Chadon? Who's he? And it seemed far too lighthearted, like someone mentioned, to be a Phantom based thing.

What irritated me was that the composer/writer didn't even read Leroux and notes it in the introduction booklet, which is why I feel it doesn't have the same emotion. They didn't get the depth of Erik's character from the novel like Webber did (because he actually read the book). They based their Erik off of previous films. And their Christine, from the synopsis, sounds like she's trying to hard to be brave. It felt forced and not genuine. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Skoteinos Metamfiezomai]

I listened to a bit of it on YouTube, and it was REALLY happy. That made me depressed. I did think the mask was cool, though... the black glass/feathers thing was awesome.

I haven't seen the whole thing, so I can't really say much more than that. I also know that you can only get the DVD off of Japanese websites, and there's no English version of the DVD as of yet.

[masquerading rose]

lol. My friend who Hates the song All I ask of you with a passion loved it, after hearing Yeston and Kopit's version. It was soooo funny. I have "Melodie de Paris" stuck in my head, and I'm humming it as I type this!

[Mrs Nadir Khan]

I'm slowly getting obsessed with this against my better judgement. It's fun and as long as I don't think POTO, it's fine. :D I've been singing "Who Could have ever dreamed up you?" to my sister for the past two days. I'm making it her new theme song.

[The Countess]

I'm so excited! I'm getting the CD soon! I begged and I pleaded to my mom for forever and explain (very firmly, may I add) that my obsession was like a furnace that needed to be fueled by the fires of Phantom and she finally gave in! All I have to do is clean my entrie basment...that kind of killed my mood. But then I got Home stuck in my head so all is right with the world.

[masquerading rose]

I'm slowly getting obsessed with this against my better judgement. It's fun and as long as I don't think POTO, it's fine. :D I've been singing "Who Could have ever dreamed up you?" to my sister for the past two days. I'm making it her new theme song.

Thanks. I have a new theme song now.

Slowly, ever so slowly, it's growing on me. Very slowly. I've had to listen to my sister singing it around the house all day. So I don't really like it. I moreso tolerate it.

It's weird, though. I merely tolerate Yeston and Kopit's Phantom, but I love Charles Dance's Phantom...

I think one reason I only tolerate it is Glory Crampton's voice. It's so frilly, fickle... she sounds like a little chihuahua.... *cringes*

[Ingenuous Soprano]

I know what you're saying about her voice. I would have rather heard a different soprano as Christine (Beth Southard was in this version in Germany. I'd have rather heard her...), but she's still a good singer, just not my cup of tea. (I like Richard White's voice though...)

In general, I like the Yeston/Kopit version. It's not close to the book, but it's a nice version anyway.
What I really ... hate about it is that they changed Raoul to his brother and slapped a different last name on him. Character wise, there really isn't much difference at all between Philippe de Chagny and Philippe de Chandon. Can you say: "RAOUL!!!"?

[ladyghost]

I love this version, it makes me cry a lot at its end.
And there's some great scenes/songs, indeed.
Ladyghost.

[Queen of the Unknown]

On one hand, I love the music of the version. I think Melodie de Paris is a great song. But to tell the truth, the version itself I don't like. Like you all said, Yeston and Kopit haven't read Leroux, and it shows. I felt that this musical's Erik was too nice. Also, I thought that him having a loving mother changed the story too much.

[sugar glider mask]

gosh, I'm really dissapointed in you people! I mean, everyone's welcome to have their own opinion but...I LOVE that musical! I actully like the fact that Erik was kinder and he had a family that loved him! sometimes it's better to look outside the box! It is a version of PotO, weather you like it or not.
sorry if I sound angry, but...

[angelgirl]

I've never seen it or heard any of the songs, but I've seen the miniseries. Is it anything like the stage show or is it totally different?
A.G.

[The Countess]

I'm pretty sure it's relativly similar. After all, Kopit I believe supporvied it. They even took some of the lyrics and added it into the dialouge. It maintains the sweetness you see in the movie overall.

[ChristineJ16]

I came close to seeing this version quite a few years back. My sister Sabrina bought the tickets as a surprise for me and my mom. The night of the performance we get to the theater and it was dark. It was down in San Diego. We were met up by a couple of other people, also going to the show. There was a sign on the door saying the show had been canceled due to lack of ticket sales. I just thought that seemed so ridiculous, we were also annoyed that we were not notified sooner. The message on the sign told us to call ticket master to get refunded for the tickets. Sabrina then told us how when she bought the tickets the lady on the phone reminded her that this isn't the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. Sabrina told her she knew that, she's seen his version a couple of times and is looking forward to this version. She said she has to tell people that, just so they know. Ugh! I still think back as to how weird that whole thing was that night. I really like the 1990 mini-series with Charles Dance. The stage show, from what clips, pictures and audio I've seen and heard seems slightly hokey. Maybe we just weren't meant to see that show. Oh, well, I'll always have the mini-series instead. :D