Reviews

Read what the press said about the original and subsequent productions of The Phantom of the Opera.

To submit your own review, head backstage and register for your Backstage Pass.

Original production, Her Majesty's Theatre, London, October 1986

"It's fantastic, fabulous and phantasmagorical! From the eerily flickering lights that greet you outside Her Majesty's Theatre to the last, glorious curtain call, Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-awaited new musical, Phantom of the Opera, is a triumph."

John Blake, Daily Mirror, 10th October 1986

"Four words sum up the unstoppable success of Andrew Lloyd Webber's triumphant re-working of this vintage spine-tingling melodrama. Stars, spectacle, score and story."

"Together they add up to that old magic ingredient: theatricality. There is simply nothing on earth to transport you so quickly or so far into phantasy than a feast of illusions. And Hal Prince's production stints nothing in providing an unending banquet of the stuff."

Jack Tinker, Daily Mail, 10th October 1986

"soaring ballads and sensational stage effects."

"A team of supreme theatre craftsmen have seized avidly on its lush romantic agony to produce a musical as sumptuous and unashamedly stagey as a Victorian pantomime - a blessedly trad antidote to the current craze for shows chockablock with laser beams, video streams and fake holographs."

"Michael Crawford is superb..."

"Sarah Brightman makes a remarkable West End debut..."

"...this is as spectacular a piece of true theatre as London has seen in years."

John Barber, Daily Telegraph, 11th October 1986

"A gorgeous operatic extravaganza that is a thrill to the blood and a sensual feast for the eye."

"Sarah Brightman's wide-eyed beauty and soaring soprano voice make something individual and touching out of Christine's tussle between pity for the phantom and love for her friend and admirer, the Vicomte de Chagny (Steve Barton)."

"...Michael Crawford's magnificent performance permeates all to produce a dramatic unity ultimately aching with pathos."

Richard Barkley, Sunday Express, 12th October 1986

US tour, 2003

"The Phantom of the Opera is every bit as lush, lovely, opulent and over the top as it was when if first opened at the Ahmanson in 1989 - in some respects, more so."

"Credit Maria Bjornson for the eye-popping production design (costumes, sets and stage magic), Andrew Bridge for the effective lighting and Martin Levan for the sound - all under the careful, astute direction of Harold Prince, with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne."

Ed Kaufman, Tuesday 14th October 2003

South African production, 2004

"Phantom is set to thrill audiences ... I've seen the famous falling chandelier and it is indeed huge. A great mass of baubles reclining like a sleeping rhino in a metal cage at the back of the Artscape stage ... the moment critique when it "crashes"? down ... will provide one of the most thrilling moments of this show. Or any show."

"A glossy black floor has been laid above the existing stage. This is to allow dozens of lighted candles to rise simultaneously when the beautiful opera singer Christine Daae follows the Phantom into his secret underground lake. It's a scene of breathtaking beauty as his boat glides over the waters with the mist rising."

Fiona Chisholm, Cape Argus Tonight

"I saw the show in London ... and enjoyed it so much that at interval I bought the double-album soundtrack. The show is indeed spectacular, with the Phantom at one point swinging in on a chandelier - above the audience. When opening night arrives, 'Masquerade', one of the show-stopping numbers from the show, should provide a breath-taking visual feast, for the array of costumes in that scene is an eyeful - and no one wears a more spectacular costume than the Phantom himself. Great stuff!"

Derek Wilson, Cape Argus

Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular!

"Phantom has been remodelled as a thrill-ride tuner with pyrotechnics, layer upon layer of bombast and a chandelier that dwarfs every lighting fixture ever assembled for this warhorse."
"The real jewel is the theater itself."
Variety

"The sound of the slot machines is being drowned out by the music of the night."
"The show has the glamour and excess that this city loves."
"It's half as long and twice as spectacular."
"Even if you think you've seen The Phantom of the Opera before, believe me, you've never seen it like this."
Toronto Star

"There’s no longer any reason to see this show anywhere else -- unless they make them all like this. Which would be impossible."
"The orchestra is full, lush and Broadway-size."
"These are all Broadway actors with no intention of compromising their craft just because they are in Vegas."
Chicago Tribune

"An only-in-Vegas thrill ride."
USA Today

"It's SPECTACULAR in every sense of the word."
"Magnificent! An absolute first rate theatrical masterpiece. I couldn’t rate it any higher even if I tried."
"The emotional experience is extraordinary with enthusiastic applause starting less than five minutes into the show."
Robin Leach, AOL