Review: Phantom of The Opera

By Rebecca LeMoult, Year 9

During the summer, while I was in New York for one day, I went to go see the musical The Phantom of the Opera, or by its abbreviated name, Phantom. The show has spent 30 years in the Majestic Theatre in New York, New York, making it Broadway’s longest-running musical. Here I am to tell you what I thought.

Overall, I was impressed with this musical. The score, created by Andrew Lloyd Webber (one of the most celebrated musical theatre composers of the 20th and 21st centuries), was beautiful, haunting and exciting. The lyrics were equally stunning, and the main roles of the Phantom (currently portrayed by Ben Crawford) and his love interest, young opera singer Christine Daaé (currently portrayed by Ali Ewoldt) were expertly sung, and the cast received a well-deserved standing ovation that night.

In terms of plot, this was an interesting musical. There were several points (and songs) where I could feel myself losing interest, but some moments of the plot (especially in the river underneath the Paris Opera House) were gripping and I couldn’t bring myself to turn away. In my opinion, the musical did not convey as much emotion as other musicals such as Les Misérables or Hamilton but had quite a few dark, intense moments, for which reasons I would not recommend that anyone under the age of 11 go to see the show.

I was entertained throughout the show and I give it 4 stars along with my recommendation.