I started thinking "How dumb/in love with Christine would Raoul have to be to stick around as long as he does?"
I mean seriously, hear me out, from his point of view that girl should be NUTS. She rambles on about some angel coming to her in her head because it was sent by her dead father. Most guys I know would check out around this time. Not Raoul. He says he's going to take her out to dinner. Logical.
At that point in the show, we (the audience) could all feasibly think that Christine is nuts as well (if you'd never seen it before or knew the storyline, right?).
And actually, uh, isn't she crazy?
She's taking voice lessons from, wait for it, a voice.
She has no idea that the voice teaching her to sing is a real person, much less a man who is as crazy as she is.
I've seen 4 different versions of Phantom and Christine is always my least favorite person. I've always blamed it on the actresses themselves, but last night I realized it's not them. Except for Emmy Rossum. That was a horrible casting choice for the movie. Also Gerard Butler was a not good choice. I know, I know, he's one sexy beast. That's the problem. The Phantom is not a sexy beast. Also, their singing voices? (let me clarify, they both sing well, but not for their roles)
Moving on, it's the character of Christine herself that I don't care much for. I kind of feel about her the way I feel about Cosette in Les Miz.
Right so, since you're dying to know, this is how I feel about them:
Grow a pair and stop whining.
I guess that's directed more at Christine than Cosette, and I guess they both have had tragic things happen in their lives (dead fathers, dead mothers, brought up by drunken hooligans, you know) but still. Well and they do both have great pieces to sing. Again, BUT STILL.
Ugh, I don't have patience for these damsels in distress. Kudos to Disney for starting to create princesses who go out and find happiness using frying pans.
Also, something else that has never occurred to me before (and I've had "Phantom of the Opera" memorized since I was probably 7) is that the Phantom kills Piangi right? You know, right before "Point of No Return" and Phantom takes Piangi's place on stage, but in disguise! DUN DUN DUN! The Phantom is a fairly healthy sized man, yes? Piangi is a fairly.... unhealthy sized man. Wouldn't someone have noticed? He obviously shrunk at least half a person since exiting the stage and returning.
In conclusion, the 25th anniversary show is okay. I actually really liked the voice of the woman who did Christine. I had serious issues with Raoul, although for the first time he seemed to treat Christine like she was moderately crazy. When I've seen Phantom before, Raoul and Carlotta have usually made the show for me, and become my favorite characters. They failed to do that this time. Also, Christine wears silver, knee high boots during "Masquerade?"
In even more conclusion, I really think Christine and the Phantom are perfect for each other. Raoul can do a lot better. A LOT. I mean, he's rich.
Man, it would appear that I don't like "Phantom of the Opera" at all, but really I do. It's got great music, and is fun to sing along with. I just hold every musical up against "Les Miserables" (which is beauty in musical form) and so they all fall short. Some of them just barely (like Phantom) and some really fall (like..."The King and I" aka "3 hours of my life I'll never get back").
And now, a reflection on the movie:
