DVDs: No One Would LIsten

As the first major theatrical film based on a Broadway/West End stage musical hit since Chicago, the December release of the film version of The Phantom of the Opera was closely watched. As things turned out, the film did not have a Chicago-style success, with downbeat reviews and a marked lack of awards. I'm not sure where the film's box-office take now stands, but it was not a blockbuster commensurate with its source in the most successful musical in stage history.

Although there are a number of differences between show and film i.e. the recurring glimpses of the elderly Raoul, the flashback concerning the early life of the Phantom, the film is generally faithful to the original stage text, with no major songs eliminated and none added, at least not to the body of the film. But the show was an event for audiences in a way that the film couldn't quite match. And much of what made the show special was its deployment of stage illusion and magic, something that's lost in the literal world of film.

Aided by a campy, amusing performance by Minnie Driver as Carlotta, the sequences in and around the opera house work well. Indeed, the film's first half-hour is highly promising, handsomely capturing the bustle of backstage life. But the picture falters with the "Music of the Night" scene, and that's because Gerard Butler is less than a mesmerizing presence, and the design of his lair is also a disappointment. While it's debatable if Michael Crawford's stagey performance would have worked on film, one misses that kind of command and star wattage in the film.

If the film could have used a more striking Phantom, it may otherwise be about as good a film as could have been made from the show. The film was, in fact, somewhat underrated, simply because it was Lloyd Webber. Reviews seemed to blame the movie for enshrining the original work, when it had little choice but to do so.

One can hope for better results with the forthcoming film versions of two other Broadway blockbusters, Rent and The Producers, both of which feature numerous members of the original stage casts. In any case, the Phantom film did give a marked boost to the box-office of the Broadway production, making it virtually certain that Phantom will break the record to become the longest-running show in Broadway history.

The Phantom film is available in single-disc fullscreen and widescreen versions, the latter surely preferable. There's also a two-disc, widescreen special edition, which features the film in English and French on Disc One, and a second disc of special features.

These include a valuable, sixty-five-minute documentary on the history of the show, entitled Behind the Mask: The Story of "The Phantom of the Opera". It features the talking heads of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer Cameron Mackintosh, director Hal Prince, choreographer Gillian Lynne, lyricists Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, potential Phantom Steve Harley, and writers Michael Coveney and George Perry.

The feature begins with Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel and its numerous film versions, but quickly cuts to the '80s, when Lloyd Webber and Mackintosh saw Ken Hill's adaptation of Leroux and conceived their own stage version, created for Lloyd Webber's new wife, Sarah Brightman, and initially to have used pre-existing opera arias for its score and to have been directed by Jim Sharman The Rocky Horror Show, London's original Jesus Christ Superstar.

Eventually, Lloyd Webber decided to compose the show himself and Prince asked to direct, both of them envisioning a return to the romantic musical. When Stilgoe's lyrics are judged to be too lightweight for the concept, Charles Hart is brought in to collaborate, with the final result approximately 80% Hart, 20% Stilgoe.

Ken Russell shoots a title-song music video that makes the song and the show a hit before the production even begins performances. That video stars Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, the latter scheduled to create the role of the Phantom in the West End. But when it's determined that the former rocker is not fully up to the demands of the part, he's let go, and the unlikely choice of Michael Crawford proves to be an inspired one.

Also covered are the importance to the production of Maria Bjornson's set and costume designs; the invention of the Phantom's half mask; and Gillian Lynne's concept for the "Masquerade" number.

Behind the Mask includes extensive stage clips, mostly shot at London's Her Majesty's Theatre in September, 2004, and featuring the Phantom of John Owen-Jones; music videos; backstage and rehearsal footage; and clips from two presentations of the show the first with all-Stilgoe lyrics at Lloyd Webber's Sydmonton estate. The show clips are so enticing that they make one almost wish that, instead of making a theatrical film version of Phantom, they had simply taped the stage production for telecast.

Disc Two continues with a puffy, forty-five-minute documentary on the film, entitled The Making of "The Phantom of the Opera". This includes interviews with Lloyd Webber, director Joel Schumacher, and all of the principal cast and backstage artists.

It begins with the film's world premiere in London, then travels back to around 1990, when a Schumacher Phantom film was first planned, to star Crawford and Brightman. But Schumacher ultimately decided against a name actor for the title role. He also wanted young leads, a decision Lloyd Webber approved, with the stipulation that they do their own singing. Lloyd Webber desired a rock sound for the Phantom, something that would contrast with Patrick Wilson Raoul, and the first principal cast's legit sound and would help explain the power that draws Christine to the Phantom.

The documentary also focuses on differences between the stage and screen versions of Phantom; the challenges of the elaborate production design, including the Phantom's make-up; the casting of the supporting roles; and the musical aspects of the production.

The final feature of Disc Two is a cut number from the film, a wistful solo for Butler's Phantom that would probably have slowed the progress of the picture. Entitled "No One Would Listen," it features the same melody as "Learn to Be Lonely," the film's one new song that's sung by Minnie Driver over the final credits.