The Opera Ghost

YES! I finally saw "The Phantom of the Opera", and I must say it is a WONDERFUL movie. Too bad my movie viewing experience had to be spoilt by a cinema-full of rowdy people who can't appreciate the movie and treat it with mere flippancy. One particularly irritating movie-goer treated the songs, and the accompanying subtitles, as a kara-oke session. I have to admit, for someone who doesn't know the stageplay and its songs beforehand, the recurrence of the main songs can be dreary but those songs tie the whole story together. Alexandra Byrne (the costume designer) worked wonders on fabric, and Anthony Pratt created a whole new world as the set. I don't need to say anything about the music, because Andrew Lloyd Webber is the genius in writing songs for stageplays. When Christine (Emmy Rossum, who sings all the songs btw) started singing the song below, my heart just melted.

Think of Me

Think of me,
think of me fondly, when
we've said goodbye;
remember me,
once in a while, please
promise me you'll try.

When you find,
that once again you long
to take your heart back,and be free
if you ever find a moment,
spare a thought for me.

We never said
our love was evergreen
or as unchanging as the sea...
but if you can still remember,
stop and think of me.

Think of all the things
we've shared and seen,
don't think about the things
which might have been.

Think of me
think of me waking, silent
and resigned...
imagine me, trying too hard to
put you from my mind...
Recall those days,
look back on all those times,
think of the things we'll never do...
there will never be a day when
I won't think of you

We never said
our love was evergreen
or as unchanging as the sea...
but please promise me, that sometimes
you will think of me.

The other highlights, for me, would be "All I Ask of You" - Christine's and Raoul's duet, and "The Music of the Night" - the Phantom's song to Christine in his lair.

Well, I'm satisfied. Now, to look out for the stageplay.