Gerard Butler... *shakes head in disgust* If the guy can't even reach the notes, WHY is he singing this part may I ask?

I haven't seen it yet--aside from Butler's singing (and Emmy Rossum, whose voice in the soundtrack seems a little...I dunno...weak? breathy? can't pin it down), how is it?

I'll be forced to go when it comes within driving distance, probably the middle of the month, just as I've been forced to listen to the soundtrack, since my wife is a theatre (and especially a musical theatre) nut.

I'm a huge phan so I'm a bit biased. :) If you're not a phan, you probably won't enjoy it. Emmy Rossum is tolerable as Christine, Patrick Wilson is quite stupendous as Raoul, the supporting cast is all pretty good... Gerard Butler is the REALLY weak spot... as I said, a lot of notes were lowered for him so I'm not quite sure why he's part of the cast. He's also a much less sympathetic phantom... which irks me as a steadfast fan of the Phantom himself. :)

It's huge and lavish and over-the-top which is delightful on stage but a little goofy on screen. It's also not much more than a filmed production of the stage show - very little was changed. I mostly loved it for nostalgic reasons... seeing it made me want to see the show again. I highly doubt it'll have that effect on a non-phan.

... but having never seen the play, I *loved* the movie. Yes, I've heard the soundtrack of the play, and no, Gerard Butler is not Michael Crawford. I actually appreciated his gruff, socially maladjusted Phantom more than I would have appreciated a suave, seductive Phantom. Because, frankly, the guy grew up in cages and basements and sewers... so while Butler often barks his songs instead of singing them, it all winds up soundong right to me.

Emmy Rossum, also, is lovely as Christine - Sarah Brightman is nice, but she was never a 17-year-old ingenue, probably not even when she was 17, and the purity of Rossum's voice and the range of her facial expression make what could have been an irritatingly wimpy heroine (cf. Cosette in Les Miz) into a believably torn, sympathetic character.

And I didn't find the lavishness goofy at all ... but then again, I liked Moulin Rouge too, so my sense of lavish is probably a little numbed. ;c)


FWIW, from a non-phan...

Hnn, I forget Christine is supposed to be 17 (maybe because the play's press photos and promo music videos don't make her look that way)--in that context, her voice is appropriate enough. I'm hardly an expert judge anyway, not being a huge fan of sopranos. Anyhow. My wife will love it all, and that's the important thing.