This is more of a 3.5 star review. I dragged my friends to see this show over Thanksgiving weekend because I've been a fan of POTO since I first saw it many moons ago on Broadway. I came with somewhat high expectations for this re-imagined "spectacular" version of the show. I was slightly disappointed.
SPOILER ALERT!
First the positives:
1. Anthony Crivello as the Phantom. He sang the role very well, and he did a great job of getting you to feel a mixture of fear, sadness, and compassion toward the character. (He alternates with Brent Barrett in the role.)
2. The chandelier. Very cool. Starts out as four pieces at the beginning of the show. One piece sits on the stage covered and the other three hang at different angles from the ceiling of the theater. The overture begins and all four pieces start swinging around and around above the audience only to fit into a single unit that becomes the theater's actual chandelier.
3. A bit of a twist in the way the final scene is staged. In the original production, Raoul is trapped by the punjab lasso. In the Vegas show, he is ensnared by a blade filled cage that rises from the ground.
4. The theater itself. I loved how it makes the audience feel it's in an opera house.
The negatives:
1. The show was loud and amped, more suitable for a concert than a musical. However, this is Vegas.
2. The cuts. To fit this show into 90 minutes, they made several cuts. Some are inconsequential (Bouquet's punjab lasso explanation, for example) while others are blasphemous (A few lines from Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again were removed and The Point of No Return was shortened, decreasing the drama of that scene.)
3. The chandelier drop was anti-climactic.
This shouldn't be your first time seeing Phantom live.