I thoroughly enjoyed Phantom at the Venetian. It was a pyrotechnic extravaganza. It's hard to imagine such a condensed version of the original could be as good -- a sort of greatest hits -- but I was impressed by how the story unfolded and flowed.
I was disappointed by the actor playing the Phantom. His voice was a bit shaky at times and seemed to get washed out by the orchestra. He totally could not hit the high notes and at times I had to strain to hear him. That was disappointing since I was sitting in the 4th row from the stage and that also means that people behind me probably had a worse experience. I think the actor who played Raoul was a much more powerful performer. Raoul was the dominant presence and performer, other than Christine. Kudos to those two actors.
The stairway down to the Phantom's lair in the beginning of the show was beautiful. The way the gondola looked like it was on water. Fabulous. The chandelier being put together at the beginning of the show was intriguing and great staging (way to move the story along and visually stunning). The chandelier falling was equally exciting, except I had to strain my neck a bit to catch it actually falling. Also when the Phantom commanded the chandelier to fall there seemed to be a moments delay.