My wife forced this show on me. I don't mind the movie, but I'm not crazy about it. It is too drawn out, and I'm not crazy about the singing. Well, this show was excellent. It was the perfect Phantom. The show is abridged, so it only runs an hour and a half, and they cut out all of the parts that I would've liked to see cut in the movie. It moved quickly, and it kept me fully involved the entire time. We sat on the balcony, which was a concern for me because I couldn't find my glasses, and I'm blind as a bat without them. Even without my glasses, the seats were still good enough that I could see without a problem. Even better is that the performers were so much better than in the movie. The Phantom and Christine were particularly good. Definitely worth seeing, even if you are skeptical going into it. Some advice though, look around for the cheapest tickets. We looked for quite some time before realizing that the Venetian was having a summer special. If you can't find them on sale, they can be rather expensive.