A month ago I visited Taos, NM, where I got to watch Phantom of the Opera on an HD TV. It was excellent. I am reluctant to say that it was the frist time I saw this movie, and I enjoyed it. When I was a teenager I read the book that it is based on and actually think that once again, the book was better than the musical, but the movie was still first class entertainment, especially on an HD TV with an incredible Bose sound system. I can imagine the set for the Broadway musical was stunning to see in real life.

We watched it with our 13 year old niece, and she was not terribly impressed with the movie; indeed, the story may have been too mature for her, and the music might have been way over her head in complexity, so maybe she will watch Phantom of the Opera later in her life. I don't know if I will watch the CD again, but I may read the book once more, to see how true the Broadway musical was to the story. In any case, the production as a musical was stunning.