Andrew Lloyd Webber, 2004.
AWL bestrides the West End/Broadway of the late 20th Century (70s and beyond) "like a colossus", filling the gap left by Rodgers and Hammerstein (imagine if Bernstein and Sondheim had moved beyond West Side Story???)...
And Phantom is part of the canon that formed an unassailable body of outstanding work.
Part of the magic of Phantom is that it works incredibly well as drama/theatre/spectacle...and the tunes just keep rolling out as well (giving WAM a run for his money!).
Some AWL tunes display derivation - in Phantom this is not the case - one has the sense that it's all authentically AWL territory.
I pity AWL, as he has a LOT to live up to with his Phantom sequel (out in the West End as I speak - must read the reviews some time!)....
In the meantime, turn the lights down low and tune into the music of the Night...
10/10.
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