Her Majesty's theatre was smaller than I expected. We were sitting a few rows back in the Dresscircle, which turned out to be not very good seats, as you couldn't see things at the front of the stage. The whole setting was very dark, as I'd expected, but somehow most of the sets weren't quite as atmospheric as I'd imagined.

I didn't really get into the show until the song 'The Phantom of the Opera'. The underground lair, with the blue misty lake and candles, was probably the best set I've seen, and I wish more of the musical had been down there. Glyn Kerslake as Phantom sang 'The Music of the Night' beautifully. 'Prima Donna' wasn't as good as I'd hoped, and Carlotta really wasn't very good. During 'Poor fool..' I finally told the girls next to me to stop chatting, I don't know anything more annoying!

From the hanging scene to the end of the 1st Act was super, and 'All I Ask of You' was great. I was very impressed with Mike Sterling as Raoul, and Christine handled the 1st Act well.

Christine didn't do so well in the 2nd Act; Shona Lindsay obviously wasn't on top form. I thought she was terrible in 'Point of No Return'. But apart from this, the 2nd Act did live up to my very high expectations. 'Masquerade' was wonderful, and I loved 'Point of No Return', despite Christine. The 'Wandering Child' scene was so passionate, and the Finale was about the best section out of any of the show's I've seen. It was breathtakingly emotional. I felt like crying for the Phantom, Glyn lived the part so brilliantly.

On the whole though I felt a little disappointed, but only because I'd expected too much, not because it wasn't as good as the other shows. I'm certain that I can enjoy it far more than I did this time, and I can't wait to see it again when I have a better seat.

Here are the songs and how much I enjoyed them:

1.Overture (10)
2.Think of Me (9)
3.Angel of Music (8)
4.Little Lotte (9)
5.The Phantom of the Opera (10)
6.The Music of the Night (10)
7.Stranger Than You Dreamt It (9)
8.Notes (9)
9.Prima Donna (9)
10.On the Roof (9)
11.All I Ask of You (10)
12.Masquerade (10)
13.Twisted Every Way (9)
14.Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (10)
15.Wandering Child (10)
16.The Point of No Return (10)
17.Down Once More (10)
18.Finale (10)

Here is a picture of me, Bart and Lavinia after seeing Phantom, having just grabbed some special phantom balloons!