The Phantom of the Opera (Highlights from the 1989 Original Canadian Cast)
A few years afterThe Phantom of the Operadebuted in London, Harold Prince unveiledAndrew Lloyd Webber's gothic musical in Canada, in 1989. It was so good that this recording of highlights from the Canadian cast is--dare we say it?--more enjoyable than the equivalentLondon cast highlights album. No, it doesn't have the authenticity of London principalsSarah Brightman(for whom then-husband Lloyd Webber wrote the role of Christine) andMichael Crawford, but it doesn't have their idiosyncrasies, either, and it does have the richer voices ofColm Wilkinsonand Rebecca Caine (who played Jean Valjean and older Cosette, respectively, in the1985 London cast ofLes Misérables). At 69 minutes, the Canadian album is also 10 minutes longer than the London, allowing inclusion of the prologue and dress rehearsal forHannibal. Of course, Lloyd Webber's melodies--"Angel of Music," "The Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"--are scrumptious on any continent.--David Horiuchi