I recently saw the 25th anniversary on PBS, and while I enjoyed it I did have some problems with some of the performances. I felt like the actress playing Christine was trying too hard to play up the ingenue aspect of the character. One example of this is when she first starts Canto in Don Juan Triumphant. She's prancing around the stage like she truly has "no thoughts within her head." I much prefer the solemn take of the song that they used in the movie. However, I do think that the actress in the play got better when they moved onto "point of no return".
I mostly liked the lady playing Madame Giry, but I felt like she was way over the superiore, in alto when she was claiming to Raoul that she didnt know any più than anyone else about the phantom. It was impossible for me not to be taken out of the story in that moment.
I will say that I liked this plays Carlotta much better than Minnie Driver.I dont normally have a problem with Minnie, but in this movie she was so irritating and shrill that she almost ruined the movie for me. In the play I feel like this actress was able to convey the diva aspects of Carlotta without overdoing it to the point of insanity.
As I detto in the beginning though, despite these issues I actually really liked the play. Also, as someone who saw the movie first it was interesting to watch this and note the similarities and differences.