I heard the original cast recording of "The Phantom of the Opera" for the first time in 5 years. I'd forgotten how brilliant this score was because I was so disappointed with the film. It was amazing to hear Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton who should have been in the film that was supposed to have been made in the 1990s. It was an incredible experience, like the stage-show. It's amazing how much one film can ruin a Phan's perspective. I just hope they don't make the same mistake with "Jekyll".

Indeed! I personally thought the 2004 POTO film was all right, but definitely nowhere near as great as it could have been. I still have no clue why ALW wanted Joel Schumacher to direct; the only one of his films I really liked was Phone Booth. That said, I still adore the original London cast, but have encountered a few Phantoms and Christines whom I prefer to Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. I don't think anyone will ever manage to top Steve's Raoul for me, though. (He made quite an excellent Phantom, as well. ;))

But yeah, hopefully Frank and the team he's assembling for the J&H movie will pay attention to what worked and what didn't in lots of the recent musical films. Though I think it kinda helps that there's no stage production that's considered the "definitive" version -- there's still lots of room for them to surprise us, I think. :D