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Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary, Aylesbury Waterside (via the Royal Albert Hall)

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Last night I went to the , where the venue’s small studio area, the SecondSpace, had been converted into a big-screen cinema for a live relay of The ’s 25th anniversary gala at the . It’s the first time I’ve been in the SecondSpace when it’s been in use as a performance area: the ingenious, adaptable design allows the seating to retract fully away into the walls and for a partition to be removed, making for a large open-plan bar area which was used for drinks receptions at the venue’s grand opening and at the gala night for last year’s pantomime.

Because of the retractible nature of the seating, I had expected that they wouldn’t be quite as comfortable as the luscious, generously proportioned seats in the main auditorium. And they’re not – but they are far better than I’d imagined, even if the fidgety old couple at the end of our row did cause the whole bank of seats to vibrate every time they shuffled around.

I wasn’t there to review the seats, though, but to see a transmission of the souvenir performance marking 25 years since The Phantom of the Opera blasted onto the stage (the actual anniversary is next weekend). A specially constructed set in the Albert Hall took over the whole of the choir and organ end of the auditorium. The upper level boxes were cleverly extended round to include Box Number Five, which the “Opera Ghost” demands is kept for his sole use. The main stage space saw the orchestra perched atop a series of ornate archways, with a lighting rig doubling as a faux proscenium arch that occasionally descended to show activity in the ‘fly tower’ above.

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Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary, Waterside (via the Royal Albert Hall)4Scott Matthewman2011-10-03 11:26:45Last night I went to the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, where the venue’s small studio area, the SecondSpace, had been converted into a big-screen cinem…

UPDATED: Love Never Dies, in more than 140 characters

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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest show, , receives its formal press night tonight, which means that the papers tomorrow will be full of reviews. Over at my place of work we’ll have a special podcast in which I talk about the show with Matt, our reviewer, as well as looking at the overall critical reaction. To catch it, subscribe in iTunes at http://bit.ly/stagepodcast and you’ll get it as soon as it’s available.

I saw the very first preview — breaking set automation and all — as the guest of a friend. At the time, I wasn’t particularly impressed and tweeted as much, in rather scatalogical terms that amused my friends – which is what it was meant to do. Unfortunately, that single tweet was done via a phone whose battery has been totally erratic over the last few weeks, and no sooner had I sent that than everything went dead and I had no chance to elaborate further on the night. However, the following morning I did discuss with my friends what my misgivings were, all the while conscious that, as a preview, there was scope to tweak some aspects of the production and fix others.

Unbeknownst to me, that tweet was being dissected on the message boards of another theatrical website — and as such, by people who were deprived of the context of my stream. It’s important to remember, I think, that individual posts on aren’t discrete, but part of a larger, longer, multi-threaded conversation that frequently heads off and continues on other websites or (gasp) the real world.

As it is, my overall impression of Love Never Dies is somewhat more diverse than a single tweet probably suggests. The Daily Mail, however, rang me earlier today to check that I had actually written the aforementioned tweet, so it may be mentioned in the national press tomorrow morning. Frankly, there are more influential and worthier people whose opinions matter more than mine, so quite what the Mail is doing sniffing around my Twitter stream I’m not too sure. Whatever they say, though, tomorrow’s podcast should demonstrate that my actual opinions are more well-rounded and thorough than a single, post-preview, tweet that gets repeated out of context would suggest.

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UPDATE: The aforementioned podcast is now online as a streaming MP3 as well as available as an ‘enhanced’ podcast via the iTunes Podcast Directory. I’ve also – a little warily – reopened my Twitter feed.

Closing my Twitter feed didn’t stop the Daily Mail misrepresenting my eight-word tweet as a ‘review’, nor did it stop one rather over-hopeful individual attempt to start a campaign to have me sacked (wasn’t going to happen, but you’ve got to his admire his chutzpah). It did, however, help ensure that today, I was able to communicate with my usual Twitter friends in my usual Twitter style without worrying what tabloid hacks may misrepresent as ‘news’.