#i do not think there is a single proshot from this show

[on-this-day-mcr]

On this day, June 6

In 2022: My Chemical Romance performed their fourteenth show of the 2022-2023 Swarm tour in Munich, Germany. At this show, the quote “A cat's rage is beautiful, burning with pure cat flame, all its hair standing up and crackling blue sparks, eyes blazing and sputtering.” from the novella "The Cat Inside" by William S. Burroughs was printed out and taped to the drum kit, alongside a pink heart. (🖤)

Watch the show here!

ᴅᴇᴀᴛᴛʜsᴘᴇʟʟs

#i do not think there is a single proshot from this show #if there is i couldn't find one #germany said fuck you you had to be there #ty to twitter user deatthspells tho who has a bangin phone camera #im also not 10000% convinced thats what the quote is but its the best guess we have #and the recording is incomplete #an enigma of a show truly #2022 #tour date #june 6 #swarm era

[flagbridge]

I Saw the Phantom Proshot at the NYPL

Happy 36th birthday to Phantom's first preview on Broadway! I was going to save this post for the actual 36th, but I figure all of us need some more Phantom Broadway "original" content since the official Insta accounts are reminding us today that Phantom is no longer (though it should be) on Broadway. I'm going to post about what I saw, and I'll follow up on January 26 with all my answers!

Some time ago, @or-what-you-will and I went to the NYPL's Theater on Film and Tape Archive, and viewed the archival pro shot of the Original Broadway Cast of Phantom of the Opera, filmed live on May 25, 1988. There is only one copy, and its purpose is artistic preservation (not commercial distribution--the library owns it). It was kept under lock and key during the show's run. All information about how to access the archive is on the website. I can't really tell you anything more besides what's out there because it will become identifying. You get set up in a room with monitors and can pause and rewind, although you can't touch the media.

This was not my first TOFT proshot, but it was the best-filmed. Some, there's a single camera just parked, or there's some generation loss because of when the tape was transferred to digital. This had absolutely vivid colors, a multi-camera shot, and brilliant and clear soundboard audio. I heard lyrics I have never heard (especially during Notes when everyone is singing over one another), the sound balancing was so good. It was as transformative as seeing it live.

These are all the notes we took while there (apologize if they can seem disjointed) More below the cut.

ACT 1 NOTES: 

-Multicam shot

-amazing audio (soundboard), vivid colors

-Raoul/Barton is crying in his voice during the auction

-there’s a “voice” that sounds like a woman singing with the overture (maybe a theramin?) We jumped in shock at this. We've never heard this before, not even on soundboard.

-Sarah Brightman comes on stage during the Hannibal rehearsal, moving across the stage with Meg during “Rome not Roma”--so she dances in the front row during the Hannibal ballet

-Hannibal ballet then has 10 dancers and since Christine is in the whole thing, there is slightly different choreo

-there’s a synth under Meg’s “he’s there, the phantom of the opera” 

-Firmin lights a cigarette and Andre (Future Phantom Cris Groenendaal) stops him right before “Think of Me’ which makes the “Defense de Fumer” on the back of the curtain make even more sense

-Think of Me Gala skirt is not as full (but of note, Carlotta’s Elissa costume is much more ornate than we have now or even at the end of Broadway)

-Raoul sings slightly different notes in Think of Me. Steve Barton goes down a few notes on “young and innocent” (it’s not belted) and is clearly wistful. 

-The think of me cadenza is absolutely effortless

-The “Bravi, Bravi” is haunting and perfectly sound balanced!

-Meg can actually sing and the Angel of Music harmonies work

-Raoul (Steve Barton) is nervous before going into the dressing room. He taps his fingers on the banister and takes a deep breath before going in

-He’s also nervous inside the dressing room–you can see him going from seeing an old friend to suddenly having feelings, being attracted to her. When he’s standing behind her he has a slight moment when he nearly touches a lock of her hair. 

-Raoul is wearing a ring on his right hand (signet?)

-Steve Barton says MY Little Lotte

-Christine (Brightman) is excited about meeting the Angel of music and has a wanting and longing in “Enter at LAST master” (in a way that Lily Kerhoas does now and we haven’t had many Christines who do this) 

-The picture is VERY CLEAR and NO WASHOUT when we see Michael Crawford appear in the mirror for Phantom’s entrance. You see everything

-When the door opens for Raoul to the dressing room after they go through the mirror, it opens slowly (vs banging open). It’s the same tempo that Phantom moves to take Christine through the mirror

-1925 Phantom silhouette vibes at the first “sing for me” 

-Not a particularly aggressive cape twirl, but def a twirl. 

-They get VERY close on “turn your face away”, almost kiss (like, Russians, Panaro/Joseph close) 

- he has a nice portcullis sprawl but she does not press against him, there is visible space between them the entire time

-”Caress” and “hear it, feel it” are explicitly seductive, the former in how it’s sung, the latter because he self-caresses on “feel it”

-the “Touch me” in touch me/trust me is half sung/half spoken order, she strokes her hand over the mask and he does not pull away

-He does have a little panic when she faints and he covers her with the cloak. He’s holding her hair when he sings to her there

-At the unmasking, MC holds for a brief moment before covering his face with his hand so the audience gets a peek of the deformity (before “damn you”) 

-Vixen not viper

-Crawls on knees, not stomach. We get…lots of crying and whimpering 

-Christine sees his face a lot during this sequence. MC lowers his hand as soon as he’s on her side of the stage from “secretly dreams of beauty” to “Oh Christine”, when he turns away–but she is looking at him the entire time. MC is angled right by a mirror shard so we can see a bit of the deformity reflected back

-Right before “come we must return”, MC is about to cup her face with both his hands before changing his mind–she starts to reach for him as well. 

-His Mandarin robe is much longer than we have now (ankle length vs calf length) 

-This Giry has witch vibes

-Steve Barton is playing eager puppy Raoul and it shows even though he looks older (Barton was 35 at the time)

-The sound balancing is so good that you can hear lines you don’t normally hear during Notes 1 and Prima Donna–including the Managers thinking that Christine has just been off with Raoul all night. 

-Sarah Brightman does a different pose on the bed as the pageboy during Il Muto. She crosses her legs vs putting her hands on her hips. 

-Firmin yells “the role of Christine Daae” to the proscenium, clearly directed at Phantom

-Barton Raoul’s “There is no Phantom of the Opera” comes off more as “Christine this is just some dude” vs “he doesn’t exist at all.” 

-Raoul loves Christine so much. He strokes her hair gently to comfort her right before “No more talk of darkness”--his eyes are soft and he’s genuinely caring and concerned (vs trying to be a hero) 

-”All I ask is for one love one lifetime”--different lyrics, she does it twice (This is on soundboards from the time)

-Raoul puts his face to Christine’s hands at the proposal. 

-Christine is clearly kissing his cheek right next to his mouth during the kiss (the final lair kiss is a real kiss) 

-Christine’s “I must go” is not as playful as we often see it later. She really is trying to go. 

-Raoul is nervous at “Christine, I love you”--he lowers his head for a moment worried that he said something wrong. He’s excited when she replies “order your fine horses”

-AIAOY Reprise: Michael Crawford is partially slumped over the angel, he’s holding hands with it to the audience’s right, and arm is slumped over on the left. We get a lot of anguished weeping, and little distressed moans as Christine and Raoul sing, there is rocking and head shaking and then covering his ears. It’s a HUGE difference then when he stands up fully for “You will curse” (he does this again during final lair between “unfeeling scrap of clothing” and “pity comes too late) 

-He also roars before standing

-The Phantom laugh/cackle continues well into the chandelier drop into intermission at the light cut out for about 15 seconds. 

Act II

-Carlotta masquerade costume has no mesh in the skirt–it’s much more of a see-through skeleton crinoline, so the feature is the purple tights

-Not surprising since Sarah Brightman is a dancer, but Christine does the proper choreography during Masquerade--she's the center of attention. Barton also does quite a bit of dancing.

-There’s an organ (almost like a circus organ) underlying the finale during masquerade

-Red Death double doesn’t run down the stairs, he stays at the top

-Giry/Raoul exchange after masquerade–both holding the lantern and super closeup

-Reyer is clearly gay–coded. Some voice and hand gestures during Sitzprobe

-Wishing–only one “help me say goodbye” (when did the second one get added?)

-”Far-reaching” gaze, Wandering Child is a duet

-Piangi says “conquest” is assured (at some point, this became “congress”)

-Michael Crawford imitates Piangi until “past the point…”

-Sarah as Christine is listening intently to Phantom’s voice and immediately noticed something is off–she doesn’t figure it out right away but she notices something. She is suspicious the entire time. It's not clear when she knows for certain.

-Christine never flees from him, during the first caresses, he hovers over her body, she turns to kiss him, he turns away, her hand lingers on her back, before she gets up to sing her solo part away from the table

-Michael Crawford’s hands are in in his crotch when Christine’s singing on the other side of the stage (“you have come here”)--he’s moving his palms in his lap the whole time, his hands are shaking, we only get glimpses of him, most of this part it’s focused on her

-There is none of the arm waving circling while their hands are held, she takes his hands, he switches his grip to hold one of hers, and they keep them on him

-She figures it out when she reaches down–she’s holding his hands above him and she pushes her left (our right) hand down and he pulls and she notices something–we can only see to his upper waist but her hand disappears and her expression changes, it’s implied he has an erection

-she doesn’t ever feel the mask, either accidentally or on purpose

-She doesn’t actually ever try to escape. It’s not the current West End or the past blocking–but more accurate in that she is aware of the situation and plays along. She keeps going with the blocking

-they both get up and keep singing, neither drags the other to the centre, they move together and keep singing 

-The last “return”--he sings it at the unhooding, she doesn’t

-”Say you’ll share with me”--he is really pleading and almost crying on “say you want me” 

-The managers don’t come out to try to usher her offstage, she doesn’t signal to them to stay

-When Phantom gives her the ring, she takes it, but doesn’t put it on–she just holds it

-He doesn’t scream at the unmasking, he just looks shocked and sad

-Ratcatcher order is different–it’s after Raoul and Giry’s first lines, that’s the indication that Giry needs to turn around, Giry screams

-Phantom is crying at “flesh” and through “unfeeling scrap of clothing”, he’s also hunched over through this sequence, and then stands to his full height at “Pity comes too late.”

-Phantom makes a big show of raising the portcullis, hands fully raised

-Raoul swats at Erik with one hand (the other is still on the noose) when Phantom grabs Christine on “start a new life” 

-Phantom is probably the “minimum” amount of rough as we see Phantoms be with Christine in this sequence, as in, he’s definitely scary and menacing but he’s not harming her. He does grab her and spin her around on “start a new life with me.” There are a few wrist grabs (which is book accurate). He’s realizing more that his plan is absolutely crumbling. We get some shots of him on the organ looking panicked.

-Phantom makes a low growling noise before “you try my patience”, which is delivered quickly and almost casually. It is not menacing as some later Phantoms do. 

-”Pitiful creature”..MC’s hand is subtly shaking by his side

-The kiss: the 1st one MC stands with “claw hands” at his side, on the second one, the “claw hands” start shaking

-MC hunches over after he burns the noose

-He stands over the monkey, conducting it with one hand, he is mimicking the symbol clashes, he doesn’t touch it or cover its face

-When Christine returns the ring, his hand shakes as he takes it, he’s hunched over again. 

-She does seem conflicted about leaving, but she doesn’t press her hand back around his, she holds out the ring and his hand shakes as she takes it. She doesn’t linger very long. 

-He says a second “I love you” after she’s gone.

-He’s about to say it a third time, he says “I love…” and then see the veil, and grabs it and screams into it, and then turns and sees the boat leaving

-He sobs and keens a lot

-Raoul bends in the boat to caress Christine’s face on “say the word”)--this is halfway across the stage as opposed to during the stage right exit.

-Deliberately cracks voice on the "can" in “you alone can make” 

-MC Cradling the veil like a baby at the very end

SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS! You can put it in comments, reblogs, AMA or DM's. I will answer all of them on January 26!

#phantom of the opera #poto #poto broadway #original poto #michael crawford #sarah brightman #steve barton #cris groenendaal #the phantom #christine daae #raoul de chagny #alw phantom #proshot #toft archive #YOU GUYS I SAW THE PHANTOM BROADWAY PROSHOT #POTO Broadway never should have closed

[cryptiqish]

some quick thoughts on nerdy prudes must die

first off - this is 100% a return to form for starkid for me. tgwdlm was like. lighting in a bottle but i really, really am not a fan of black friday - so i dipped after that, and never really looked into nightmare time etc. as i'm not super into the hatchetfield eldritch lore stuff - honestly, i figured i was aging out of it. THAT SAID. holy shit. npmd is brilliant

every single goddamn song is a banger. every one. it's so rare for me to like everything at least to a little bit, but when i can interchange my entire top 5 you know it's brilliant. high school is killing me, nerdy prudes must die, dirty girl, hatchet town...all top tier starkid in general. up there w tgwdlm

angela giarratana and will branner steal this entire show. absolutely insane stuff from both of them. will in particular...oh man. it's his show and you just KNOW it

oh shit!!! oh fuck!!!! i didnt think thered be a skele'uhn here... im so fucking scared of skele'uhnz!!!

it's FUNNY

i <3 the weird anime nerd kid. rip king

jon's vocals and just. general range in this is amazing to see from tgwdlm

 i will say i wish this maintained the more straight slasher vibe of the first act all the way through but that’s just personal preference since i'm less into the overarching eldritch lore stuff as mentioned. with that in mind though, i didn't find the lords in black stuff as jarring as i thought i would (and the summoning's a banger) - so it works narratively. i think at the end of the day i prefer my standalone shows - not everything needs to be an extended universe - so i was pleasantly surprised at how relatively well this could function as its own thing.

following that - i think this is the closest starkid's gotten to like, off-broadway quality - with plot modifications i could 100% see it making the jump. the production quality - of both the musical itself and the proshot, is amazing - everything pops, it's incredibly polished and just looks brilliant (again, such a step up from BF.)

shoutout to the costume design in particular. top tier work again. ghost max looked crazy good.

for something that in actuality didn't get a lot of focus...can’t stop thinking about how the whole max jagerman grace chastity dynamic is like the absolute HARDEST thing to randomly come out of starkid. the implicit themes had absolutely no right to go that hard!!!! it’s a silly horror comedy!

devout repressed christian and a boy that thinks he’s god. and then she deals with the first sign of sexual attraction to him by killing him??

and then his ghost comes back for vengeance, viewing it as divine justice - and then she ends the musical enacting her own vengeful divine justice?? straight up with modified reprise of his song?? they’re one and the same?? the prayer motif???

“will you pray for me / when i’m gone / or is this the eternal dark without a dawn” and “who will pray for you / when your body’s gone” is like the rawest motif of all time and it’s in the same musical that has an ten minute long barbecue joke sequence unrelated to the plot

nothing sexier than the motif of killing god and god killing you, in general. i do think i loved this one because it played with a lot of my fave tropes and themes of horror - high school slasher, archetypes, coming back wrong, religion, all that

"the big game" kept cracking me up it's so dumb and yet

anyway this whole thing just felt like we've unlocked...i dunno, a new level of starkid?? i was blown away and i'm sure for those more invested in hatchetfield beyond tgwdlm it hit even more, but it's left me so excited to see what's next from them for the first time in years.

#team starkid #nerdy prudes must die #npmd #starkid #NO REASON THE GRACE AND MAX THING HAD TO GO THAT HARD. FOR WHAT REASON. fuck i would have loved if that got a bigger focus #i wasn't as invested in steph/pete i think because of it - they were very cute but the batshit insanity of those two offstage was compellin

[ratfreecog]

How was newsies vibrates excitedly

IT WAS SO GOOD I SAW IT LAST NIGHT

This school has such a big budget drama program it’s insane good on them for actually valuing the arts. The theater was huge it felt like walking into a professional venue in my city not a high school. I wish my old school cared that much our drama teacher got fired for embezzling our club’s funds. Jack, Davey, Katherine, and Crutchie were all so good it was insane. Also, girl Crutchie!! Hell yeah!!

Predictably, a vast majority of the newsies were girls, but instead of trying to hide it and making them dress and act like boys, they just made them girl newsies and used some of the names from Newsies Jr and the Brooklyn girlsies instead. The only exception to this was Albert, who was played by a very femme person with long hair and a skirt, but was still called Albert, which I think is hilarious and I’m hoping that was the actor’s choice.

They also actually had adults play the adult characters which was interesting?? For a highschool production but good for them ig

My favorite moment was in the last Pulitzer’s office scene when Davey goes “since the strike, your circulation’s been down 70%” and Jack, who was currently laying down across the arms of two chairs, did a sit up and whispered “70%” and then laid back down

Also during the Snyder chase scene at the start they had Jack run up one of these scaffolding buildings that were part of the set, realize it was a dead end at the top, turn around and be cornered by Snyder, and then dived between his legs and ran back down to the floor again. Wonderful choreography 10/10.

Speaking of choreography, they actually tap dance during KONY! Holy shit! Was not expecting that! And it was good! Like really good! Hell yeah. All the dancing was really good actually very similar to the Broadway production but like they did a great job at it.

Crutchie also broke my fucking heart during LFTR she actually started crying on the “your sister, Crutchie” line and so did I in the audience

Jack fucking killed Santa Fe he was awesome. Just always he was awesome but Santa Fe was really fucking good

For the seize the day reprise where they’re singing it while Jack Davey and Spot are going to Pultizer’s office, for some reason (I’m guessing running out of time in rehearsal) instead of having the kids sing they played an audio clip from the proshot and it caught me so offguard and im definitely the only person who noticed because I know every single line in this show and have performed the entire thing by myself in box at my haunt to keep myself entertained in between customers.

Overall it was awesome! I do know this show so well that it haunts me and literally every other line an alarm would go off in my brain for whatever they did and how it compared to other versions of the show and what it might mean for their characters so I could probably go a lot more in depth but these were my main thoughts coming out of it. They did a fantastic job!

#newsies #jack kelly #crutchie morris #david jacobs #racetrack higgins

[margridarnauds]

Hello, please talk about some TV show and song recommendations. :)

I've actually been wondering for ages if you've heard of the concept musical, Lady M, which has been releasing promo songs here and there. I want to emphasize that I'm not SOLD on it, not 100%, since (1) They've only released three songs and (2) They talk about inventing "an original backstory to Lady Macbeth's villainy and downfall" and they how "chilling flashbacks of her haunted past are woven into this reimagining of the famous tale", and that sort of thing can go either really, really well or really, really badly (I am begging people, she doesn't NEED a tragic backstory, especially if it ends up being trauma porn), BUT Lady Macbeth's song, "What Must Be Done", DOES fuck. If the rest of the musical ends up being garbage, I'll still have this song.

Another concept musical that I've been really impressed with (and now has had a concert performance that was recorded and is available on Spotify, so I can judge it more accurately) is Treason: The Musical. I've been supporting this musical since 2021, so I've been very interested to see whether this would do well or whether it would be one of those musicals that get a bit of traction and then burn out. It seems, at first glance, to be one more cynical Hamilton rip-off (not to name names...but. You know. You Know™), and I think that it WAS born from the Hamiltrend, in the sense that I don't think it would have been created without it. But it has its own unique folk sound that sets it apart; it isn't mindlessly following the trend, and honestly I would say that the weakest parts of the show are the moments where it DOES sound like Hamilton (namely, James (V)I's parts). They even use the lyrics to one of my folk songs, "The Unquiet Grave/Cold Blows the Wind" as a bookend to the musical -- and it's impressive that I LIKED it since I'm a die hard proponent for the "Dives and Lazarus" musical setting for the song (most non-D&L settings are...boring, which is criminal in a song about a ghost coming from the grave to tell her boyfriend to stop crying over her.) Favorite songs include: When Will I See You Again, Blind Faith, Burn, The Day Elizabeth Died, No Happy Ending.

Finally, no song/musical recommendations list of mine would be itself without me plugging my beloved Marie Antoinette: The Musical, specifically the 2.0 version (DO NOT watch the German, I BEG you, if you want to have any affection for the musical left). It features my favorite feral gremlin musical lady protagonist, Margrid Arnaud, who we're first introduced to when she splashes champagne on the Queen of France, and she only gets more unhinged from there. She's everything that people say they want from a female Blorbo -- She's pathetic, she cries on stage over a situation she absolutely partially caused, she might or might not be fucking the king's scheming goth cousin while pining for Marie Antoinette's boytoy, she has daddy issues, she has mommy issues, she has half-sibling issues, she leads a mob to Versailles, she commits perjury and gets off free during the height of the Reign of Terror, she calls down the wrath of God on the aristocrats. She's like Madame Defarge on speed with positive character development. Literally no one is doing it like her. Have some of Margrid in her natural element, from the Korean proshot (which I'm not legally allowed to say whether I have a copy of it.)

Speaking of Storming Versailles, have some Je Veux le Monde from 1789 -- every single production of 1789 has had Woman Problems in some capacity (hilariously enough, NEVER the same Woman Problems, so you get to pick your poison), but the song fucks.

[maurypovichofficial2]

the thing about broadway proshots is that if the show has the budget/popularity it IS recorded usually w the original cast (or an anniversary version for long running shows like phantom or les mis) and then just stored somewhere. the recording belongs to the company that owns the licensing rights and it’s fucking insane that they don’t regularly get released when a show closes

I know! Literally EVERY single show pretty much has a recording somewhere and they just hoard them and let it all collect dust instead of releasing it and letting people enjoy them. Even if you don’t want to release from an entertainment standpoint I think students who are in school for performing arts should have access to these recordings for educational purposes. But like no even then just let us all see them, the Broadway community is NOT hurting financially because of bootlegs that is such a tired, classist and capitalistic standpoint. The Hamilton movie came and went and did sales slip just because you can watch it at home?? NO. I shouldn’t have to wait for a crappy movie of Wicked when a recording of the show with Idina and Kristin is locked in a vault. Make your movie but give me that too! Humans learned how to sing and dance before they even learned how to speak. What those people do on those stages are part of the human spirit, and I just hate that as an actor, I am forced to stand by and watch the greediness and gatekeeping of Broadway. You’d think having a pandemic snatch it away from us all would make these theatres and producers think twice about this but I guess 845 MILLION dollars made by them last year just isn’t enough no no they need more and making sure poor and middle class people who can’t afford a trip to Broadway or even THE TOUR….making sure those kids those teenagers those people don’t have access to professional recordings is the way to go. Yeah that’s it.

#Broadway #musicals #musical theater fandom #musical theatre

[cosettepontmercys]

Hi!!!! I'm so sorry I didn't reply again until now. I wanted to reply the other day but basically my ask got deleted halfway thru replying and I didn't have time again until now. I'm so glad you had a great time at the movie. It seems like you had a lot of fun and i'm glad you were able to see it again. I expected there not to be a lot of people at the last show since it was so late and it was an added show on Thursday. It did make me wanna see it again just to experience it with other people but I don't know if I will. I hope it comes to streaming so I can watch it over and over. I loved noticing new things seeing it up close. What did your friend think of the whole show? Sometimes I forget how incredible it is how Taylor created and came up with it mostly by herself..a true mastermind! I'm grateful that I was able to go to the show at least once compared to the people that didn't. It did make me nostalgic for my show but I also loved the surprise songs cuz it was like how the fans that have been there from the beginning since Our Song to now with You're On Your own Kid just made it special. Aww she really put it on and said it was her favorite!!! I knew about the cut songs beforehand but my sister didn't and it took her some time to realize any were cut. I understand some of them cuz it didn't have choreography and I guess the movie maybe felt a little long but also everything went by fast too. But that was the one that hurt the most cuz its one of my favorites. It's also the only single from the album so I couldn't believe she cut it. I love them all but my favorites are probably Speak Now and Folklore too, along with rep.

I never listened to Renee's EP cuz I was waiting until her album but I do plan to hear them together probably next week. The few songs I've heard so far I've liked though. I have to give Holly's album a few more listens as well before I know my favorites but which ones did you like the best? I also enjoyed Boygenius as well. Ya I am curious about the movie version but I'm not excited about it or anything. I don't think it would change much from the stage version, but I'm happy it's at least people kinda from Broadway. I never saw anything from Sabrina if she ever was on Broadway, cuz I can't remember..but I agree..she could've been a great Cady. I remember the stunt cast for Cameron Dallas and apparently he was so bad lol. I'm sorry you didn't get to see it on Broadway but I might see it on tour in a few months to compare it to the movie. I also heard a Waitress proshot is coming soon so I'm probably more interested in seeing that, cuz I couldn't on tour.

So one of the reasons I didn't reply to you was cuz we went to see Les Mis last night!!! We were trying to go on Wednesday but it didn't work out so I didn't wanna tell you I was seeing it if I wasn't sure I could go. But it was so amazing and probably top 5 shows I've seen. I would want to go again to have better seats and cuz there was a lot going on, on stage, that I missed. It was really funny though cuz I hadn't thought of the musical in a while but of course I still knew all of the words haha. It felt really fast paced and I wish I could've paid more attention or soaked it in more..that was kinda my first time seeing a sung through show, so it was a good thing I knew it so well lol. My favorite parts were I Dreamed a Dream, The Confrontation, Stars, and One Day More, but I really loved the flow of Act One. The barricade scenes were good too, but the set was pretty dark which made it kinda hard to see. Of course I thought of you every time they said Cosette! And I noticed it was a lot haha. Anyway I also remembered I saw Moulin Rouge on tour almost the exact same day last year which is a crazy coincidence! I only know that cuz it was around when Midnights came out..which is today and I wanna know how you feel about it when it first came out compared to now. I think it's grown on me a lot and I do love it way more now. I can't believe 1989 is only a week away! I'm so excited to hear new Taylor songs to react to..it's so fun and will be fun to see if we have the same favorites.

Wow cool..that's awesome that you met up at your show! You're so sweet to say that and I realized we have been talking back and forth for a while now. I definitely think of you as my friend! Sometimes I worry that I have nothing interesting to say but then I also worry I talk so much lol. But that's why I say you shouldn't worry about replying..but I didn't want you to feel like I forgot about you either. I really do enjoy our conversations and how we just talk about our interests since I don't really have anyone else to talk about this stuff with. It feel weird that you don't know what I look like or that I'm just online, and sometimes I feel weird about it. Books are something I'm glad we can bond over, since my sister doesn't have as much time for reading, and I'm excited to start the book soon. If we are reading the Night Circus too, it's okay cuz I can read two books at the same time but just let me know. I read the summary of those on Goodreads and it reminded me of Only Murders in the Building, even if I haven't even watched the show yet but it's on my list. If you've seen it, let me know how it is. I am not a big thriller or mystery reader but it did seem interesting so I'm glad you enjoyed them! I'm sorry if I forgot anything, but I might not be able to reply until Monday if you reply to this though..just to let you know. I hope you have a nice weekend!

hi friend!! hope you're having a good weekend 🤍 i saw something on twitter about it maybe going to prime, but i take most things i see on twitter with a grain of salt 😭 my friend really liked it — and is super excited to see her next year 🥺 i understand why a lot of them were cut (choreo, etc) but i was really bummed because i love long live and the archer and cardigan and - well, all of them. i was talking to some friends on thursday about how if we could change anything in the eras setlist in a way that wouldn't alter production too much (i.e. costume changes, choreography, speeches, giving her time to rest a bit, etc) what would we change and so i want to ask you the same question! what would you change if you could? i think i said i'd switch out i knew you were trouble with holy ground or red! i would personally also maybe switch all too well 10 for the 5 minute version, and then add our song or i'm only me when i'm with you (or both) instead, just so i could get my little debut songs in. but i do think it's pretty perfect and even the songs that i don't gravitate towards listening to regularly are SO much fun live. the rep set is SO good; we've talked about how it's not my favorite album of hers but honestly one of my favorite eras performances i think.

i think elvis impersonators, cocoon, and ghost me are in my top 3, but i'm not entirely sure yet! i can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on holly's album!! sabrina was only cady for like, two days so not a whole lot exists out there! but i really liked her take on cady. i feel like more often than not i am disappointed with stunt casting (i understand why they do it though) — speaking of stunt casts, i'm curious to see how jordan fisher does as orpheus in hadestown! i'm seeing the tour in a few weeks and i'm super excited to finally see someone who isn't reeve carney haha! and yes — waitress proshot! it was announced yesterday or the day before, i think! my friend texted me about it but i'm not sure if i'll have time to go see it in cinemas. hopefully it gets put on streaming sometime soon too!! i just remembered broadwayhd exists — there's so much on there that i haven't seen (that being said, if you've never seen daddy long legs the musical, i do recommend it because megan mcginnis' voice is beautiful and i just love her — although the actual musical content/plot is a bit questionable — and of course, she loves me and allegiance are also ones i'd recommend)! i didn't know they did a proshot of snapshots — john cardoza was in it and i really like him (i saw him in the notebook + really like what i've heard of him in moulin rouge + like what i heard of him in the snapshots cast recording) so i might give that a watch sometime! and i forgot they filmed the production of first date that sam barks was in! i was also just thinking of submissions only, which was a web series back in like 2012 and is pretty scrubbed from the internet now, unfortunately but i loved it. did you ever watch smash? now i'm feeling incredibly nostalgic!

oh my gosh did you have fun at les mis!!! i really liked the marius on tour (gregory lee rodriguez) — his marius is so earnest and so charming; i saw him in a show here in seattle a few years ago and i remember thinking he was a very likable actor so i was really excited to see him in les mis when i saw the tour in june! the barricade scenes are some of my favorites, but yes — lighting can be tricky! i've been meaning to rewatch the movie at some point as well, but it's so long and such a commitment. i was also ... doing a VERY good job of working at my les mis reread/annotations but then ... did not do that. so we'll see if i pick it back up or if i decide to push it off to next year haha. and no way! that's such a cool coincidence!

i really like midnights; i think it's a solid album — but i do find myself reaching for the 3am tracks over some of the songs on midnights proper a lot! it's interesting because my friends and i did a little ~ prediction ~ of our favorites based on names and i could not have been more wrong. i said lavender haze, anti hero, you’re on your own kid, question…? and sweet nothing were ones that stood out to me, and i do like them, don't get me wrong, but the only one i listen to A LOT is you're on your own kid. i think my top listened to midnights tracks/favorite midnights tracks are (in no particular order): yoyok, mastermind, the great war and dear reader. what about you?

you don't need to worry about not having anything interesting to say! i love chatting with you — you can literally come talk to me about anything you want! and you don't need to apologize for taking your time to reply either! and i'm happy to do whatever works for you reading schedule wise / buddy reading wise! i haven't watched OMITB but i've heard really good things and there's apparently a lot of broadway people cameos in the third season? which is fun!

hope you're having a good weekend 🤍 🤍 !!

#post: answered #🩷 anon

[jellicle-brawl]

"Hey Jelliclebrawl, you're being really cavalier and showing a lot of favoritism on this poll. :/"

Couple reasons for that.

I have in fact not shown favoritism, because thus far I have implied that I want Tugger to win. This is not true! I'm expecting that likely either he and/or Misto will win, and I'm okay with that because I like them, but I am also nerfing them as much as I fairly can so that at least they have to work for it. However, I actually want Etcetera to win, because she's my baby. I just don't think she stands a chance against, you know, everyone else. Maybe against Pouncival. I think she could take him.

On a less jokey level, this is my fourth tournament (and will be the third that has started voting once it does). In the first I was accused of favoritism because I said in an offmic conversation that I would like the two mascots of the bracket to make it to the finals; in the second, I ended up going off on one of my voters because my determination to remain impartial meant that I couldn't just say "I do not actually like this option and here is why" to the person who kept pushing me regarding an offhand and extremely neutral remark I made. So, I'm trying something different, and seeing what happens if I'm just really blatant about which options I'm backing. Especially since my choice is likely to change at the drop of a hat, especially with the groupies and young toms, because I really do love every single character and would genuinely love any of them to win. But especially Etcetera, because she's my baby.

In the two weeks before I changed up this tournament, I got exactly two votes. One of them was from my best friend submitting John Partridge as Tugger because they knew I really wanted to run him but had already selected the two autoentries and left him up to chance. It was really discouraging but in the interim while I watched that number stay at two I decided to just run a bracket about the 1999 proshot, because I had all those gifs anyway so why not? And since this is effectively a tournament where all of the options are my own submissions, I realized I can just do whatever I want to. Would I have really liked to do my original idea instead? Absolutely, and maybe if this tournament builds enough of a follower base I can run it (and my original original idea) in future. But in the meantime... I make the rules babyyyy. If you wanted impartiality you should have submitted to my tournament when you had the chance.

I want to be able to talk about my opinions and headcanons and the stuff I'm putting into my fanfictions and the little background things I've spotted and having to remain impartial gets in the way of that. Having to do it for the Discworld poll is hard enough; doing it for the thing I am actively hyperfixating on would be torture. I want to be able to chat with you guys in the comments. I want to have fun engaging with fellow fans. I can't do any of those things if I have to sit on my hands and pretend I don't care who wins or loses and don't have any favorites while I'm in character. I'm still in character here, just this time the character I'm inhabiting is a guy with 27 cats and some dogs and I really want you to have opinions about them with me while you decide amongst yourselves which ones you like best.

And, because it bears saying: regardless of my own impartiality, vote your own heart. If something I say makes you decide that you like that option, then by all means! But I am one man and I have one vote (well, two if I feel like going to the trouble of logging into the old account), and all of my propaganda should carry the same weight as any other rando who propagandas about the polls.

#nobody has actually said anything i just want to be upfront about what i'm about #impartiality on the part of the pollrunner really is important to me and in a way i am still maintaining it on some level #i think if i had one clear favorite maybe i would be making more of an attempt #but the more i thought about it the more i realized my opinions were all based on who i would be sad to see get voted out and like #all of them #honestly #i love all of them! #they are so fun for me! #like if pressed i'd say that i'd like grizabella not to win but that's only because she already won the ball #so someone else should get a chance to win the brawl! #but even that is more like... so what if she does win? #she's a really good character and mrs. paige put her whole p- #no i shan't say it #not because it's inappropriate it's just a really low hanging fruit of a pun #anyway even with the cat that i least want to win it's still a case of 'this would still be a satisfying conclusion' #but anyway the point is #impartiality is very important to me and so if i'm going to be partial and show blatant favoritism #i'd at least like us all to be on the same page about the what my favoritism manifests itself as and why i'm allowing it

[hhuta]

every day i think about how they changed the le bien qui fait mal and l'assasinphonie choreography so salieri wasn't dancing close with sexy half naked men. do we know why. i have tried and failed to pinpoint an exact time. i feel like im going insane. they no homoed a dance

anon.. i think about that daily too... im so happy someone else loves the original choreos like i do 😭 it took me a while to reply cuz i was on a mission to answer ur questions as best as i could. so... finally... here is what i found out:

first of all if u wanna read my rant about the changes, in general, here are the posts about le bien qui fait mal and l'assasymphonie

second of all "do we know why" is a good question. meaning i dont have an answer dlkjaskl i just now started to learn french so if they ever talked about it in a video, or something... i missed it. so right away im telling u that i can only offer my guesses.

///

starting with LE BIEN QUI FAIT MAL, as i said in that post i linked, i tried to figure out whether they only degayed it for the 2011 proshot or not and i found out that no, the changes were also present in live performances.

then an anon told me massimiliano (the dancer who manhandles salieri) couldnt be at the 2011 proshot recording. i checked the video and he really wasnt there at all, but that still doesnt fully explain things, bc as u will see from my extensive, very professional research, unlike in the 2011 proshot, in live 2011 shows massimiliano was there, performing, in other parts of the musical. just not during lbqfm. i know he is an irreplaceable icon, so much that i couldnt find a single video where he wasnt the one manhandling salieri (even tho other dancers, from other parts of the choreo, kept switching), but to me its now clear that that was not the case. they really just decided to change the choreo.

so now lets see how it all progressed

for that its helpful to know the dates of mor performances. based on that i was insane enough to watch as many videos as i could to try to pinpoint when the choreo changed. except it wasnt that simple. i quickly found out that a loootttttt of other changes happened before that major one, before massimiliano left. so here it is

THE LBQFM CHOREO CHANGES I NOTICED

03.01.2010 last PDS performance, still the original

6, 26 february 2010 original

11 march 2010 original (massimiliano's skirt fell off 😭)

20 march 2010 original

8 may 2010 original

9 may 2010 not so much the original anymore. this is the first change i've noticed. @1:28 originally its a male dancer who bends back salieri and then there are 2 men and 2 women who .. idk how to describe it, but do that push and pull motion. here one of the guys is not there

(10, 11, 12 no performances)

13, 15, 16 may 2010 now the other guy is gone too, only women left (but the dancer is not really gone. im pretty sure hes there, doing another thing next to them)

(cannot find a video from the 17th, that was the last performance in lyon)

performances at zenith de saint etienne begin at the 21st but i couldnt find a video from it

22 may 2010 original again (sidenote salieri is really unhinged here)

27 may 2010 change. female dancer who's usually interacting with salieri during the first verses isnt there, just massimiliano. not sure if its the same woman who calls him during the bridge and moves him thru the dancers but anyways shes also not there, he walks around alone. so when the Climax happens, again, only massimiliano is there grabbing him

31 may 2010 and 6, 10, 13 and 19 june 2010 another change. the female dancer is back, but during "j'adore l'avoir dans la peau" usually there are two dancers next to him mimicking playing a harp with their bodies but not this time

now the dates that matter the most i cant find a single videeooo 🤡 which are the performances in limoges (25, 26 and 27 june 2010) so all i can say is that

3 july 2010 is the first time i could find that massimiliano wasnt there. aka the degayed choreo. but i cant say if it is the first. also the original choreo for the "j'adore..." part is back again. thats the only performance they did in nancy and its also the last tour performance from 2010. a bunch of people were at the curtain call, even albert cohen was there, so its very weird that massimiliano was absent. im so mad i couldnt find those videos from late june bc all i got is just one video of him not being there, which makes me think he just couldnt be there so they had to change the choreo

9 november 2010 they are back in PDS and its the original again (also this is just for me but he still has the original cravat here. im trying to kill two birds with one stone)

2 december 2010 original (salieris beautiful cravat is gone 😔but this is one of my fave videos)

5, 11 december 2010 still the original

12 december 2010 changes again 😭 "j'adore..." harp dancers are gone again

14 december 2010 they are back <3 (funny video bc mikelangelo forgets to give florent the score)

18 december 2010 NOW HERE ITS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING. a little change. massimiliano is there at the beginning, he drags salieri around but then hes gone before the first verse starts! and he doesnt come back !!! harp dancers are still there tho lmao

19 december 2010 massimiliano is fully gone 🎻 yamin even replaced him during la mascarade, like it happens in the 2011 proshot. i think since this date this change became the standard for a while, before they went back to the original. in the meantime, im guessing its when they shot the 2011 proshot

26 december 2010 still just the female dancer

4, 8 january 2011 still just the female dancer

9 january 2011 still just the female dancer but because it was the last performance in paris, before going on tour again, she has a whip for funsies. also they added, at the end, 2 female dancers sorta removing and quickly putting back salieris coat

28 january 2011 first tour performance, still just the female dancers. and i was not paying attention to this before, but i noticed for the first time in this video the 2 women dancing together, like they show for 2 seconds in the 2011 proshot. lesbian rights <3 i dont think it was part of the original choreo? its hard to tell exactly when they added that bc people usually record salieri, not the dancers, and hes not next to them when it happens (its before the bridge)

4, 5, 6 february 2011 still just the female dancer. but unlike before, this time (but idk exactly when it began) massimiliano was there for other parts of the show; yamin and other people didnt replace him (on the 4th: im pretty sure hes present in l'assasymphonie) (on the 5th: hes in la mascarade, le trublion, etc)

so. they really just changed it. massimiliano not being able to perform wasnt the case. we have to accept that they made a mistake <333 ldkajslk

19, 20, 27 february 2011 the original is back

19, also 19, 20, 23, 26 march 2011 it changed a little again but massimiliano is still there. no one bends salieri back and just one guy and one woman do the push and pull motion. also i think around here they removed the two women dancing together? maybe i just cant see it

20 mai 2011 original back once again

01 april 2011 .................... clearly an aprils fools joke bc massimiliano is gone again. i randomly picked this date cuz i knew it would be cursed dlkjaslk.. also again salieri doesnt get bent back and just 2 dancers do the push and pull... u knOW IT !!! WE GET IT !!!!! ok but i love him dramatically sighing and falling on the floor at @2:58 hes doing the most to make up for the flavour that got lost

03.06.2011 original again

12.06.2011 just massimiliano, no female dancer. im obsessseedddd with this video fully bc of the things massimiliano does!! obsessed with his evil smile @0:48, obsessed with salieri forgetting to throw the score on the floor, so massimiliano grabs it from his hand and forces him to kneel and stand up again. can u tell im a massimilianator and the choreo without him has no chance to please me?

17.06.2011 back to the original again

now im gonna skip to the very last performance from this production bc im honestly tired lkdajskl

10 july 2011 its the original thank god

TL;DR: 19 december 2010 is when the degayed choreo became the standard for a bit and on 19 february 2011 the original returns.

im confident that watching all those videos in a short period of time gave me brain damage but .. anything for science <3

ANYWAYS i started to do this to figure out why they changed It only to realise they changed A Lot of other things throughout performances (some things i didnt even mention, like the dance the woman does next to salieri during the first verse changes a lot) and they kept going back and forth to the original choreo. i think i can safely say not a single part (involving salieri) remained the same throughout the whole thing (not even the bending him back part was always there. i could swear it would be but!! no!). my guess is maybe because a certain dancer took a break or maybe they just wanted to do something different

in conclusion i figured out the exact dates but i cant tell u why massimiliano wasnt part of lbqfm for a while. i couldnt even find people talking about it on forums but, again, maybe bc im not fluent in french. to me it was a big loss, the whole thing loses its spice, i obviously prefer the original by miles. no idea why they simply didnt chose someone to replace him bc the other dancers changed all the time.

maybe it was in florents contract that only massimiliano was allowed to manhandle him <3 dlkjaslk im half kidding bc who knows? maybe it was a legal thing, maybe massimiliano invented this part of the choreo and only He could do it 😭 but honestly. my real final guess is that they simply wanted to change things to make it New and Fresh. as we saw, massimiliano leaving wasnt the only lbqfm choreo change.

///

moving on to L'ASSASYMPHONIE thank god bc it will be a lot easier to pinpoint when they changed the choreo. i believe they changed it and never went back to the original </3 god knows why </333 so when i find the new one ill stop looking

03.01.2010 last performance from "season one", at PDS (before going on tour) and also the last time they used the original choreo bUT ! THERES A BONUS! MORE MEN !!! LKDJALKS they said we will degay it later but u can have more naked men as a goodbye gift <3 really caught me by surprise, its the first time i watched it. but u wanna know whats really weird? this blurry shaky video is the only one i can find?! i even had to scroll a lot on youtube to get to it... conspiracy theory dove is trying to hide the original choreo. but honestly it makes no sense bc it was a Special day..... i cant find it anywhereee not even outside youtube... this is a hate crime. this is offensive. this is the heresy salieri sings about in the song.

the only thing i found was another performance from the same day but i think its the morning or afternoon performance and not the very last one. its for sure different than the one i linked first. i dont think there are 100 men onstage but at least we can see he had black nails 🥰 anyways... if anyone knows a better shot video of the very last performance... let me know... im really upsetklfdjalsjdal I FEEL SOOOO ROBBED...

and im even more mad now, remembering that from now on we get this new choreo. it began on their first tour

04.02.2010 2010 tour begins, first time we see the new choreo

and i have absolutely no idea why they changed it. again, i never saw an explanation and i dont have a single guess. i cannot imagine why they thought the new one was better. if i have to say one nice thing about it is that i like the background, the moving curtain that kinda looks like flames. they should absolutely drop the stupid flashing lights and just leave that background for the Cool effect and bRING BACK..... THE HALF NAKED BLINDFOLDED MEN (HNBM) ...........  THEY CAN REPRESENT SO MUCCHHHHHH... I LOVE THEM....

thats all i got to say otherwise ill start repeating myself.. if u wanna read more about my opinions on the hnbm and why i prefer the original l'assasymphonie choreo its all in the second link of this post..

anyways big thanks to anyone who read this, hope u enjoy all those videos. even with the dagayed choreos, florent and the dancers always deliver amazing performances. so, regardless, its a good time to watch them. lastly if anything is wrong, if i put down the wrong date or something, my bad, but it was .. a lot.. to go through, so if anyone sees a mistake let me know !

#mozart l'opera rock #asks #mor ref

[glassprism]

Hi GP! Hope you are well? Non poto question for you if you have time to answer. What are your favourite cast albums of non-english shows like Elisabeth (or any other non-english shows you are into) There are so many different versions and I don't know where to start. PS merry christmas if you celebrate/happy holidays

I think Elisabeth is the only non-English show I'm into, ha - though if I'm into others and I've just completely forgotten, someone let me know. I'm not sure I remember enough of Elisabeth at this point...

Anyway, although I have a bunch of Elisabeth cast recordings, the funny thing is I've listened to almost none of them. Elisabeth is that blessed show that has a ton of videos recordings, many of them proshot, so I've never seen a need to listen to a cast recording (which is just audio and often a limited selection of songs) when I can just pop in a professionally filmed video, often of the same cast.

So I'm just going to focus on recommended proshot videos. Many of these are pretty easily available, but if you absolutely want to listen to a cast recording instead or just can't find these, then you can take this as a recommendation of a cast recording too.

August 29, 1992; original Vienna - A proshot of a dress rehearsal of the original cast and production. Definitely the show in a raw, unfinished form, but the quality of the cast and the overall darkness and moodiness of the show (later iterations make it a little more light-hearted and romantic) make this highly recommended. Equates to the 1992 original cast recording.

January 13, 2002; Essen - An audience recording of Pia Douwes's last show in Essen, albeit one shot on a tripod, so it's pretty steady. Essen is worth watching because this is where many of new scenes and songs (many introduced in the previous Dutch production) become firmly established, though the show would continue to be changed and altered after this, so it's very interesting to track the differences between this, the original Vienna, and the Vienna revival to come. Douwes's last means this is a very high-energy performance. Equates to the 2001 Essen cast recording, though not all the cast is the same.

2005; Vienna revival - This is a professionally shot video of the Vienna revival cast released on DVD, and for a while, a favorite for fans to make English subtitles for. For a lot of people this was also one of the first introductions to the show and remains something of a touchstone for them. The cast can be a little polarizing (apart from Serkan Kaya as Lucheni), but the filming quality is top-notch, and as far as the show's evolution, it's interesting to view this as a mix between the original Vienna and the Essen production. Equates to... I think the 2006 Vienna revival cast recording.

2012; Seoul - There's several proshots of the Korean production, this is the one that should be of the full show and a single camera on a tripod, not a monitor video. I'm not sure how easy it is to get, but I recommend it because I like the Korean production, it has a great cast, and it's an interesting mix of the Vienna, Essen, and Japanese productions with some of its own ideas thrown into the mix. Equates to the 2012 Korean cast recording, of which there are apparently three versions, but I think any of them will do.

2014; Takarazuka production - I can't say that I really like the Takarazuka productions (too romanticized and sanitized), but they have a buttload of beautifully filmed DVDs of their show and lots of pretty actors, so... yeah. Worth it to see how differently this show can be staged, I guess? I have no big reason for recommending the 2014 version over the others, other than by this time, the production had incorporated many of the later additions to the show, my version had fan-subs in English, and, uh, I guess I find Ranno Hana very pretty? This one equates to the 2014 Flower Troupe cast recording.

2016; Toho production - I think this was the first production of the Toho staging released on DVD? It comes in two versions, Black and White, and I think both are good, though I've watched the one with Yu Shirota a bit more. Toho is cool, with a lot of aesthetic similarities to the Takarazuka version but hewing much closer to the mood and plot of the German versions. Equates to the 2015 Japanese 15th anniversary cast recording, I believe.

And if I left any off, it's because I haven't watched it enough to have an opinion (Dutch, Hungary), I just don't like (any Stage Entertainment versions), or I found it... weird (Thun).

#GP gets asks #anonymous #not Phantom

[flagbridge]

Given your general praise of Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton (I'm personnally really stoked to hear they're as good as I always thought they were), were the other cast members good as well? Judy Kaye, Elisa Heinsohn, Leila Martin, Cris Groenendaal, etc.

We did mention most of these performers in our original post although it was by character and not actor name.

Part 1: I Saw the Phantom Proshot at NYPL

Part 2: Q&A: The Phantom Proshot

Every single one of these performers is a phenomenal standout with memorable moments--which are not the memorable moments we often ascribe to the characters.

Judy Kaye sings over the overture and sings some of the highest notes I have ever heard from a Carlotta--she possibly has a higher "live" note than Christine (since Christine's highest live note is in Think of Me, as Title Track is pre-recorded. Note: I do think Sarah Brightman was singing along)

Elisa Heinsohn has a GORGEOUS voice! I don't know why later in the run, especially in London, it somehow became okay for Megs to be middling singers?

Leila Martin is playing Madame Giry as a borderline witch.

Cris Groenendaal's most memorable moment as Andre, for me, is when he stops Firmin from smoking during Hannibal. He wasn't particularly "funny"--but the managers didn't become comic relief until later.

Every single one of these performers created the blueprint, most of which has stood the test of time and geography--so to my eyes, things may not stand out, because I've seen or heard them that way so many times.

But it was them who started it. What is remarkable about the proshot is not what stands out--but what doesn't--because the show is still performed that way to this day.

#phantom of the opera #poto #phantom proshot #ask flag #judy kaye #leila martin #elisa heinsohn #cris groenendaal #phantom broadway

[redrumluna]

Broadway & Accesibility

Written by L. Musch

 Broadway in NYC consists of 40 theaters that are visited by over 12 million audience members annually. 80% of all tickets in the 2014–2015 season were purchased by caucasian theatregoers. The average age of the Broadway theatregoer in the 2019–2020 season was 42.3 years old and the average household income of these audience members was $261,000, much higher than the U.S national average of $87,863. The average price of a ticket for a Broadway show has been reported to be $145.60 per ticket. In other words, these audiences are, mostly, old, rich and white. In this essay I’m gonna discuss how social media has been revolutionizing Broadway and the theatre experience over the past few years.

 On january 10th, 2009, the Broadway revival of the musical GYPSY was ending it’s run at the St. James Theatre. Broadway icon Patti LuPone (who won her second Tony award for her performance in this production) noticed several camera flashes coming from the audience, causing her to almost trip twice. When another flash went off she stopped the show to yell at the audience member taking pictures and had them kicked out. After that she continued her performance. While this event was happening another audience member made an illegal audio recording from this performance. The recording ended up on YouTube and the rant went viral. 

Due to the lack of accesibility surrounding Broadway, there’s a huge demand for illegal footage of performances, which is why bootlegs (illegal recordings of Broadway shows) are the perfect solution for fans who wouldn’t be able to experience the shows in person. To fans, bootlegs give the complete picture of the Broadway experience. It includes the parts of the show that aren’t in the official cast recordings, which can be important, because often just hearing lyrics and music cannot justify the plotholes between the songs. Bootlegs give fans all over the world an understanding of the show, even if it’s recorded with a low quality phone and another audience member’s head is in frame for most of the video. 

Although many theatre people, including actors such as Patti Murin (Anna in Frozen the musical), believe that bootlegs will destroy Broadway forever. Because they believe that people will stop paying for the shows since they can see them online for free.

 Personally, I believe this is a very privileged way of thinking. The fans that watch, post and trade these bootlegs are mostly teenagers. Teenagers who constantly tweet about their favourite broadway shows, who stream these cast recordings on spotify and who get shows that are currently on Broadway trending on apps like TikTok.

 I’d like to use the Broadway hit Hamilton as an example. When the show started it’s run on Broadway it didn’t take long for it to become huge on social media, teenagers quickly started an online fan community on sites like Twitter and Tumblr and the soundtrack was everywhere. Hamilton bootlegs on YouTube got the most views out of all of them, yet it was the second-highest-grossing show (behind only The Lion King). The show set a Broadway box office record for the most money grossed in a single week in New York City in late november 2016, when it grossed $3.3 million for an eight-performance week. the first show to break $3 million in eight performances.

I also believe Hamilton’s online succes has a lot to do with it’s creator and lead Lin-Manuel Miranda being very active on Twitter and engaging with young fans, posting loads of backstage content and answering many questions about the show. Another show that has gained a lot of attention because of social media is Beetlejuice the musical. Presley Ryan (Former ensemble member and now currently starring as Lydia Deetz in the show) started sharing videos of her and other cast members on the app TikTok. Beetlejuice didn’t do very well in the first weeks of it’s run, but became a huge hit when the soundtrack started going viral online.

 “TikTok was a game changer for Beetlejuice because it allowed our original cast recording to reach millions more young people than Broadway marketing campaigns usually allow,” explains Jennifer Graessle, social media manager for the musical. Graessle believes the musical’s songs work well on TikTok because of their quick, quirky lyrics. The success on TikTok has helped drive 150 million streams for the cast recording, “and its popularity, both on TikTok and beyond, has had a residual effect on the show’s social media presence and ticket sales,” she says. It’s also been a savior for the show — even if it’s being kicked out of New York’s Winter Garden Theater, to be replaced by a revival of The Music Man. Initial reaction towards the production when it launched on Broadway in October 2018 was muted. “I think that word of mouth is what has saved the show from the initial critics of the show who are from an older generation and maybe just didn’t ‘get us’,” says Ryan.

 An alternative for bootlegs could be streaming services. There is currently one named Broadway HD. For $8,99 a month you can watch proshots of a limited collection of Broadway plays and musicals. Hopefully the streaming service will continue to broaden their collection and open up a whole new world for anyone at home or unable to travel to NYC.

 During the recent pandemic there have also been many livestreams of shows that aren’t currently running anymore, like the recent stream of David Bowie’s Lazarus, which was recorded live in 2016 and streamed earlier this month in honor of the icon’s birthday.

 So obviously, the theatre industry has been taking steps to broaden the representation of the performing arts on the internet. Despite the fact that we are far from truly accesible Broadway content i do believe that it will eventually evolve to be that. Theatre people are realizing that the public wants to pay for proshots or streams.

 I believe that accesibility will create more appreciation for the arts and therefore save Broadway.

Resources used: Research Reports | The Broadway League (6) Patti Lupone stops 'Gypsy' mid-show to yell at a photographer - YouTube (3) Patti Murin on Twitter: "No, because then Broadway will never come back" / Twitter Hamilton (musical) - Wikipedia Presley Ryan’s TikToks Have Made Beetlejuice Broadway’s Hottest Ticket | by Chris Stokel-Walker | FFWD (medium.com) BroadwayHD David Bowie's 'Lazarus': London Production Livestreams of Musical - Rolling Stone

#broadway #theatre #accesibility #essay #bootlegs #performing arts

[flynnspeaks]

I think my biggest takeaway from the Hamilton proshot is honestly the inherent limitations of filming a show like this.

‘cause like, ok, in theatre a director will use the elements of design and staging to create a visual meaning. So in Hamilton’s case, Kail very obviously uses the placement of bodies on stage to create specific images and meanings, or utilizes the lighting, elements of the set, etc. So the show, like most pieces of theatre, creates meaning through the text, and meaning through the visual design.

But the thing is, when you then film it--cinematography and editing also create visual meaning. They’re the bread and butter of what “visual meaning” means in the medium of film. And if you’re not careful, the meanings of the staging will often clash with the meanings of the filming--not in obviously contradictory ways, but more in the sense of too much being thrown at the viewer that it all becomes a little muddied.

I think this was less of a problem back in the days of, like, the Sweeney Todd proshot or most of the Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts, because those were treated more with the grammar of television, a medium that historically has more in common with the stage--so the camerawork and editing generally stayed out of the way of the staging. But as television becomes more and more film-like in its presentations, I find these over-elaborate filmings to honestly be distracting--I felt that way with the Falsettos recording, and I definitely felt that here.

Like, take the “rewind” segment in “Satisfied”. The staging is doing a very complex bit of choreography and visual transitions, but the camerawork and editing is also trying to keep the energy and pace of the edit at a steady pulse with the song, and the result is that the whole thing becomes a jumbled mess that took me at least a couple tries to make sense of visually. And this is a point where, sure, some visual chaos is fine, but there’s a lot of other moments where the editing and camerawork becomes so flashy it gets in the way of the staging (see also: every time the camera goes behind the proscenium, an effect that IMO pretty much never works and I hate it every time it’s used).

But even where the filming isn’t a problem, per se, you still run into, just, moments where the meaning and intent of an image changes when the medium shifts. Take “You’ll Be Back”: think of the meanings created by a single person standing still front and center on an empty stage, versus a tight closeup of that person singing. How does the effect change? How is your focus affected? Neither is “better” or “worse”, they’re just different, and imo in a pretty substantial way.

Anywho, I think the proshot is generally great and I’m glad exists, and there absolutely should be more of these, they’re never a bad thing. But IMO when the presentation becomes this flashy, it starts becoming a different medium entirely, and I’m not always confident it’s serving the original production quite as effectively.

[sagebaileyspeaks]

The day is finally upon us and Hamilton has finally reached Disney+ and I just want to say: I’m glad they got this proshot right. 

My experience is limited to Cats and Spongebob but both of those left a few things to be desired. Cats is definitely bizarre and entertaining the lack of audience presence is apparent and gives the film a distance that doesn’t emulate live theater and in the case of Spongebob...listen I’m glad that they took the time to film this musical for the sake of posterity but the proshot of Spongebob is TERRIBLE. Especially if you’ve seen the show live or any of the slime tutorials that are floating around. That proshot suffers from the amount of material that was cut, the lackluster audience and the incredibly stiff direction. When you see the Spongebob Musical live there is so much ENERGY that the director just could not capture. And you can’t tell me that it was too hard to do, because they did it with Cats back in 1998 and they did it here with Hamilton in 2016.

Mini rant out of the way, I think this proshot is amazing and embodies both the experience of live theater and the sheer power of this particular musical. I mean just look at the trailer. I saw a video late last year, coincidentally about Cats, and how the proshot allows you to get those characters more personally and that is absolutely true here. 

Having seen a variety of slime tutorials (sorry Lin!) and the show live in SF, I can tell you with certainty that there are things you just can’t pick up because everything moves so fast in front of you. Facial expressions, slight movements of the hand, I NEVER realized the look of complete devastation on Burr’s face in “The Election of 1800″ but now I do! And in high definition!

In regards to what I think of the musical as a whole: I think that Act 1 is a great representation of the “Double Consciousness” and Act 2 is war of the assholes. And what I mean by that is that on the surface, you have a musical about how great the Revolutionary War and our Founding Fathers are and underneath you have a group of POC going back and forth about best way to approach an oppressive system.

You have Burr who is very much about respectability politics who embodies the, “if we just educate ourselves, talk proper and dress nice and not make too many waves we can rise in this system,” and then you have Hamilton who says, “Fuck that, burn it all down, revolution we get rid of the oppressor by force.” And in these times, lines like “this is not a moment, it’s the movement,” “I’d rather be divisive than indecisive,” “when you’re living on your knees you rise up,” have a lot more meaning than they previously held.

Act 2 on the other hand is when you see that one person who called for revolution get a little bit of power and then sell out the entire movement because it’s now below him. It’s tragic that Burr, Mr.Respectability Politics, can’t rise any higher until he starts acting like a revolutionary, but Hamilton, the self proclaimed revolutionary, rises high because he challenges the system and becomes apart of it. 

If nothing else, I see Hamilton as a musical about how POC in America navigate a system of oppression and work within it. Also Ham’s an asshole, Jefferson’s a snazzy asshole and Burr is a sympathetic - but murderous - asshole and I love it. I’ve read a few articles that say the musical is wrong for painting them as “heroes” but honestly...honestly...every single one of them puts their assholeishness on full display and they’re just fun to watch because they’re terrible people. Like, I don’t watch Jefferson and go “what an amazing job,” I think, “You entertaining son of a bitch.” But that’s just me.  

I think another element that added to my enjoyment was the fact that my experience with the musical live was not great. The actor who was filling in Burr did not have the vocal range required for the role, the person playing Lafayette/Jefferson was - in my opinion - hucking and jiving for white folks (shaking his Afro like JJ from Good Times,) and the audience had an audible negative reaction when a dark skinned Maria Reynolds appeared on stage. The other core numbers “Yorktown,” “Satisfied,” “One Last Time,” and “Schuyler Sisters” were phenomenal, but honestly even watching the slime tutorials weren’t enough to wash the bad taste out of my mouth - but this was! I feel like it was a great substitute for the live experience.

All around Hamilton on Disney+ is a huge recommendation for me ESPECIALLY if you have kids of color. 

#hamilton #hamilton musical #hamilton on disney+ #disney+ #broadway #musicals #reviews

[margridarnauds]

🔥 takarazuka *hides*

Anon, do you want me to be MURDERED? 

Okay, I want this to be emphasized: I LIKE Takarazuka! I do! And I have friends who are Zuka fans and I love hearing them talk about Zuka/watching Zuka musicals with them! 1789 Zuka was basically what got me back into loving 1789, and getting into Zuka was a good stepping stone for getting into Toho. The costumes and production value are excellent, and I give them full credit for their reputation as a Japanese cultural icon and the current leading musical theatre troupe in Japan. 

HOWEVER, I also think that they routinely bank on that reputation in order to have a “style over substance” approach - Exemplified by the Top Star system, which often focuses on capitalizing on the popularity of one or two stars while underdeveloping other characters and, on top of that, due to the privileged position of otokoyakus compared to musumeyakus, it often comes with quite a bit of sexist baggage as well. (See: Solène’s song being given to Camille in 1789, Dmitri getting “Journey to the Past” + his own solo song in Anastasia, Guinevere having a mental breakdown in La Legende Du Roi Arthur + having her father threaten to honor kill her, Emma’s characterization in IAFA being flattened so that she can still be palatable, not having had a boyfriend before, not being as assertive, not being as casual when she’s around Josi even though the entire point of her relationship with Josi IS that she’s able to loosen up around him.) 

And to some extent....no, I don’t expect, in the case of an adaptation, for EVERYTHING to remain the same, and in a lot of musicals, I think it was, genuinely, for the better - 1789 is much better than its French counterpart, partially DUE to the star system because it forced them to give multiple minor characters songs to create a solid ensemble musical, as is Don Juan. I do believe that there’s a problem where, when people see Zuka musical adaptations, they’ll miss the forest for the trees, complaining about plot details being changed without considering the broader cultural context. (See: Robespierre.) That being said, I do, fully, believe that we can and should be allowed to talk about sexism in particular. And, if we want to talk about Japan’s relationship to sexism in particular....Toho, while it’s made its share of slip-ups (Solène), has been doing perfectly fine with stronger female characters as well. Zuka relies on fan loyalty to do the bare minimum so that it can get pats on the shoulder for making progress (though I WILL say, in its defense, that it does have to keep up fan loyalty as well, so I know that it can’t go TOO far but...) Just have the top star wink at the camera in an important scene and people will keep coming, no need to talk about the sexism here, keep it rolling, keep giving the right amount of fanservice, toss some glitter on the problem. We don’t need character development, we don’t need plot, make it kawaii and sparkly and it’s fine! (And I want it noted, before anyone suggests that I’m forcing western feminism onto Japanese media, that a lot of my understanding of this has been formed by talking to Japanese friends.) There have been some Strong Zuka Heroine, but some of them seem....generically “empowered” without really having all that much to show for it, still being palatable, dainty, poised, and lovable, even if they might initially reject the Zuka hero’s advances. You couldn’t have, say, Margrid Arnaud in a Zuka musical, as grimy and gremlin-like as she is - You still can’t really have female characters who are PEOPLE. 

It’s also very hard to be a Zuka fan as someone who’s very much a fan of MUSICALS because in general, within about a month or two, the bulk of fan attention tends to go to the next big project, especially since Zuka is constantly producing new musicals (exhausting its stars to the point where most top stars only last around 3 years which, tbh, can’t be mentally or physically healthy), and, for me, six months is barely enough time for me to fully decide my basic opinions on a musical - It usually takes that long, in the case of double-casts, for me to decide which I like more. To the Zuka fandom’s credit, I DO regularly get, say, likes and reblogs on gifsets from older productions, but, for the most part, there’s very much this constant moving from one show to the next while I tend to stay put and stan a few shows at a time. 

And, of course, as a Toho fan, it’s difficult because I generally get this feeling of Toho being....inferior. People will boast about spending upwards of $500 on Zuka merchandise, going to Japan to see shows, but when it comes to paying for Toho shows, suddenly ~$125 is too much and I should give my DVDs to them. I will gladly watch Zuka musicals with friends because I like watching new musicals + hanging out with friends, but SUDDENLY, when I want to watch Toho musicals, I have to qualify them by what former Zuka stars are around. Toho musicals don’t get much appreciation - all we get is people wanting Zuka/complaining about Toho because it includes men (which makes me feel SUPER awkward as a bi woman, ngl) and then, when we want a tiny bit of recognition, getting a shoulder shrug and “well, girls do it better.” (Note: The Toho girls are doing quite well in their own right - Just ask Aya Hirano, Sonim, Erika Ikuta, Natsumi Kon...) And, of course, that’s not including musicals from other theatre companies, it’s just that, frankly, any recognition Toho’s gotten in the last few years has been purely because me and a few friends/mutuals have been working our tails off to give it that recognition, while Zuka gets more while doing less. 

And the fandom, in general, isn’t willing to hear a SINGLE critical word against it, maintaining a policy of intimidation, fear tactics, and guilting in order to keep people silent while getting pissed off at minor faux pas that, unless you’ve been around the block, you wouldn’t *know*. And, for my part, I don’t have a general policy of outwardly TRASHING musicals, but I also fully believe that, when you’re asking people to spend upwards of a hundred dollars on a proshot (or to spend the time to watch a +2 hour musical), they should know, bluntly, what they’re getting. I swore, a long time ago, that I would never sugarcoat how I really felt about a Toho musical if asked because, as far as I’m concerned, people deserve to know the truth from my perspective. I won’t hide, for example, that I feel like Hanafusa Mari's acting hasn’t been solid for close to a decade and that Kaname Ouki’s Marie Antoinette’s been known to cause dogs to spontaneously break out in howling fits, because I want to be as trustworthy as possible. I’m happy for the friends I’ve made in the fandom, I wouldn’t trade them for the world, and I do enjoy the musicals that I’ve gotten into, but I wouldn’t dare go further into the fandom than that. 

#long post #Anonymous

[altheaselmaisadoradarsey]

what were your thoughts on falsettos uk? i'm super interested in hearing them!

This is long my bad

Ok so lemme preface by saying I REALLY enjoyed it and if any of this seem particularly critical and like I don’t have a proper explanation it’s because I suck at articulating my thoughts

Also I know that bc I’ve seen the bway proshot so many times and that’s how I fell in love with the show I’m deffinetly influenced by that

- every single cast member has the most beautiful voice and they can all seranade me any time they like please and thank you

- Trina was in the first of of 4 Jews instead of Jason which I liked but I kinda missed him :( although his entrance made a lot of sense whith the choreo/blocking

- I did feel like some of the blocking/direction was a bit awkward or cliche at points? I already can’t think of an example (terrible memory sorry) but there were points that I felt could have been shown in a less obvious way that would have equally been effective and also just made the whole peice seem more real and subtle

Tbh this could be because of the thrust staging at The Other Place (you can see from the picture what I mean - we were in the front row but the stage came out further than we were sat) sometime the actors seemed to be moving about aimlessly, I assume so everyone had a chance to see them, but it’s one of my pet pevees with acting

- I also felt some of act 1 was played for laughs too much, I know there are funny moments! but there were a few added in and a few that just didn’t land and it slowed the pace down

Like Mendal came across and a bit of a perv rather than just really liking Trina and it was not funny or nice to watch

- kind of more on that point I did get the vibe that sometimes I felt like they were over acting parts? Don’t get me wrong they were all very very good actors and had clear characters but because it’s such a realistic and conversational peice I just wanted them to chill out a little bit and it would have made it feel silghtly more genuine. (this is something I really think the bway cast excelled at, but again it could be because that’s what I’m used to)

- on a more positive note I really liked the costumes! Someone pointed out that each character had a colour and then they all made up the rainbow which was a nice touch

- Whizzer and Marvin were really domestic in act 2 and it was really lovely to see them truly be content with each other

- I really liked the A day in falsettoland choreo/blocking! Good fun and happy

- omg when Jason is singing the ‘finally now it’s all my decision’ part he just broke and started fucking sobbing as he sang and Trina and Mendal hug him and she’s crying and it was just heartbreaking

- wizzer was still alive during what would I do! It was really horrible to watch him sing with Marvin just before he dies and it was very well done and emotional

- Oliver saville was a great wizzer and his solos were really good

- they stuck to the original lyrics most of the time but they kept ‘ you wanna blame me you have paintings of dicks. don’t talk to me about taste’ so SJB rights

- March or the falsettos was Trina’s nightmare? It was really clever bc it made its chaotic-ness make sense, particularly within trina’s solos, (it was set as her going to bed) but I did miss the crazy no explanation chaos that it usually comes with lol

- I’m Breaking down was so so good!

- the lesbians! I loved them couple goals. Cordelia was really cute

- I thought the set was good, (the floor was a chess board!!) however I’m not sure about the projections. I think they either needed to subscribe to the very simple style of props they had, or go with the realist style of images they were projecting (for example, in the songs set in the house they projected the room onto the frames surrounding the set, or the baseball field during the base ball game) I think the projections just added to the silghtly cliche vibe I had.

This sounds really negative I swear it was amazing and you should go see it if you can! Even I nearly was crying by the and and I only really cry when I’m angry lol

Also while me and my friend were at the train station the boy that played Jason came out of the toilet with his dad and I made direct eye contact for a second it was real awkward lol

#if anything doesnt make sence or you want an explination pls just ask! #falsettos #falsettos uk #god this is long