#POTO Broadway never should have closed

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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

[degenderates]

Love Never Dies: Act 1

Okayyyyyyy so I just watched Act 1 of LND for the first time (cue applause; it was an impressive feat). Let’s begin with overall thoughts. Most of the songs so far have been interesting to listen to (though nowhere near as good at the songs in POTO). I thought that making a sequel to POTO would be utterly fruitless because nothing can live up to the original--especially THAT original--and I was right, of course! I mean, you went from an OPERA HOUSE to a CARNIVAL. What am I meant to take from that??? The whole setting was too bright and colorful and not even close to the creepiness and ethereality of POTO.

Alright. Song #1: Prologue. Um...creepy-ish? I feel like POTO has such a good prologue with an epic overture that you can’t top with another moment-in-the-future-when-everyone’s-old-now-we’re-going-back-in-time. I really like the LND theme music though.

2: The Coney Island Waltz, all those dance-y lighthearted songs. I like the vibe, it was fun and the instrumentals were cool for the transition from the overture.

Skip ahead to “Till I Hear You Sing.” Weird-ass shit. Ramin’s singing was good, as per usual, and Angry PhantomTM energy was strong. Overall the song was a bop. I found it--disconcerting? that Meg wanted Erik’s approval...isn’t she supposed to be really scared of him? And WHY did Madame Giry consent to work for him? She should be in charge. Of course, this is where we saw the Christine mannequin and I was like--AHA THIS IS WHERE THOSE ERIK X MANNEQUIN FICS COME FROM (you guys are kinky ngl)!

Dear Old Friend: similar to “Notes,” except, not funny. So not as good. Christine was so gullible not to know Erik was involved in this shitshow, especially with the name of this attraction being called “Phantasma” and having skull-and-ugly-face stuff everywhere. Erik wild for that.

The Beauty Underneath. WHAT. THE. FUCK??????? Fucking weirrrrrrd. I want to forget this song. No, I want to forget this whole musical, but mainly this. It sounded like ALW was trying to mimic the rock vibes of the title song in POTO (and disastrously failing). Erik and Gustave were just running around and screaming the whole time (like father like son amirite) and I was so CONFUSED??? To top it all off, Erik’s lair in LND is soooo underwhelming, like, the place needs about 2,000 more candelabras and 1 more giant underground lake. It looked like they were prancing around in some goth teenager’s attic. And then Erik takes his mask off--does he just expect a ten-year-old child to just not scream? Sure, the boy’s been singing about “the beauty underneath” finding the beauty in “ugliness” but he’s TEN. He doesn’t know what the fuck he’s singing about.The deformity was a lot worse in LND than POTO I think.

Overall, I was very unimpressed, but not disappointed. I expected this to be shit coming in, ya know? You guys prepared me for it, so thank you. I don’t know why I did this, but I’m still going to watch act two soon. I’ve never watched Beneath a Moonless Sky so we’ll see how that goes hahaaaaa. This felt like shitty fanfiction. Which, I guess, it was. I don’t know how it stayed on broadway for almost ten years. I don’t get it.

Wish me luck for Act 2. Imma need it. I’ve already lost 20 years of my life. I’m down to 2 brain cells.

#lnd #love never dies #alw #poto #the phantom of the opera #phantom of the opera #gaston leroux #erik the phantom #erik #christine daae #gustave daae #raoul de changy #vicomte de chagny #christine de changy #gustave de chagny #madame giry #meg giry #coney island

[love-little-lotte]

POTO Manila 2019 Experience

I crossed one thing off my bucket list last March 2, 2019. 

Finally, finally, finally. I finally got the chance to witness my all-time favorite musical, The Phantom of the Opera, live. Anyone who really knows me knows that I am totally in love with this show. 

I first learned about the existence of POTO when I was 10, when I first read an abridged version of the Gaston Leroux novel. Then I watched the 2004 film, starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. Ever since then, I fell in love with the musical. I listened to the Original London Cast, with Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, and Steve Barton. I watched the 25th anniversary, with Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess. I streamed countless YouTube videos. I wrote down the lyrics, memorized them by heart, and sang along even though I couldn’t reach the high notes, not for the life of me. 

POTO became one of my passions, and (yes it sounds cheesy AF) also helped me become the person who I am today. It’s not my first musical (family friendly The Sound of Music is my first because my mom plays the Julie Andrews movie all the time), but it opened my obsession to musical theatre. Through POTO, I got to learn more about Broadway, theatre, and musicals. 

I have my brother to thank for this wonderful experience. This was meant to be a birthday and graduation present all rolled into one. And it’s actually the best present I’ve ever received. Not only did he pay for all of my expenses, he also accompanied me and took my pictures! Shoutout to him for making one of my major dreams come true.

This was taken on our way to the theatre. It was a one-show day, and the play was going to start at 2:30 PM. I heard from my friend (who already saw the previews) told me I should be there as early as possible so I can take a lot of pictures before most of the audience arrive. And since I want to take as many photos as I can, my brother and I left our hotel as early as 12 noon. 

I was so excited I even took a photo of the theatre while we were in the car. My heart was pounding the entire time. My head was reeling. I still couldn’t believe I was there. It felt like a dream I had before. And believe me when I say I dreamt a lot for this moment. 

When we got closer to the theatre, I saw a big poster just right outside. I gave out an excited squeal. “I got to take a picture of that!” I told my brother. 

And so I did. 

Before entering, we noticed there was some Phantom stuff just right outside by the entrance. Aside from the make-up closet (which is self-explanatory), I didn’t know what was inside of the rest of the boxes but I still took some photos nonetheless. I still had a lot of energy around this time. 

This was by the entrance: some posters of the musical productions that toured in Manila before. (From left to right: Chicago, Singin’ in the Rain, Les Misérables, Wicked, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music)

After entering the building, I saw this amazing backdrop and of course, immediately posed in front of it......

.....only to learn the words “The Phantom of the Opera” were cropped so I told my brother we had to go back so we can take a proper picture again. 

And there we go. 

We went to the second floor afterwards, which was where the theatre was located. And this was when the “taking of photos” spree began. 

Exhibit A: Mask, roses, and candelabras. Yep, that’s the whole show right there. 

I’m kind of bummed that they didn’t really have a photoshoot for the World Tour. I mean it’s nice to see Kelly Matheison from the West End cast because she’s adorable and gorgeous, but I would love to see some Meghan Picerno HD posters too. 

Don’t mind me, I’m just posing here with the POTO posters. 

Exhibit B: Ah love this shiny, sparkly mask. Yes, the pic is sadly a bit blurry. 

Exhibit C: My brother told me to go sit down on the floor and pretend to be Christine, but there was no way I’m doing that with that dress. I wanted to put on the cloak and the mask, but decided I should go with the rose instead. 

Exhibit D: “Look at yourself in the mirror, I am there inside!” This is my favorite picture, which also refers to my favorite part in the musical. 

Exhibit E: Yeah at this point I was running out of poses. Standing and smiling at the camera was getting boring. 

Oh, and would you look at this! A production of Cats in November 2019, starring Joanna Ampil! Isn’t that amazing? She’s one of my favorite theatre actresses and I would kill to see her sing Memory live.

Anyway, what’s up with the Philippines and Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals?

Yeah, what is up with Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Philippines? We just can’t get enough of it. I’d definitely want to watch Love Never Dies when it comes to Manila, even though I’m not such a big fan of the story. The music is brilliant, as well as the sets and costumes. Can we please have Meghan Picerno as Christine Daaé in this production once again? (And maybe throw in Jonathan Roxmouth, too, cause people love him so much here.)

At this point, my brother already left me. He went back to the hotel while I sat on one of the couches, waiting for the theatre to let the audience in. I took a selfie with the brochure. I thought we were all given a program for free, but it turns out you still have to buy them in the gift shop. 

Yay! I’m finally inside. I was in the second row, which was very thrilling, especially since the chandelier was really close to me. I couldn’t wait for it to fall down at the end of Act 1!

Sadly, this is the only picture I had inside the theatre. I was so busy taking it all in that I forgot to take a selfie or something. I still couldn’t believe I was there.

I cried as soon as the overture began to play. There are three possible reasons why I did so: one, I can’t believe I’m really here; two, the music was so beautiful, and three, the light from the chandelier made my eyes hurt lol. But, whatever the reason was, I assure you, there were some tears.

My first genuine cry was during The Mirror scene, when the Phantom showed himself in the mirror. It’s just a super iconic scene, and truly one of my favorites.

But the major highlight for me was Masquerade. Sure, I was expecting myself to cry during All I Ask of You (Reprise) or the Final Lair, but Masquerade overwhelmed me. The costumes were amazing up close! I’ve mentioned a lot of times before that POTO costumes are my favorite things ever. The intricately-designed Elissa dress, the fan-favorite Wishing dress, the iconic white robe, and of course, my personal favorite Aminta dress.

But the costumes during Masquerade was the highlight. I didn’t know where to look because I want to take it all in! The ensemble were great, too, and there was just a big fat stupid grin on my face the whole time.

You know, live theatre isn’t that perfect. I can hear the whirring of the machines as they change the backdrop and their heels clicking loudly onstage. I see them spit at each other’s faces. But damn it, it was beautiful. It’s raw and real, which is what theatre is all about. 

Sorry for the bad angle haha. This was the cast I saw my first POTO production and I’m eternally grateful at them for giving me a performance to remember. I was just so excited to see that I’m going to watch Jonathan Roxmouth and Meghan Picerno! I’ve seen a lot of videos of them rehearsing, and they both sounded heavenly. I was grinning from ear-to-ear.

Jonathan Roxmouth didn’t fail me. His voice was soft and angelic, and he truly embodied the Angel of Music. I got chills during The Mirror scene, as soon as he sang the words, “Insolent boy!” His Music of the Night was a spectacle, and his height difference with Meghan Picerno also helped. I don’t know why, but I really love it when the Phantom’s a great taller than Christine. Meghan only reached Jonathan’s chest, so their iconic “hug” scene during MoTN looked really good. He also glanced at me during All I Ask of You (Reprise) as he sang the words, “You will curse the day you did not do, all that the Phantom asked of you!” So that truly “made my night.”

Jonathan also scared the crap out of me during the Final Lair. He was truly menacing and just plain scary. I love scary Phantoms, and he definitely delivered! When he said the line, “You try my patience! Make your choice”, he put his face really close to Meghan, and I could definitely see him seethe angrily at her.

But he gained my sympathy in the last part when he started singing Masquerade to the music box. At that point, I was crying my eyes out already. I hope the people in my row didn’t judge me too harshly! No matter how many times I’ve seen POTO, I always cry during the Masquerade reprise.

On a side note, Jonathan’s really adorable in the curtain call. He made a Korean heart sign just after he bowed. Korean culture is really popular in the Philippines for some reason, and he earned a lot of laughs and claps from the audience when he did so.

Meghan Picerno, on the other hand, was the sweetest and sympathetic Christine ever. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch since she’s the first Christine I saw live, and I’m a bit biased. Her crystal-clear vocals also didn’t fail. I’ve seen videos of her in Love Never Dies, and she was amazing there. Her Think of Me was just so pure, and her Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again made me teary eyed.

Meghan carried herself well. Not only was she a darling and innocent Christine, but she was also a fierce one too. During the Final Lair, when she said the words, “This haunted face holds no horror for me now, it’s in your soul that the true distortion lies”, her expression was not scared or anything. I just love that she could project a lot of emotions from Christine, and not only stick to one.

She also shared good chemistry with Jonathan Roxmouth, especially during The Point of No Return. The sexual tension between the Phantom and Christine was undeniable. The way they touched each other, even caressed each other in that scene was so, so, so good. It’s definitely one of the main highlights of the show for me.

And, of course, Matt Leisy was a darling Raoul. Just like his co-stars, his vocals were heavenly. His All I Ask of You is plain sweet. The way he hugged and twirled Christine at the end part of the song was also a major highlight for me. Also, he was very attentive to Christine, and he was protective of her - some important qualities that Raoul should have. In the Il Muto scene, when Christine started getting nervous that the Phantom was watching over her, I can’t help looking at Matt because he was so undeniably concerned and protective of her. And during Twisted Every Way, he was demanding, but at the same time, very considering.

Matt also worked well alongside Meghan. They balance well with each other. As a matter of fact, the three of them are great together. It’s obvious that they’re comfortable with each other onstage. The Final Lair was so thrilling, and it’s all thanks to them. I’m so happy that they get to be my first POTO Big 3.

Overall, the ensemble was great! I love them so much, and I’m extremely honored that I had them as my first ever POTO cast.

Also, bought two souvenirs from the gift shop! A really cute necklace (which costs 1,500 PHP/28.75 USD) and a tote bag (800 PHP/15.33 USD). I wanted to buy the charm bracelet, too, but I feel like I’m going to have more fun with the necklace, compared to it. 

And there you have it! This was an extremely long post, but I want to immortalize my first POTO experience. I’m still in cloud nine, even though it has been almost three days now. It’s truly an experience I will never forget.

#phantom of the opera #poto manila #poto world tour #jonathan roxmouth #meghan picerno #matt leisy #phantom #christine daae #raoul vicomte de chagny #the theatre at solaire #andrew lloyd webber #musical #musical theatre #personal

[ilovemybarricadebabies]

My incredibly personal story of how I fell in love with Les Mis, and by extension, Enjoltaire.

I was first introduced to Les Mis through singing “Castle on a Cloud” when I was an 8th grader in my junior/high school choir. At this time, the film of the musical had just been released. After hearing my choir director talk about it, I had an interest in seeing it in the movie theatre, but was never able too. However, that summer, on either July 12th or 13th, 2013 (I only remember the date because I distinctly remember watching it, and then learning about Cory Monteith’s death (despite never watching Glee), my mother came home with the DVD of the film, and we watched it. At first, I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I ended up falling in love with “Do You Hear The People Sing?” and I listened to that song on repeat for days following. Apart from “Castle on a Cloud”, “DYHTPS?” was the first song that I truly knew from the musical.

Then, my freshmen year of high school, we sang “Bring Him Home” at our Fall Festival concert, and then, in the weeks following leading up to Christmas/holiday break, we watched the film in choir class. But that still wasn’t what made me fall in love. I enjoyed the music, but at this point, I wasn’t big on musical theatre. But that all changed that holiday break.

When holiday break came around, I sat down with my laptop, and pulled up The Phantom of the Opera from my iTunes account (now, I know this my LM story, but we need to go through my POTO phase first), and I absolutely fell in love with POTO. It was like a switch flipped and my whole world had came into focus. POTO was my segue into the world of musical theatre. Everything revolved around POTO for weeks. As I went through my POTO phase, I introduced myself to more musicals. I started first with the more mainstream (POTO, Wicked, Les Mis, and so many more that are considered mainstream) and then, I found the musicals that weren’t as popular. And I went through a time were I felt that my love for theatre needed to remain a secret because there was another girl in my school who was obsessed with musical theatre and I felt somewhat intimidated by her, so I kept it secret from everyone except my family. There wasn’t a day that went by that I wasn’t checking the Playbill website or reading about musicals on Google. I followed all the musical accounts on social media that I could. During this time, I had listened to the entirety of Les Mis and I had also understood the story better thanks to Google. Les Mis quickly became my second favorite musical, but nothing was going to take POTO from this spot.

But as I entered my sophomore year, my POTO phase had pretty much ended, and my Once Upon a Time phase began, but that only lasted for about six months. I was still obsessed with musicals, but my main focus was know OUaT. Then, I was in between phases for a while. Finally, that spring, after begging my parents for months and months, they gifted me with a trip to New York City in May 2015 (my second time going to that city, my first was in June 2013 with my mother on a mother/daughter bonding trip, where we saw the musical, and my first Broadway musical, Once), and I was able to see POTO on Broadway.

However, nearing the end of my sophomore year, my entire world turned upside down when my parent’s divorced and everything that I knew had changed.

But then, on Saturday, June 6th, 2015, I found my way to FanFiction.net (I had been reading Wicked fanfiction, but I was getting tired of it), and I found my way into the Les Mis category on FFN.net, and I found my way to reading Enjoltaire fanfiction. Granted, I soon learned that most of the fanfiction on there was Enjolras/Éponine, and that wasn’t at all what I wanted.

Now, when I first watched Les Mis way back in June 2013, I didn’t really care for the characters, yet. I watched it for the entertainment reasons. However, once I entered the world of musical theatre, and I watched Les Mis again (this time it was the 25th anniversary concert), my eye caught on to the dynamic that Enjolras and Grantaire had and what Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo did with said dynamic in the 25th anniversary. That was when I started shipping it, and it became my Les Mis OTP.

After making my way through the Enjoltaire category on FFN.net, I made my way over to Ao3, and that was where the rabbit hole began. Every spare moment of my time was spent either reading Enjoltaire fanfiction on Ao3 or in the Enjoltaire tag on Tumblr. If my phone was in my hand and my eyes were to my phone chances it was Enjoltaire fanfiction that I was reading. I went to the lake with my mom’s side of the family at the end of June 2015, and while I did chat with my family, most of the time my phone was in my hand while I continued to read Enjoltaire fanfiction. I had also shown my cousin the 25th, someone who had never seen it, and even she started to low key ship it. Also, at this time, I had watched the movie more times than I could count, and I had also gone down the rabbit hole that is loving Aaron Kyle Tveit. I had learned everything that I could and I had watched everything that I could get my hands on that had him in it. I also discovered that while the dynamic that Hadley and Ramin had in the 25th was nothing compared to what the movie portrayed, or I should say what George Blagden portrayed, in the movie. My Tumblr account was covered in all things Enjoltaire, it was wonderful. My life revolved around Enjoltaire. I started writing and gaining many, many, many ideas for Enjoltaire fanfiction (I have 8 stories on Ao3. One in the process of being published, seven are complete and available for reading). I loved both Enjolras and Grantaire, separately (Enjolras I loved just a little bit more because he was my favorite character, still is and will always be my favorite character of the musical and of all-time, but nevertheless I loved them both) and I loved them as a couple. They were, and still are, my babies and OTP of OTP’s. They are the couple that I have stayed with the longest. When I’ve entered my fandom phases in the past, I usually lasted with the couple that I shipped for about six months. I still loved them after that, but not to the extent of what I had. My love for Enjoltaire has stayed for over four years and is still going strong. These two will probably stay with me forever.

Now, by this point, I still hadn’t seen it live. It had been revived on Broadway in March 2014, with Ramin as Valjean. At this point, the show in London didn’t hold any of my attention because I had had no hope of ever seeing it there. I did my best to keep up to date with it, but I failed miserably at that. Most of what I knew about the London production came from Tumblr or Google. I did follow the London actors and the Les Mis London account on Twitter. I was also aware that it was the original production in London, but like I said, I had no hope whatsoever that I would be able to see it there. I would have loved to see it, but living in the U.S., I doubted that I would ever see it. The only version that I wanted to see and could afford to see at the time was the one on Broadway, and I wanted to see that version BECAUSE of the fact that Ramin was Valjean, and I had already loved and adored him because of POTO and the 25th anniversary. I followed this production as much as I could. I was rooting for it during the 2014 Tony Awards and was absolutely pissed when it didn’t win. I had had the opportunity to see Ramin as Valjean at the same time that I saw POTO in May 2015, but instead, I decided that the other show that we would see during that NYC trip would be Wicked because Matt Shingledecker (the Fiyero (who is my favorite Fiyero) at the time was someone that had caught my attention through Kara Lindsay’s Broadway.com Wicked vlog, “Think Pink”) and I just wanted and was desperate to see and meet him, so I chose Wicked, a decision to this day that I still don’t regret. And overall, to me, I didn’t care that it wasn’t the original version, to me it was a story that I loved and adored.

Now, we are getting into the personal part of the story. My junior year of high school, my parent’s divorce had grown to the point where I think the best word to describe it would be bitter. My dad was butting in to my mom’s business, and my mom wanted nothing to do with my dad unless it had to do with me and my two siblings or my two nephews. My dad would drag me into the middle of all of it because I was the only one of my siblings still at home. My parent’s divorce was a mess. Some of my teachers knew about the divorce, but they didn’t know that I felt like I was drowning. I had kept up with my schoolwork and still had good grades, but I didn’t talk about the divorce because I didn’t want to drag people in to something that they had no reason to be part of. I was clearly in pain and I felt so alone, but I was good at hiding it, that no one knew. The one thing that I clutched to, the thing that was my absolute fucking lifeline was Les Mis/Enjoltaire.

Whenever I needed it, Les Mis was the thing that was there for me. To be honest, it felt like it was the only thing that was there for me. The story, the music, and of course, boatloads of Enjoltaire fanfiction. The only thing that got me through the day was repeating the line: “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise”, every minute of every day. If I was having a bad day or cheering up, the only thing that would pull me out of it was either Les Mis or Enjoltaire.

It was because of this that Les Mis became my absolutely favorite musical of all-time because it was the reason that I was still living. The story and music gave me hope and it was because of those two things that I knew that everything was going to be okay.

All while I was feeling like I was drowning, it was announced on December 2nd, 2015, that the Broadway revival was closing (by this time, Ramin bad left the production, Alfie Boe was Valjean, and John-Owen Jones has been announced as the replacement for Alfie once he left and would continue with the production until it closed) on September 4th, 2016. After this was announced, I told my father that he had nine months to take me to see the show, and he did because on May 14, 2016 at the Imperial Theatre, I was witnessing for the first time ever the story and hearing the music that I loved so much live. I was absolutely in awe of what I was seeing. To me, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t the original production, all that mattered was that I was seeing the story and the characters that I loved so much play out 100 feet in front of me. I was sobbing and my breath was taken away. My eyes didn’t leave the stage, once. I loved and adored every moment of it. On the day, the revival closed, I was working, and I was taking my lunch break when they live streamed the curtain call for the final performance on Facebook. I was sobbing as I watched it.

Then, I started my senior year of high school, and unlike my junior year, it was so much better. My junior year was my worst year of high school. Part of what helped me make it through my senior year was that my sister (who hadn’t been talking to my family for over 12 years) came back to the family. I now had someone to talk to about what had happened, and it made me feel so much better.

Now for the last year or so, I knew that my father had been planning to gift me with a trip to anywhere in Europe that I wanted to go for my graduation present. It was originally that I wanted to go to Italy, but then I changed my mind and decided on Paris and London. I chose Paris mostly because it’s one of my favorite cities in the world and it’s the settling of my favorite time period in Les Mis. Then, I chose London because I had always wanted to go there too, plus like Paris and NYC, it’s one of my favorite cities in the world. While we were planning the trip, my dad asked me what shows I wanted to see. The only shows that I knew for sure were Les Mis, POTO, and Wicked. Now, like I said earlier, I knew that Les Mis was the original production, but while that was part of the reason why I wanted to see it. The other reason, the much, much, much bigger reason, was because I knew that I would be once again witnessing the story and characters that I loved so much come alive 100 feet in front of me. And I got those three shows, as well as seven more, on the trip itinerary.

On June 5th, 2017 at the Queen’s Theatre, I was able to witness, my favorite show and characters that meant so much come alive, once again, 100 feet in front of me. While I was amazed with the revolving stage and how the original production was put together, it wasn’t what made the story special for me. Like the Broadway revival and every version of the story that I have listened to/watched, I was sobbing by the end and my breath was taken away. At the end of it, I didn’t care that what I was seeing was the the original production. All that mattered to me was that it just my favorite musical. On the plane ride home from London, I needed to experience it again, that I watched the movie on my iPad through Amazon Prime. Like with Broadway, I had been in a Les Mis slump, that all I wanted was too watch/listen to anything regarding my favorite show.

As the next year went on, I started college and I had to deal with people asking me why such a mainstream musical was my favorite, I didn’t know what to say. They had no business in knowing why it meant so much to me. Before I started college, the announcement of the U.S. tour cast was announced, and while I had already been hoping to see it if it came anywhere near me, once I discovered that Matt Shingledecker would be playing Enjolras, I was more determined than ever to see the tour.

When it was announced that the tour would be coming at the Orpheum Theatre in December 2018 in Minnesota which was the closest that it’s come to me, it took quite a lot of convincing from me for my father to get me tickets to see it for my birthday in December. He was reluctant because I had already seen it twice already, but all I needed to say was that it was my favorite musical and he got me the tickets.

And on December 29th, 2018, I saw my favorite musical for the third time, and once again, not caring what production it was, I was seeing my favorite characters and story come alive in front of me. I was sobbing and breath was taken away. After the curtain call and the lights came up, I cried for like another five minutes. And once again was in a Les Mis slump for days afterward.

Now, not to bring up a bad subject, but with the change that is occurring in London, while I am heartbroken over it, I also don’t really care. The staging of the show doesn’t hold any sentimental value for me, not like I know it does for some people. What part of Les Mis that holds the sentimental value for me is the story, the characters, the music, and of course, Enjoltaire. Without the story, without Enjoltaire, I wouldn’t be on this Earth anymore. This story had already meant so much to me that when I saw it live, it was just the cherry on top of a beautiful, wonderful, delicious ice cream sundae. I have/will watch/listen to the musical no matter what staging it’s given, or even lack of.

Now, while I am slowly, like snail’s pace slow, making my way through the book. I am determined to finish it one day. All of my knowledge that I know from the book is from the people that I follow on Tumblr, who have read it. While I’m slowly making my way through the book, I have read other passages in it, and from just those I know that I will love the book, and it will give me even more reason to love it more than I already do.

This musical has meant to so much to me that when I finally get the money for my first tattoo, it will be “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise” on my upper arm between my shoulder and elbow, written in the logo’s font. That quote is my favorite in the musical and it’s the quote that has meant the most to me. It was my mantra my junior year. And after that tattoo, I want to get another Les Mis related one, but I want that one centered on Enjoltaire, but I’m not sure. Either way, I know that I will get the first one for sure.

And I think that pretty much covers why this musical means so much to me. And this story is obviously incredibly personal, just like I’m sure everyone else’s story regarding this musical is. But this one is unique to me because it’s my story.

#les mis was my crutch during one of the hardest times in my life #les mis #enjoltaire #personal post #personal #my story that i’ve never shared with anyone before

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Phantom of the Opera US tour review!

Went to see the re-staged tour of Phantom of the Opera yesterday. Being an extremely obsessed Phantom fan for pretty much my entire life, I have mixed feelings. (Long post ahead! Also spoilers, in case there’s anyone left who doesn’t know the show already...)

I wasn’t planning to see the new tour, since it isn’t the original staging, but the lure of hearing my favorite score performed live with a huge orchestra was too strong, and the new cast looked pretty good. (And included Trista Moldovan as Carlotta! Trista is one of my favorite Christines, so there was no way I could resist!)

The bright side: it wasn’t the completely awful trash nightmare I’d heard some of the hardcore phans say it is. The downside: the new sets are ugly and the new blocking really hobbled the storytelling. The original staging is perfect, and has stood the test of time- so why change it? That’s what I’d like to ask the people behind this, because it doesn’t make sense to me. I know budget concerns were supposedly a factor, but I don’t see how that giant turntable set could be less expensive than a staircase and a portcullis! The one thing I will give it: the staircase magically appearing as they descended to the Phantom’s lair was pretty cool, but I still prefer the original with the whole stage filled with mist and candelabras, it was more atmospheric.

The places where this production was at it’s best were where it stuck most closely to the original. The opera scenes were the best in that respect- and I even liked this version of ‘Il Muto’ better than the original- they had a whole Rococo boudoir set with a cabinet for the Count to hide in, it was very pretty and made it more funny. That was the only place where I can say this production improved on the original. The opening sequence was my favorite though, and I was having a bit of a squee moment when the overture started and the chandelier lit up and all the Hannibal dancers appeared. I also liked the cobwebbed effect over the prologue that dissolved away as the overture started- I thought it was painted on a scrim, but it was actually some sort of projection- very cool! And I forgot that Carlotta also sings ‘Think of Me’ at the beginning, so I nearly flipped out that my favorite Christine was singing ‘Think of Me’ live in front of me! (WHY IS SHE NOT STILL PLAYING CHRISTINE?! SHE’S NOT TOO OLD COME ON PEOPLE! SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR!!) Not to count out Kaitlyn Davis, who was perfectly fine as Christine, and sang a lovely cadenza (I love that they let her use a different one from the Broadway version!), but Trista is my fave and I’d choose her over everybody. Except Gina Beck- I don’t think I could choose between Gina and Trista- don’t ever ask me, I can’t do it!

The use of the original costumes (or most of them, at any rate!) was what saved the whole production from looking like a pathetically cheap bargain basement version. Except for ‘Masquerade’, which they really skimped on, and it looked awful- if you take away the original costumes, including the Phantom’s iconic Red Death costume, AND the staircase that was utilized in both the dance and the Phantom’s entrance, then you’re left with a scene that has almost no impact, or even reason for existing. But Christine’s Star Princess costume was one of the prettier ones I’ve seen- nicely subdued colors, and the skirt was all sparkly like a field of stars- I wasn’t close enough to see how it was constructed, but it looked like a net overskirt with rhinestones, maybe? But it was so much better than most of the really brightly colored, less embellished ones they seem to use nowadays.

The loss of atmosphere was the big problem with the sets: they were mostly just backdrops of brick walls. I guess they were trying to show the ‘backstage life’ of the theater, but it took away from the Gothic Victorian romanticism aesthetic that’s so much a part of what makes the show beloved. In a dramatic sense, switching the action of ‘Angel of Music’ to take place in the ballerina’s common dressing room rather than a luxurious private dressing room for Christine still makes sense, even if it’s less pretty to look at, but changing the Phantom’s lair was just glaringly wrong. It literally looked like a basement: just brick walls with a bed and a desk. (Well, it was supposedly an organ- like a smaller, steampunk version of an organ that the phantom had invented, but it looked like a desk, not an organ.) There’s no candelabras, no portcullis, no throne. There’s a bunch of candles hung from ropes from the ceiling, but it just looks like a student’s modern art project rather than something someone in the 19th century would actually do, particularly someone like the Phantom. All the opulence he surrounds himself with is part of his persona, and helps create his character for the audience- he feels somewhat incomplete without it. Also, taking leaves from the movie adaptation and actually showing the Phantom killing Buquet onstage, or having Raoul punch him in the jaw in the graveyard, undercuts his supernatural persona and makes him seem less mysterious, which lowers the dramatic stakes, and undoes some of the glamour of the character. 

That said, Derrick Davis was very good. He has a fantastic voice, and I hope he gets the chance to play the role on Broadway, because I feel like we didn’t see the best of what he could do, because this version’s terrible blocking took away so much character development. Being nearly a through-sung show, the big songs are also the big moment to build the relationships between the characters, but the new director seems to think that having two characters stand motionless several feet apart and sing at each other from afar is enough to do that- and it’s not. ‘Music of the Night’ is all about the Phantom & Christine establishing some kind of emotional/sensual connection, but it was just awkward here. It’s a running joke in the phandom that Christine has a ‘phantagasm’ when the Phantom touches her in MOTN, but certainly not in this version. There’s nothing remotely sensual about this blocking- it’s pretty business-like for most of it, including when he blindfolds her for goodness knows what reason, leads her around in a dance hold for a few seconds, then they go back to standing motionless a few feet away from each other again, until he picks her up and puts her to bed. (Why she immediately falls asleep isn’t explained, we’re just supposed to go with it. Okay. Whatever. But really, bring back the mirror bride asap!) 

The same trouble plagued ‘All I Ask of You’. It’s usually my favorite, because it’s just so romantic and sweet, but that doesn’t come through in this version. Raoul & Christine’s relationship should be demonstrated through their mutual affection as they’re hugging and canoodling in this song, but in the new blocking it can’t. They stand on opposite sides of the stage until halfway through- Christine actually runs away from Raoul and looks more afraid of him than the Phantom! Add to that the weird set design- why are those brick walls on both sides of the stage if they’re on top of the roof?! I couldn’t even see the entire rooftop set from where I was sitting because of those darn wall pieces blocking the view- why were they there?!- and you’re left with an oddly flat love song. It’s a shame too, because everyone in the cast had a great voice, and it sounded lovely, but that was it. Raoul in particular felt kind of rigid and unemotional, but I wonder how much of that is the director’s fault, since Andrew Lloyd Webber wants the new staging to set up Love Never Dies, so they’ve deliberately tried to make Raoul less likable to do that, which I hate! You could tell they did that with Hadley Fraser at Royal Albert Hall and it was so disappointing. LND will never have an American production, so don’t ruin POTO just for it’s sake. Raoul should always be sweet and adorable. End of story.

On a positive note, they’ve clearly taken a few notes from the phans complaints and made some minor changes from the UK tour- the Phantom’s mask is less ugly than the one you see John Owen Jones wearing in the TV commercial, and his wig is less full and more controlled than the floppy haired ones they used in the UK, thank heaven, but I’d still prefer the return of the slicked back wig. And Christine now has her scarf back during ‘Think of Me’. Also, I don’t know if it’s just Derrick Davis, or if they’ve officially changed it, but I’m glad he’s less aggressive toward Christine in the Final Lair scene. The choking is still a major problem and they really need to find some alternative to that, but at least he didn’t get on top of Christine in that aggressive rape-y stance when he throws her on the bed, like previous Phantoms in this production did. That was one of the reasons I didn’t have interest in the touring show- it changes the Phantom’s character, and it’s really inappropriate for a show that lots of children know and love, not to mention triggering for a lot of people, and I wasn’t gonna support that. But when I watched a bootleg of Derrick, he didn’t do that, so I decided I could give it a chance after all. (Note to producers: bootlegs are your friends, not your foes!)

Also, an interesting costuming tid-bit: Kaitlyn Davis was wearing the rare, elusive, non-striped blue dress for ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’! I’ve heard tales of this phenomenon, and seen a few pics, but it was a surprise to actually see it in person! And it was a pretty one, too: dark blue floral print on a lighter blue background. I admit that trying to find a good match for cosplaying the stripey dress has been a lifelong goal, but it’s impossible! However, I’m wondering now if cosplaying this version might be more do-able. I’m gonna keep it in mind as an option now :)

So overall: it was a mixed bag. I didn’t like the new design or direction, but the whole cast was very good, and I liked them a lot. (I thought the main trio was especially good in the Final Lair scene- if only it had been the original staging!) I’m disappointed that it didn’t have the emotional impact that the original had, but it was still an entertaining show, and I enjoyed all the little funny moments that you don’t get from just listening to the cast album or watching grainy bootlegs. (When Carlotta swished her Hannibal skirt and caught two of the ballerinas underneath it, and they crawled out and rolled their eyes! LOL) And of course, seeing the original costumes in action from moderately close-range was a dream come true after all these years! 

It wasn’t the perfect Phantom experience, but it was still fun, and it was certainly worthwhile. It can’t replace the original, but it was an adequate place-holder if you don’t have access to the real thing. The music, after all, is all still there, and if it makes some little kid falls in love with the show, and maybe musical theatre in general, I think it’s still doing it’s job. I saw a matinee, and there were two bus loads of school kids in the audience, and it was great to see how excitedly they were talking about the show afterward. I even saw a little boy in the lobby before the show who couldn’t have been more than four years old, but he was wearing a little tuxedo, cape, and mask, clinging to his mothers hand and asking her when they were going to see the Phantom. (Awwww!) I’m just glad the show is still out there in some form garnering new phans, because that’s what’s going to keep it alive for years to come. :)

#Phantom of the Opera #poto us tour review #poto review

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Q&A: The Phantom Broadway Proshot

Happy 36th Birthday to Phantom of the Opera's opening night on Broadway! We should be celebrating at the Majestic. The show never should have closed.

In order to create "new" ish POTO Broadway content, @or-what-you-will and I promised to answer your questions about the proshot on POTO Broadway's birthday. Find our summary of the Proshot here.

We got dozens of questions, which we've consolidated into 14 questions. Read them all past the cut!

Wait, what’s the Phantom Proshot?

The Phantom Proshot is an archival copy of the original Broadway cast and production of Phantom of the Opera, filmed at the evening performance with a live audience on May 25, 1988. The New York Public Library, Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center has archival copies of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Regional theater going back to 1970. You can’t view currently running shows, so since Phantom ran for so long, it was under lock and key.

2. How do I see the Pro-Shot? 

Pretty simple how to guide here on the NYPL website. 

We are both NYPL cardholders and made a reservation in advance. You are required to state why you are accessing the recording as they exist for archival and research purpose. Both of us are published authors and researchers under our real names. 

Here's a picture of the room we were in from NYPL's website. We had an appointment and were set up in a room with lots of monitors. We were seated at monitors next to each other with two sets of headphones and had one set of controls to pause/rewind etc. There are 20 monitors in the room and it was pretty full that day. This was not my first time at the TOFT and it’s always had a good number of people around. 

3. Can someone get a boot of it/send me the link to it? Pleeeeease? 

No. Seriously, stop asking about this. Stop joking about this. It’s not online, and never will be. All of the recordings are on digital media (videodiscs or DvDs) in the basement and only library staff get to touch them. Don’t be the person who tried to do this and ruins the archive for everyone else. You can’t even bring electronic devices into the room.

4. Why won’t they release it to the public? And who the heck does it benefit to keep this locked away?

It isn’t. It was locked away when the show was actually running. It is available to the public. We are the public! We have library cards and went to a public library and watched it for $0! It’s owned by the library so the public can see it! At the library! 

The availability of us to access it now that the show has closed is what constitutes public release. There were several other phans, members of the public there to see it after us, and the library allowed them to max out the number of monitors the library allows people to view on. They had a later appointment and were watching disc one when we were on disc two. I’m sure there was someone after them too. Were we all wearing Phantom gear? Also yes. 

(@or-what-you-will here) The library is not allowed to show recordings of anything currently running on Broadway, presumably because of fears about economic loss from those who own the rights to the musicals. The library does not own the rights to the musicals in the archive, and there are likely a lot of stipulations the library has to follow to be able to have recordings like this. 

As someone who works in a library doing digitization work, libraries and the media they contain are very complicated. TOFT likely has the rights to show it under a very limited license, and to make copies for preservation purposes only, but things like this mean they would not be able to do anything like put it online or charge for it or do anything that would be them acting as though they owned the copyright (as opposed to the physical media). This is why when a library or archive has a book or tapes they don’t usually have the right to photocopy the entire book or digitize the entire tape and put it online (unless it is in public domain), however, if you go in person you can see it all you want. Someone else (usually the creator) owns the right to distribute or copy, and libraries and archives can get in a lot of trouble for violating it. 

The copyright is still owned by the holders of each respective musical’s copyright. It’s essentially like when you buy a DVD and you are technically not supposed to copy that DVD but you can invite your friends over to watch it at your house. Copying it and distributing it violates copyright. Putting it online violates copyright. If the library violated copyright it would likely lose the ability to archive musicals altogether. If you copied the DVD it would be a lot harder to find out who put it up because the DVD is owned by lots of people, though you could still be prosecuted by the law. If the library did, they would know immediately who did it because they are presumably the only ones with a copy of this recording. 

Likewise if someone took a bootleg recording of a show and distributed it, the copyright holders wouldn’t know it existed. If they found out that individual would then be eligible to be prosecuted under the law. Because the library is a public institution, if they were found out to be doing this, it would be the library itself that would get in trouble and it would damage their reputation, their funding, and quite possibly the funding and reputation of libraries around the world. A lot of this is done on trust. The copyright holders trust the library as a public institution and the library has a lot more stakes in the game than a single person recording the show and distributing it.

It’s a very tenuous agreement at times, and likely the library is only allowed to even record because there are so many protections in place and they have a history of enforcing these rules. These agreements also usually cover digitization and preservation, but again, violating them could have those abilities taken away as well. It’s all tied up in copyright law and the library has no control over that. I have talked to archivists where I live who have to record performances with tape over the lens because it’s considered for preservation and they want to make sure it cannot be possible to profit off of it in any way. 

When the show goes into public domain they will be able to put it online all they want without fear of repercussions, but until then, unless those agreements change, we are all limited by the whim of the copyright holders.

5. Hello! Is the pro shot you watched what this clip is from https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp2_80CJqI3/?igsh=MWNja2wwYWw4OHUwbw== ?

I know all of us here on Tumblr were freaking out that they maybe had a copy of the pro shot when this came out. Thank you! (@imstillhere-butallislost)

Not the proshot, it's a press reel. It has its own cool story though! Answered this here.

6. How good of a shot was it? I know you said ProShot but is it a ProShot like Hamilton or just a camera recording the whole stage at once?

I’d definitely say it was Hamilton pro-shot quality as to what was available at the time between image quality and mixing up of close ups and wide shots. I’ve watched other proshots and many just park a camera in the back of the orchestra and call it good. Cats in particular had multiple cameras but just did close-ups when they felt like it, not when it made sense or added anything. As @or-what-you-will explained in their re-blog, Phantom was one of the first proshots where they had a soundboard plug in, and let me tell you, with the exception of a few moments in Act 1 where Sarah Brightman maxes out her mic, the sound was delicious. Have we talked about how Judy Kaye is singing over the overture (yes, that’s Judy Kaye, original Carlotta, warming up!)? Or that you can hear every single word of Notes I and Prima Donna and Notes II, which usually just sounds garbled because everyone is singing over one another? Actually hearing words that I sort of know exist changed my experience of the show for me. 

7. How did the tempo seem, compared to the pace of the show at the end of its run? I saw the show a few times in the last few years, and the music seemed significantly faster in person than it sounded on the London cast recording. I’ve always wondered if that was just a difference between the London and NY productions, or if the tempo just sped up over the years.

Uh…normal pace??? I’ve watched a lot of boots and most solidly clock in 2:15 of run time. This was no different. There are definitely some that run a little faster. London during Earl Carpenter’s 2023 run was notorious as he had to catch a train. It does seem to have settled back out. I will say, the music does always feel more intense in person because the whole place just vibrates. 

8. I'm curious about the comment about the Ratcatcher? I think I remember that character from a film adaptation, but was he ever in the ALW musical? (@lord-valery-mimes)

Yes, Ratcatcher is still in the musical, even now. It’s a blink or you miss it type of moment. If you hear a thud and a scream right before Madame Giry tells Raoul “He lives across the Lake, Monsieur”, the thud is the ratcatcher running across the travelator.

9. Does Christine really recognize the Phantom in PONR from his boner? 

No, but at this point she probably already know it’s him and has been trying to get through the scene, but definitely acts surprised because, well, that’s surprising. But it’s definitely the moment where the Vibes Are Officially Off. 

10. Can Sarah Brightman act? 

Yes! All three of the trio have far more nuanced performances on stage. Sarah doesn’t act the way that we do see many later Christines (including late 80s and early 90s Christines), but she absolutely created the blueprint for the role. Her “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” is missing some soul, but at the end of the day she was one of a kind, and she made some very strong acting choices. 

11. there anything unexpected? Any interpretation that stood out to you and particularly striking but didn’t stick around as others took on the roles and put their own spin on things?

Guys, I want to talk about Steve Barton as Raoul. The man made choice, after choice, after choice. And yet we have had so many Raoul’s that are kind of just strutting about looking pretty. Some seem to even forget they’re onstage during Final Lair. It can be such a juicy role if the actors choose to make it that way but so few do. 

Besides some small details I mentioned, the show did maintain its integrity through its 35 year run, which is truly remarkable. 

(@or-what-you-will here) Seconding what Flag said, Steve Barton brought so much more to the role than I’m used to seeing, and it really opened my mind to what Raoul could be. 

The blocking in PONR did surprise me, I knew they had changed it but I hadn’t realized how much. I always found the kind of pinwheeling arm thing Christine does with the phantom strange, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that they didn’t do that at all, the embrace from behind made more sense to me.

I also found after she took his hood off no one really ran out, the phantom and Christine got to have their moment. The blocking where they (the managers and Raoul) run out and tell Christine to stay makes no sense with their motivations to stop him. The more recent blocking where Christine motions them to stay in place as the phantom sings the All I Ask of You Reprise makes way more sense with the characters’ motives and matches this original blocking much more. 

12. Also are you truly working on a research project? If so, how is progress and where might we find your final results when it’s complete?

To quote Dr. Who, “Spoilers.” Yes, always. Both of us have day jobs that have us doing research, but I can’t promise I’ll put it on here when complete since I keep fandom and real life separate. Sorry to dodge this one but getting into specifics about this starts to identify us. 

(@or-what-you-will here) Seconding what Flag said. 

13. Hi there, I was wondering if I could ask you a general question about the NPL’s archive. Something about the language on their website made it sound like viewers could only watch a recording “once”. I wasn’t sure if that meant “once per visit” (i.e. you can’t sit there for 8 hours restarting the tape every time it ends) or “once” as in forever (like, once you’ve watched a recording you are never allowed to request it again). Did you have any clarification? I wasn't sure if the librarians explain the policies when you arrive at your appointment. Thank you for providing so many details about the Phantom pro-shot and offering to answer our questions! That's really kind of you!

You’re welcome! So if there’s nobody after you, you can hang out with the media as long as you want. However, we did have another group come in about 90 minutes after us. That gave us enough time to watch both acts with all the rewinds we wanted. We watched PONR and parts of Final Lair like five times. On a previous TOFT trip I watched two shows and was there for like six hours.  The prohibition is on coming back and watching the recording again. I have no idea how strict they are about this, although I suspect it’s to keep people from monopolizing certain media. Would I want to try to watch the proshot again in the future? Probably! I know there’s stuff I missed, or I’d see something different depending on what I’m working on. The TOFT is also an absolutely incredible resource and I have so many other shows I’d like to check out. 

(Will here) They do log on your library account when you visit that you visited and what you saw. However, if you have accessibility needs that would require you to watch in multiple viewings or something along those lines, I would talk to them about it, because I’m sure they’d be able to work with you to figure out something so you wouldn’t have to sit through the whole thing in one shot.

14. > 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.” 

Could you elaborate on this part? I'm having trouble imagining how that would be conveyed. (also, thanks for sharing your notes on the procast!) @clutzyangel

You're welcome! Yes, he's telling Christine that the Phantom is a human, flesh-and-blood man, not some fantastical creature. I've seen many Raouls who seem to try to convince Christine that the Phantom doesn't exist at all. Barton's Raoul seems to understand that he's a man with ulterior motives possibly duping Christine.

And he's not wrong.

#phantom of the opera #poto #alw phantom #phantom proshot #happy birthday phantom broadway #phantom broadway #michael crawford #sarah brightman #steve barton #judy kaye #andrew lloyd webber #nypl #research #I wish Phantom were still be on broadway #we should all be wilding out at the majestic