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flagbridge · 3 months

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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

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greaterstokesawareness · 1 year

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Collection: Brian Stokes Mitchell and the original cast reunite for the 25th Anniversary Ragtime Reunion Concert at Minskoff Theater, March 27, 2023

photos and video from Broadway World (x), and from Playbill (x)

review on Playbill.org (x)

short clips from the show on Entertainment Community Fund YouTube (x)

video of curtain call (x)

behind the scenes video at rehearsals (x)

video of Stokes and Audra McDonald performing "Wheels of a Dream" on the Today Show leading up to the concert (x) (x)

clip of "Wheels of a Dream" from the Today Show from Al Roker's Instagram (x)

article "Ragtime Reunion Concert Was Filmed According to Lyricist Lynn Ahrens" on Broadway World (x)

article "On the Wheels of a Dream: The Making of Broadway’s Ragtime" on Playbill.org (x)

article announcing the concert and cast on Broadway World (x)

concert announcement video from Entertainment Community Fund YouTube, December 2022 (x)

video of Stokes discussing the concert on Morning Joe after the show (x)

Stokes interview and video before the show on Broadway World (x)

audio of "Wheels of a Dream" (x)

audio of "New Music" (x)

full show audio (x)

#brian stokes mitchell #ragtime #ragtime reunion concert #greater stokes awareness #greater stokes awareness: ragtime #audra mcdonald #peter friedman #kelli o'hara #mark jacoby #judy kaye #stephen flaherty #lynn ahrens

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marleneoftheopera · 2 years

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Some of my favorite Carlotta’s, requested by anon (in no particular order):

Sally Harrison, London

Judy Kaye, Broadway

Louise Fribo, Copenhagen

Anne Runolfsson, Broadway

Rachel Anne Moore, Hamburg + Broadway

Michele McConnell, Broadway

Manon Taris, London

Jacquelynne Fontaine, US Tour

Lily De-La-Haye, London

#carlotta giudicelli #sally harrison #judy kaye #anne runolfsson #rachel anne moore #michele mcconnell #manon taris #jacquelynne fontaine #lily de la haye #poto london #poto broadway #poto copenhagen #poto hamburg #poto us tour #The Phantom of the Opera

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megameryl · 1 year

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Theater Talk 2/23/23

If you don’t get CHILLS listening to the soaring melodrama of Judy Kaye and/or Victoria Clark singing “Too Many Mornings,” are you even a theatre person?

#nyc #Broadway #theatre #playwright #hot takes #sondheim #judy kaye #victoria clark #Seriously folks

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adsmusiconstellations · 2 years

Video

youtube

Judy Blazer - The Lady Is a Tramp (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

https://www.newworldrecords.org/

#judy blazer #video #jazz #broadway #the lady is a tramp #richard rodgers #lorenz hart #new jersey symphony orchestra #evans haile #judy kaye #gregg edelman #audio

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citizenscreen · 3 months

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Danny Kaye plants a big kiss on Judy Garland's cheek following their appearances in the All-Star Midnight Sid Field Tribute at the London Palladium. 1951

#danny kaye #judy garland

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thecommunityoftrustworthysinks · 1 year

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you know i think what’s so great about the bob and phil sisters scene in white christmas is that even though it is a joke about men in women’s clothes, the joke isn’t that it’s degrading, it’s that it’s unexpected and fun. like yeah, bob is embarrassed about it (it was 1954) but phil? phil is having the absolute time of his life. he’s doing great (which imo has more than a little to do with danny kaye being bisexual) like. just all things considered for a scene in a movie from 1954 where the joke is that men perform a women’s song it has aged remarkably well

#white christmas #white christmas 1954 #danny kaye #bing crosby #this has always been one of my favorite christmas movies #tbh i do always find myself largely ignoring bob and betty’s whole thing though and mostly paying attention to phil and judy #avoids having to confront that whole miscommunication plot device and also how painfully het they both are JDKDHFKJF #x

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laurent-bigot · 8 months

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HOLLYWOOD REVIENT AU CINÉMA D'ÉVASION

Pour les Américains, les années 1950 correspondent à une période de confort et de tranquille prospérité. C’est cette image sécurisante que Hollywood allait véhiculer dans toute une série de comédies brillantes. Débutant dans l’atmosphère de la guerre froide pour finir avec la campagne pour le désarmement nucléaire, les années 1950 furent aussi, pour l’Amérique, l’heureuse époque où elle…

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#bob hope #comédie musicale #danny kaye #donald o&039;Connor #doris day #gene kelly #jayne mansfield #judy holliday #katharine hepburn #lucille ball #marilyn monroe #musical #spencer tracy

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flagbridge · 3 months

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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

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mojo72400 · 1 year

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I just finished watching White Christmas (1954) yesterday at 12/13/22

The choreography, fashion and aesthetic along with some of the music was great. Like in anime, I love the side ship of Phil and Judy.

Of all dance sequences, my favorite was “The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing”

#white christmas #white christmas 1954 #phil davis #danny kaye #vera ellen #judy haynes

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marybeatriceofmodena · 1 year

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Think of me, think of me fondly...

In honor of the Phantom of the Opera Broadway production closing, here are a few gifts: audios and one video.

(As per usual, if you're the master of one of these and you want me to remove the link, please let me know.)

Audios

Michael Crawford, Patti Cohenour, Steve Barton, Judy Kaye, Nicholas Wyman, Cris Groenendaal, Leila Martin, Elisa Heinsohn, David Romano April 30, 1988 https://www.mediafire.com/file/aybwjye3k647bfy/POTO+Broadway+30-04-1988+-+Crawford,+Cohenour,+Barton.rar/file

Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia, Patricia Phillips, Jeff Keller, George Lee Andrews (u/s), Marilyn Caskey, Joelle Gates, Larry Wayne Morbitt May 10, 2003 https://www.mediafire.com/file/834a4sqxgjmsows/POTO+Broadway+10-05-2003+-+Panaro,+Vroman,+Cudia.rar/file

Gary Mauer, Jennifer Hope Wills, Michael Shawn Lewis, Janet Saia (u/s), George Lee Andrews, David Cryer, Marilyn Caskey, Jimmy Smagula (u/s) May 15, 2007 https://www.mediafire.com/file/70690zs3dpyb3dj/POTO+Broadway+15-05-2007+-+Mauer,+Wills,+Lewis.rar/file

Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Samantha Hill, Greg Mills (u/s), Michele McConnell, Richard Poole (u/s), Tim Jerome, Ellen Harvey, Kara Klein, Christian Sebek March 9, 2013 Matinee performance. https://www.mediafire.com/file/zfln9bh0thrg8dx/POTO+Broadway+09-03-2013+-+Stolle,+Hill,+Mills.rar/file

Norm Lewis, Mary Michael Patterson (alt.), Greg Mills (u/s) July 7, 2014 The real 11,000th performance (not the celebration, which was done the next day). https://www.mediafire.com/file/jei306ekuy0usjj/POTO+Broadway+07-07-2014+-+Lewis,+Patterson,+Hays.rar/file

Laird Mackintosh (u/s), Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays, Michelle MConnell, Ellen Harvey, Christian Sebek December 13, 2014 Mary Michael Patterson and Ellen Harvey's last matinee performance. https://www.mediafire.com/file/kt79nevlbc3yexn/POTO+Broadway+13-12-2014+-+Mackintosh,+Patterson,+Hays.rar/file

Ben Crawford, Meghan Picerno, John Riddle, Raquel Suarez Groen, Bradley Dean, Craig Bennett, Maree Johnson, Sara Esty, Carlton Moe October 22, 2021 Re-opening performance on Broadway. https://www.mediafire.com/file/d4dcjwf9n40yseu/Phantom+of+The+Opera+Broadway+October+22nd+2021+Reopening.mp3/file

Jeremy Stolle (u/s), Kanisha Marie Feliciano (u/s), John Riddle September 17, 2022 https://www.mediafire.com/file/8elrbfv5bsgbfqq/POTO+Broadway+17-09-2022+-+Stolle,+Feliciano,+Riddle.rar/file

Video

Hugh Panaro, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays May 3, 2014 Hugh Panaro's last performance, with speeches. https://mega.nz/folder/L6xDgahT#054peSCr8ADIj6aat2MNnA

#phantom of the opera #phantom broadway #audio gift #video gift #too many people to tag #musical trading

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thelittletsarina · 4 months

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Holiday Gifting Day 1

Day 1 of 5 features a few videos from Phantom!

Michael Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera), Sarah Brightman (Christine Daaé), Steve Barton (Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny) 1987; Broadway Notes: Rehearsal footage, around 40 minutes long. Professionally filmed and sometimes staticky and fuzzy, but rare glimpse of the original cast and director working on the production

Link

Michael Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera), Dale Kristien (alt Christine Daaé), Steve Barton (Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny), Judy Kaye (Carlotta Giudicelli), Nick Wyman (Monsieur Firmin), Cris Groenendaal (Monsieur André), Leila Martin (Madame Giry) October 8, 1988; Broadway || Notes: Act 1 starts partway through Auctioneer's speech; Act 2 midway through 'Masquerade'. Includes a clip of Michael Crawford's bows for his last show on Broadway, shot from a different angle and possibly taken from another source.

Link

Gary Mauer (The Phantom of the Opera), Marie Danvers (Christine Daaé), Michael Shawn Lewis (Raoul), Kim Stengel (Carlotta Giudicelli), David Cryer (Monsieur Firmin), DC Anderson (Monsieur André), John Whitney (Ubaldo Piangi), Kate Wray (Meg Giry) August 10, 2005; Third National Tour

Link

Ben Cramer (alt The Phantom of the Opera), Maaike Widdershoven (alt Christine Daaé), Hans Peter Janssens (alt Raoul) Notes: Choppy highlights filmed by a cast or crew member from the side of the stage. || June 28, 1996; Scheveningen, Netherlands

Link

#video gift #phantom of the opera #holiday gifting

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operafantomet · 7 months

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