Unlike that wonderful off Broadway gem - Phantom of the Opera by Sgouros & Bell, Lloyd Webber as many of you probably know if you have read my previous entries has created a monstrosity of a sequel to the show, which has caused me to love ALW for the original, but really hate him for this sequel. A group of phans have gotten together and created a group on face book entitiled Love Should die. This wonderful group has launched a new website against the sequel, so without further ado here is the link to love should die please visit!
LOVE SHOULD DIE!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
PHan PHriend, Phantom Cast Member friends and Phantom Kitty
I was fortunate enough on Friday to meet my first real PHan PHriend in person. I've known a few Phantom Phans over the years, I have one friend in England who I haven't met yet, maybe someday I will, and I have met two other Phantom PHans in the past but haven't been able to get close to them :( I also attended a phan gathering a few years ago but unfortunately have lost touch with those PHans :( Hopefully face book will also me to find them one day. I ended up randomly finding a PHellow Phantom PHan off of the Sgouros & Bell face book page. I friend requested her, we realized we live very close to each other and we met in person for some Phantom chat. So now after 16 years I can say I have a Phan PHriend who lives close to me that I can hang out with. Anybody who hangs out with us must beware, we are a deadly duo when it comes to Phantom and if her and I don't drive you crazy dealing with both of us as individuals when it comes to phantom, we most definitely will drive you crazy if you are around us together. So cheers to my Phan PHriend, she knows who she is, I won't mention her name in case she's concerned about privacy.
So Face book is wonderful! I have made friends with two of the cast members from Sgouros & Bell phantom. This is very exciting, I have messaged with one cast member and will be sure to write them next time I come to Sgouros & Bell. Hopefully this will give me an opportunity to meet and greet some of the cast and crew and be able to talk about the show with them, pick their brains and learn more about Sgouros & Bell Phantom.
I have adopted a new kitten, now I have two cats. My friend from work found this little guy outside of his apartment and I took him in. In addition to my Grizabella (named from Cats), I now have a kitty that I have chosen to name Phantom. Phantom kitty is all black and adorable. I just hope eventually Grizabella will get along with him. For now she is upset and hisses at him whenever she sees him. This causes the need to keep them separated when I'm out of my apartment, sleeping or showering. So welcome to my lair Phantom kitty, hopefully you and Grizz will get along.
So Face book is wonderful! I have made friends with two of the cast members from Sgouros & Bell phantom. This is very exciting, I have messaged with one cast member and will be sure to write them next time I come to Sgouros & Bell. Hopefully this will give me an opportunity to meet and greet some of the cast and crew and be able to talk about the show with them, pick their brains and learn more about Sgouros & Bell Phantom.
I have adopted a new kitten, now I have two cats. My friend from work found this little guy outside of his apartment and I took him in. In addition to my Grizabella (named from Cats), I now have a kitty that I have chosen to name Phantom. Phantom kitty is all black and adorable. I just hope eventually Grizabella will get along with him. For now she is upset and hisses at him whenever she sees him. This causes the need to keep them separated when I'm out of my apartment, sleeping or showering. So welcome to my lair Phantom kitty, hopefully you and Grizz will get along.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Out of the Darkness
I just finished reading Out of the darkness by Sadie Montgomery. This book is the second in what I now believe is a five part series by this author. In this novel Meg and Erik begin their life together after fleeing Paris. They spend most of the novel separated due to unfortunate circumstances and misunderstandings but by the novel's end they are reunited to continue their love story. This book was terrific, I think it was even better then the first book for me. Sadie Montgomery writes flawlessly, and this book compelled me to read until I reached the end, I found myself gripped by it, dying to know the story's end. I am looking forward to purchasing and reading the third book in this series, this is superb fan fiction, and I'm happy to have it as part of my phantom collection and phantom library. Well worth it, this book is a must read!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Phantom of the Opera by Sgouros & Bell
*WARNING: This will possibly contain spoilers, don't read if you want to be surprised and intend on going to this show!
Yesterday afternoon I had the wonderful privilege of being able to see the new off Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera written by Sgouros & Bell performing at the Player's Theatre. Overall the production was amazing, with very few flaws.
This Phantom is a musical that is based off of the novel by Gaston Leroux, this was pretty exciting to me as the only production to somewhat closely follow the novel before this was the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney.
The performance starts off with Gaston Leroux (they have made him a character in the show) shooting off his shotgun as he begins to explain the book he has just written. I was very impressed by this piece of partial phan trivia they decided to include in the show (it proves that they have done their research). Gaston Leroux used to fire a gun shot in his family home every time he finished a novel. As the performance continues Gaston Leroux's character appears onstage at different times to inform the audience about what is happening and to provide some background information.
The final act before intermission as well as the end of the performance are filled with intense drama. The wedding mass is sung before intermission after Erik informs the persian, that he is confident Christine loves him and has chosen to be with him. The last scenes of the play will had me in awe and at the edge of my seat from the moments where Raoul and the persian were in the torture chamber until the very end when Christine came back to fulfill her promise to bury Erik. The very last moments of the play show similarity to Andrew Lloyd Webber's version as the Phantom dissapears from his chair, once a cast member places a cloak over him, in Webber's version the phantom dissapears after he places his own cloak over himself.
It was so wonderful to see most of the book come to life, really exciting for any phantom phan. When Erik confesses to Christine that he is not an angel or ghost but just a man, I was shuttering. That part of the book has to be my favorite, it bought me back to memories of 8th grade when I first read the book and found out the phantom's name was Erik. I almost cried to realize the phantom had a name that I could now call him.
Eric Fletcher was an amazing phantom. I was slightly nervous because I didn't really like his mask from the production photos but his performance most definitely made up for the somewhat cyclops like mask. His voice was soft, slightly angelic, he mastered the hypnotic effect that the phantom's voice is supposed to have. He really brought Erik to life the way I always imagined how Erik would be if I was ever to see him. Eric Fletcher is definitely a phantom to be in love with.
Amanda Salvatore performed well as Christine. I was surprised because in the novel Christine's hair is blond. I believe it's brown in the Andrew Lloyd Webber version because of Sarah Brightman. I thought being that this performance was so close to the novel that they would have given Christine blond hair, whether the actress had to dye her hair or wear a wig.
The rest of the cast did well including Brianna Hurley. She performed dual roles as Mme. Valerius and Mme. Giry. She did a fine performance as the character of Mme. Giry, she was how I imagined Mme. Giry would be when I read the book. When she performed Mme. Valerius she was able to lighten up the show with some comic relief, which was a nice break from the intense drama that the phantom story can have.
There was no chandelier to fall in this production of phantom, but the chandelier is only a brief moment in the novel, so it can somewhat be forgiven. I'm not sure how they would have or could have worked in the chandelier fall anyway, and in the book the one person killed by the falling chandelier is Mme. Giry's concierge replacement, if they weren't able to tell the audience about that somehow if they had worked in a chandelier fall I am not sure I would have appreciated it so much anyway.
Overall this production is amazing with the right amounts of drama and song throughout the performance. This phantom is wonderful, and it is definitely worth seeing, especially for any phan. If there is anyway for a phan to get to NY if they don't live close to the city, they must do it simply for this play, and then Andrew Lloyd Webber's play as a bonus.
Yesterday afternoon I had the wonderful privilege of being able to see the new off Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera written by Sgouros & Bell performing at the Player's Theatre. Overall the production was amazing, with very few flaws.
This Phantom is a musical that is based off of the novel by Gaston Leroux, this was pretty exciting to me as the only production to somewhat closely follow the novel before this was the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney.
The performance starts off with Gaston Leroux (they have made him a character in the show) shooting off his shotgun as he begins to explain the book he has just written. I was very impressed by this piece of partial phan trivia they decided to include in the show (it proves that they have done their research). Gaston Leroux used to fire a gun shot in his family home every time he finished a novel. As the performance continues Gaston Leroux's character appears onstage at different times to inform the audience about what is happening and to provide some background information.
The final act before intermission as well as the end of the performance are filled with intense drama. The wedding mass is sung before intermission after Erik informs the persian, that he is confident Christine loves him and has chosen to be with him. The last scenes of the play will had me in awe and at the edge of my seat from the moments where Raoul and the persian were in the torture chamber until the very end when Christine came back to fulfill her promise to bury Erik. The very last moments of the play show similarity to Andrew Lloyd Webber's version as the Phantom dissapears from his chair, once a cast member places a cloak over him, in Webber's version the phantom dissapears after he places his own cloak over himself.
It was so wonderful to see most of the book come to life, really exciting for any phantom phan. When Erik confesses to Christine that he is not an angel or ghost but just a man, I was shuttering. That part of the book has to be my favorite, it bought me back to memories of 8th grade when I first read the book and found out the phantom's name was Erik. I almost cried to realize the phantom had a name that I could now call him.
Eric Fletcher was an amazing phantom. I was slightly nervous because I didn't really like his mask from the production photos but his performance most definitely made up for the somewhat cyclops like mask. His voice was soft, slightly angelic, he mastered the hypnotic effect that the phantom's voice is supposed to have. He really brought Erik to life the way I always imagined how Erik would be if I was ever to see him. Eric Fletcher is definitely a phantom to be in love with.
Amanda Salvatore performed well as Christine. I was surprised because in the novel Christine's hair is blond. I believe it's brown in the Andrew Lloyd Webber version because of Sarah Brightman. I thought being that this performance was so close to the novel that they would have given Christine blond hair, whether the actress had to dye her hair or wear a wig.
The rest of the cast did well including Brianna Hurley. She performed dual roles as Mme. Valerius and Mme. Giry. She did a fine performance as the character of Mme. Giry, she was how I imagined Mme. Giry would be when I read the book. When she performed Mme. Valerius she was able to lighten up the show with some comic relief, which was a nice break from the intense drama that the phantom story can have.
There was no chandelier to fall in this production of phantom, but the chandelier is only a brief moment in the novel, so it can somewhat be forgiven. I'm not sure how they would have or could have worked in the chandelier fall anyway, and in the book the one person killed by the falling chandelier is Mme. Giry's concierge replacement, if they weren't able to tell the audience about that somehow if they had worked in a chandelier fall I am not sure I would have appreciated it so much anyway.
Overall this production is amazing with the right amounts of drama and song throughout the performance. This phantom is wonderful, and it is definitely worth seeing, especially for any phan. If there is anyway for a phan to get to NY if they don't live close to the city, they must do it simply for this play, and then Andrew Lloyd Webber's play as a bonus.
Friday, May 14, 2010
May's Sexy Phantom
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Super excited for Phantom at the Player's Theatre
So I received a happy e-mail with great reviews about Phantom at the Player's Theatre, I am definitely very happy I purchased a ticket through TDF to go see it. I just checked out some youtube videos about this play, and they were using lines from Gaston Leroux's novel, which means this play is going to be just like Gaston Leroux's book which is super exciting! The only other form of Phantom that comes close to the original novel is the 1925 movie. My only gripe is that the phantom's mask makes him look like he is a cyclops.
I'm posting links to 5 youtube videos for the player's phantom below
The choreographer's video
Learning the bone dance
Soul mate choral
Behind the scenes
Preview/Commercial
Also here is the show's official website
Phantom Player's Theatre
I'm posting links to 5 youtube videos for the player's phantom below
The choreographer's video
Learning the bone dance
Soul mate choral
Behind the scenes
Preview/Commercial
Also here is the show's official website
Phantom Player's Theatre
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
I have secured a ticket to the Player's Theatre phantom
Through TDF this morning, I managed to secure a ticket to The Phantom of the Opera at the Player's theatre. It's not ALW's phantom, but I am anxious to see it and provide a review. My trip to ALW's phantom for the 41st time has been postponed. I am either going to go to number 41 with my friends who want to go when they can manage to go, or I will go sometime on my own....most likely it will be sometime on my own, the last time I went was March 2. But this player's theatre Phantom may provide me with a reasonable fix, I could aim for ALW Phantom #41 for June possibly.
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