#need to watch ramin hadley phantom again

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

Well, two good places to start are the 2004 movie with Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum and the 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall.

The movie is extremely divisive for a lot of different reasons: the two big ones being casting an actor with no vocal training as a musical genius ( I personally will defend Gerard's Phantom--also known as "Gerik"--to my last breath, but again it's a personal thing), and some controversial alterations to the timeline. Overall I love the movie. It was my first Phantom experience and is still in many ways my favorite version (though I do have my issues with it).

The other must-see is the 25th Anniversary Performance at the Royal Albert Hall, starring Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess and Hadley Fraser. But I would recommend watching this one after you have a bit of experience with some regular performances, as a few changes were made to the blocking due to restraints laid down by the historic venue, and some of the stage conventions were axed because it was filmed close-up and they wouldn't have been believable, broadcast on TV as it was. Some of the more suggestive lyrics were also changed. There were also some changes in direction (particularly regarding Raoul in general, and Christine in the Final Lair). Overall, I think it's just good to be familiar with the classic staging before watching this one.

Lots of full show Audios can be found on YouTube, as well as full video recordings and clips.

Here are just a few of my favourites:

Michael Crawford/Dale Kristien/Steve Barton (Broadway, 1988)

The Original Phantom with the inimitable Dale Kristien. This is Crawford's Penultimate performance on Broadway, before he moved to the LA Production. There was an LA performance, but it sadly got taken down (It was a favorite of mine). Steve Barton (God rest his soul), was the original Raoul, and in my opinion still the best to this day. It takes a lot for a Raoul to tug at my heart strings, but by God, Steve did it. He is surpassingly sweet and soft-spoken, solemn but charming, and just a little sensual. Really the full package, and a gorgeous set of pipes to boot. He would go on to become a principal Phantom on the West End. I don't know of any existing footage (There is audio!) but I'm sure he was a magnificent Erik. Both in terms of acting and singing, you'll be hard pressed to find as solid a main trio as this one. (Though in terms of acting, I think Dale really found her niche as Christine in LA.) Quality is fairly good, if a little washed out.

Paul Stanley/Melissa Dye/Laird Mackintosh (Toronto, 1999)

The Final performance of the Final Toronto Phantom, which was none other than Paul Stanley of KISS. There's a bit of a story to this one.

Paul Stanley saw Phantom of the Opera live in London in 1988 and felt an immediate connection to the musical and its tragic title character, and knew that if the opportunity ever arose to play the Phantom, he would take it. Eleven years later, in 1999, the Toronto production announced their need for a new principal Phantom for their final run. Stanley’s agent called him immediately. His connection to the character didn’t fully dawn on him until well into his May-October tenure. It was after several performances of the climactic unmasking scene, when Stanley made the correlation between the Phantom’s disfigurement and his own experience with physical deformity. Born without a right ear and deaf on that side (the same side, incidentally, as the Phantom’s disfigurement), Stanley spent much of his childhood, adolescence, and early career in fear of teasing from his peers, and found communication difficult—it was part of his motivation for growing his hair out. Though he received a series of reconstructive surgeries in 1982, the fear of exposure never really went away. In his book Face the Music, Stanley wrote of the unmasking scene: "I knew this scene. It was the scene I had feared my entire life: scrutinizing eyes staring at Stanley, the one-eared monster." Critics and audiences alike were skeptical at the announcement of Stanley’s casting: many regarded it as a publicity stunt. That may or may not be true. Reviews were mixed, and opinions are still divided on his performance. It's an undeniable fact that Stanley struggled vocally with some of the higher ranges after years of shredding his voice in KISS. He's not the most technically proficient Phantom, but he wants to be there and I have to admire his gumption. This performance also features a name you'll probably become very familiar with: Laird Mackintosh. He would go on to become a fixture in the Broadway company as a principal Andre and an Alt/Swing Phantom from the time he joined until the production's closing in April, earlier this year. As the current principal, Ben Crawford, came down with a throat infection, Mackintosh played the Phantom in the final Broadway performance. But here we get to see him where he started, as Raoul. And he is such a wonderful Raoul. He's vivacious and charming and absolutely adorable. I'm an e/c girlie myself, but I can't help loving Laird in all his Phantom roles (his Andre is a real treat too!)

Scott Davies/Meredith Braun/Matthew Cammelle (West End, 2000)

Another Phantom fixture (this time in the West End), Scott Davies has the honor of being one of the longest running Phantoms in the show's history, first as a principal and then as an alternate. This is an intense production. Both he and Meredith Braun really pulled out the stops. Davies as an insatiably sensual and Phantom, and Braun as a Christine who seems to have modeled her performance on the concept of "Mark me down as scared and horny" before that was even a thing.

Ian Jon Bourg/Olivia Safe/Christopher Morandi (Hamburg, 2001)

This is a German-language production from Hamburg. Maybe it's a bit daring to recommend this one if you don't speak German, but I just had to because it's one of my absolute faves. I would suggest watching it once you're really familiar with the musical. When you know the lines it make it easier to keep up, even if you don't speak German (I don't and i had a blast, but I'm a weirdo). Ian Jon Bourg is a Phantom legend, and he stars here opposite the very enthusiastic Olivia Safe, who may be my favorite Christine ever.

John Owen Jones/Rachel Barrell/Oliver Thornton (West End, 2005) AND Earl Carpenter/Rachel Barrell/David Shannon (West End, 2006)

This is a great double feature for so many reasons. First of all JOJ and Earl Carpenter are both Phan Phavorite Phantoms (and they're also kind of besties). Their interpretations are very different, with JOJ's being very confident and masterful , and Earl's serving the duality of man (at times both exceedingly gentle and vulnerable and at others frustrated and angry). Rachel's not my favorite Christine, but she does have an amazing voice and, most of all, this is a great opportunity to observe how a Christine plays differently off of different Phantoms (you'll notice a marked difference in how she plays Music of the Night with Earl vs. John).

Gary Mauer/Elizabeth Southard/Jim Weitzer (US TOUR - Dallas, 2006)

This is an absolute must watch. The legendary Gary Mauer playing opposite his real-life wife, Beth Southard. Gary and Beth were already married when they joined the broadway company three years apart: Gary as Raoul, playing opposite Beth's alt Christine. And they liked playing r/c just fine, but what they really wanted was to play opposite each other as the Phantom and Christine, so they joined the touring company to make that happen. They toured as a family with their two children (and their dog) until 2012.

Ethan Freeman/Anna Gorner/Nikolaj A. Brucker (Essen, 2006)

This is another German one, but I have to include my man Ethan Freeman. The first Jewish Phantom, Ethan's interpretation is a standby in my book. His performance is heavily informed by his deep and abiding love and dedication to the original novel, including details such as kissing (or almost kissing) the hem of Christine's dress in "Stranger Than You Dreamt It). When Susan Kay's novel Phantom (a re-working of Leroux's story) came out in 1990 (to critical acclaim and building an influential following in the Phandom), he refused to read it, not wanting an apocryphal iteration to influence his performance.

Tim Martin Gleason/Susan Owen/Stephen Buntrock (Broadway, 2005)

This is a super underrated pairing in my opinion. I did not expect to enjoy Gleason's Phantom, as I found his Raoul very off-putting, but he endeared himself to me VERY quickly. And Susan Owen is one of the absolute sweetest Christine's I've ever seen.

Hugh Panaro/Samantha Hill/Kyle Barisch (Broadway, 2012)

Phan Phavorite Hugh Panaro stars opposite another of my favorite Christines, Samantha Hill and long-running Raoul, Kyle Barisch. Hill has one of the most... singular interpretations of The Mirror I've ever seen and I love her for it.

there's also dozens of clips of Music of the Night available for viewing. This is one of my favorites, with Ted Keegan (My beloved <3) and Rebecca Pitcher, and this is a another, with John Owen Jones opposite the very enthusiastic Gina Beck.

Okay question. I am pretty new to poto. I saw it for the first time two days ago in London. I listened to the soundtrack for the first time while touring Westminister Abby (that was an EXPERIENCE), read a basic summary of the plot and saw it later that night. (I LOVED IT)

From what I understand the Phantom is supposed to be possessive and predatory towards Christine but my phantom was actually very gental and genuinely seemed to be in love with Christine instead of obsessed... this has made me very conflicted about who I want Christine to end up with. Is he usually more possessive? What do the majority of people want? Phantom or Raoul?

[loverboybrightsideghost]

.

[faded-florals]

Reblog with your favorite portrayal of each character!

Thank you for tagging me, @kcrabb88!! 😊✨

Raoul de Chagny: Hadley Fraser, of course. I adore both Hadley and Raoul, so put them together and I’m in heaven. I thank my lucky stars he was picked to be Raoul for the 25th Anniversary recording, because he’s a fantastic actor and really shines up close. I will give an honorable mention to Matt Leisy who I think is the reincarnation of Raoul IRL, and Christian Lund because he gives off some strong, big sweet Himbo vibes I didn’t know I wanted in a Raoul.

Erik: Ramin Karimloo, he plays the Phantom with just the right amount of crazy crossed with angst and rage that I really look for. But no one wears that costume like JRox does.

Christine: Sierra Boggess is my perfect Christine. It doesn’t matter who plays the Raoul or Phantom opposite her, she is stunning in every way, every time.

(It was at this point that I realized my favorites for both of these shows can all be found in a single recording for each.... hmmm...)

Enjolras: Michael Maguire’s Enjolras looks nothing like how I envision him (tbh the movie Enjolras’ look with Aaron Tveit is perfect to me) but his voice is so powerful and perfect that it doesn’t matter, so he’s my favorite. I do also really, really like Ramin’s Enjolras, he’s got that firey spirit Enjolras needs.

Javert: aaaHHH I WANNA SAY HADLEY BUT I WON’T Philip Quast made me fall in love with Javert’s character long before I even knew Hadley played the role. Go watch this performance of Javert’s Suicide and you’ll see what I mean.

Eponine: Lea Salonga is one of the few Eponine’s I don’t find annoying, which is hard because I don’t like her character to begin with.

Marius: Again, it really doesn’t matter much to me who plays Marius as long as he’s decent, but I’ll say Michael Ball because he’s got a lovely voice and is a good actor.

Tagging @daenerysthesilverdragon, @letyourfantasiesunwind1981, @bububalloon, @gracie-p8-officialblog​, no pressure!

[dork-with-a-uke]

top 5 movies? i can already smell ur writteninoed and directinoed by quentin tarantino answers from here

well well weLL how the turntables

I’m giving you my top 5 from this precise moment in time and not an all time top 5 because my brain is small and only comprehends the present

1 - dear ex (2018), directed by mag hsu and chih-yen hsu

watched this one today and it has drained my body of its tears. a beautiful taiwanese movie that talks of a mother/son relationship and also homosexuality in a way that is (almost) never seen in western media. the colours are gorgeous, the actors incredible. it just really hit home for me.

2 - god’s own country (2017) directed by francis lee

a movie of silence and longing. gay again. most beautiful scenery and even better character development. a movie for those who wanna be held but are too scared to say so.

3 - knives out (2019) directed by rian johnson

this is a fun and clever movie. who doesn’t like a murder mystery featuring chris evans? nobody, that’s who. watch this. it’s great.

4 - la cage aux folles (1978) directed by édouard molinaro

used to watch this one as a kid. there was an American remake with robin williams and I’m sure it’s great but this one is better. it has everything you need: drag queens, inappropriate tableware, dumb gags and an old gay couple. honestly very tastefully done if you remember that this was 1978 france.

5 - phantom of the opera at the royal albert hall (2011)

not a movie but trust me when I say I spent over two hours staring at hadley fraser and his beautiful, eyelinered eyes and i fell in LOVE ok. that, combined with sierra’s essentially perfect face and ramin’s voice (curse that mask and makeup)????? too much to handle. exquisite.

[percysmarguerite]

nothing is funnier than firmin growling “two bars will be quite sufficient” in the most annoyed voice possible

“i was not at my post” bruh where were you then.  why is there no one else who’s there to make sure the fly system works.  where is the osha compliance

lmao my man lefèvre is just straight up out of there.  he’s gone so fast u can see dust behind him like in bugs bunny cartoons

i hate the way they walk across the bridge in the title song, it just looks so weird, i hate how the phantom is holding christine’s arm Like That, it just looks so odd

everytime i watch this staging of music of the night i get so mad that christine just stands around the whole time.  i mean the phantom kind of does too but like this is a song of exploration!!!!  it’s one where you’re supposed to be like running around and discovering things!  and if we’re gonna be nitpicky in this show christine was a part of the ballet corps please can we get some dancing up in here?????  idk i’d just like more visual matchup with the song.  maybe other performers do this/other productions

ramin be screamin.  lmao.  me too buddy.

buquet carrying around a literal noose and be like this will work out fine.

also buquet giving a book-accurate description of the phantom?  interesting

“what is it we’re meant to have wrote? ……………………….WRIT TEN.”

carlotta did nothing wrong

everyone’s trying to deal with carlotta’s drama and raoul is like can we.  can we please go back to the part where this strange man is trying to be super controlling of my childhood best friend.  can we please go back to that. 

i think hadley’s really good at playing the strategist side of raoul

at the end of prima donna they were like “meg!  we need levels!  kneel!”  and then for everyone else they were like “eh…..you’re good”

will never understand how lnd has meg be in love with erik like……she never even met the dude….

it would be really interesting to figure out just how much of the phantom’s tricks are real…almost all of them i can understand except carlotta croaking because how does he get her to do it?  #they’re in on it together?

cracks me up when andre turns 87 pages in the program to find the ballet in act 3

you can see raoul run off right after buquet is killed so he can go find christine as soon as humanly possible.  aw we love to see it.

i’ve said it before i’ll say it again but the mulder x scully dynamic is strong with raoul and christine

CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS TO LOVERS EXCELLENCE

ok i’m gonna zone in here but that bit in all i ask of you when he kneels down and it’s like…basically the marriage proposition pose????  and then she gets down on her knees too?????????????  i lose my mind every time

also the fact that raoul waits for her to iniate the kisses…..can you believe this man invented romance

all i ask of you (reprise) :(((((((((

forreal it seems to be sadder here and also more powerful

ugh we stan

also i KNOW, listen i KNOW, as a theatre technician i KNOW there was now way to do the chandelier crash in the space they were in.  am i still salty about it?  yes.

[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.

[technicallytransparentghost]

I’m pretty new to tumblr so I was thinking i’d try this so people would get to know me better and stuff.

1.funny story actually. i guess my mom thought i’d be into r&b/rap or sum so she made me listen to Sarah Brightman, ALW, and operas when i was like 5ish. Fast forward when I’m ten and a die hard wicked fan. I’d never actually seen any real poto adaptations i’d only heard the title song. But anyway, I watch the 2004 movie and then i’m officially obsessed. So basically my mom’s plan of making me not musically illiterate backfired because now the only thing i listen to is operas and phantom.

2.ALW musical and original book

3.Ramin Karimloo and Hugh Panaro

4.Sierra Boggess and Ali Edwolt

5. Killian Donnelly and Hadley Fraser

6. the Daroga

7. Dario Argento (aka rat phantom) for sure, and although you can’t compare these three i just really don’t like phantom of the megaplex or the David Staller musical either

8.Erik’s sense of entitlement and pettiness in general is a big factor. But I think that one of the best reasons is that he lets Christine go at the end because he wants her to be happy w/ Raoul.

9.title song and final lair

10. The music itself is good but the story is bullshit. PotO doesn’t need a sequel. You know what does need a sequel tho? Lnd

11. if it’s a normal movie Keanu Reeves purely because in John Wick he goes psycho after they kill his dog (*cough cough*kerik*cough cough*). But if the actor playing Erik actually has to sing then Dimash for sure.(below are videos of Dimash being fucking amazing)

12.London/broadway

13.I love them both equally but if I had to choose, then I’d say blonde because it’s true to the original novel but then again my Christine is mulatto with dark brown hair so yeah i’m kinda torn

14.I am Damaged from Heathers gives me some serious PotO vibes, Chandelier from Sia, And Take a Chance on Me from ABBA.

15.nope

16.This is a long story so bare with me. So I have this friend and one day he asked me what I was doing. And I told him i was watching a movie about a deformed guy who fell in love with a pretty girl but she was in love with a guy that looks like Goldilocks (it was the 1990 miniseries). what wound up happening is that i summarized most of the story for him and when i finished this is literally what he said: ”deformed guy is sus” then he asked me if Raoul (aka goldilocks) was actually a girl because I kept on using male pronouns and that confused him. it took me 30 minutes to explain he was indeed a guy. I had to send him a few photos of Raoul to show that he wasn’t a girl. Then he said Raoul was hot. Mind you, he was straight but tbh I’m not so sure anymore. What I learned from that is that my friend thought Raoul was hot therefore, he must be a girl. But when he learns Raoul is a guy, then he’s gay for Raoul. So regardless of the gender, he finds Raoul hot.

17.I’m personally an E/C shipper but if you ship R/C i won’t fight you on that unless you say Erik’s a disgusting creep and you’re talking about Erik in general and not just rat phantom. Wow that’s a mouthful. I also ship Madame Giry and Daroga really hard for some reason.

18.RAH

19.all of final lair in all versions (except the david staller and 1980s animated movie for obvious reasons)

20. They should’ve had the actual Daroga and not just replace him with Madame Giry in the musical. And this applies for both that they should’ve made Erik apologize to Christine because I don’t think he apologizes in either version. Correct me if I’m wrong.

21. a deformity, no rats, and most importantly no raping

Phantom Ask Meme

1. How did you get into phantom?

2. Favorite adaptation?

3. Favorite phantom?

4. Favorite Christine?

5. Favorite Raoul?

6. Madame Giry or The Daroga?

7. Least favorite adaptation?

8. Why do you love phantom?

9. Favorite phantom song?

10. Thoughts on Love Never Dies?

11. If you could chose an actor that’s never played the phantom for a new film adaptation, who would you choose?

12. London/Broadway or the New Tour?

13. Blonde or brunette Christine?

14. You’re putting together a “phantom-inspired playlist: top three songs?

15. Have you ever seen phantom live?

16. What’s your favorite phantom memory?

17. Favorite phantom pairing?

18. 2004 film or RAH?

19. Favorite scene?

20. What’s one detail you would change about your favorite adaption?

21. How would you make your least favorite adaptation better?