#proscenium

[operafantomet]

THE PROSCENIUM: Left side sculptures

ROW 1: General set-up, full sculpture groups in the upper and lower half. From left: West End, Paris, Broadway.

ROW 2: General set-up, with some variations. From left: Hamburg, Mexico City, Singapore / World Tour.

ROW 3: Set-ups with one less sculpture in the upper half, and a smaller, alternate or removed sculpture look in the lower half. From left: Tokyo, Copenhagen, Stockholm revival.

ROW 4: New proceniums, with no lower sculptures, and reduced sculpture group in the upper half. From left: World Tour revival, UK Tour revival, West End revival.

ROW 5: Extended prosceniums, with more sculptures, or an alternate set-up. From left: Las Vegas, RAH, original Vienna.

ROW 6: Detail photos of the upper sculpture group. From left: Broadway, Hamburg revival, Copenhagen.

ROW 7: Detail photos of the upper left satyr. From left: Tokyo, Singapore / World Tour, Cape Town / World Tour.

ROW 8: Detail photos of the upper left sculptures. From left: Hamburg revival, Paris, Hamburg revival.

ROW 9: In making / preset. From left: Moscow, Toronto, original Broadway with Andrew Lloyd Webber.

(original design by Maria Bjørnson)

[nyphantomphan]

The Proscenium & Chandelier in Phantom of the Opera

[merlinray]

[elysiuminfra]

explaining something

[carnegiescenic]

"Nick working hard on the proscenium"

[notbecauseofvictories]

50/50

Well, 2024 sure did...happen.

Anyway! I didn't set any sort of goal to watch 50 films and read 50 books this year, but that's where I ended up. Neither number is exactly accurate, and I'm leaving out television, revisiting what I've already read/watched, and all the ridiculous novels I pick up when I'm hungover, but still. I'm kind of impressed with myself. I didn't get to 50 books last year, and I don't think I've watched 50 movies in a year ever---but the more I watch them, the more I explore what they can do and communicate, the more I want to see. As a lifelong reader, it's interesting to explore a new kind of art, to try and intuit your way in through a strikingly different form of communicating the exact same humanness.

TOP FIVE 2024

FILMS

The Florida Project (2017)

Crimes of the Future (2022)

M (1931)

Something in the Dirt (2022)

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021)

It's been months and months since I saw The Florida Project, and I still think about it. The bright and artificial sherbet coloring of it; the dank and mold and shadows that linger around the edges....Actually, I think of all these films in terms of their aesthetics first. Not that there wasn't a story there, but because they all represent such a marriage with form. Consider Crimes of the Future with its fading decay, its browns and rust; M with its stylized, refined cityscape even in the greyscale of 30s cinema; Something in the Dirt where every shot is mundane, or fantastical or both; and We're All Going to the World's Fair, with the particular blue-grey loneliness of the internet age. Surely the benefit of watching a movie (as opposed to anything else) is being presented with something to watch, and I like when directors and creative teams understand that.

Honorable mention to American Psycho (2000) since I'm still a little insane about it---or maybe Corsage (2022) because whether or not it was a good movie, it was nevertheless the most uncompromising, brutal portrait of a historical figure I've seen.

BOOKS

The Rehearsal, Eleanor Catton

Big Swiss, Jen Beagin

Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox

Wylding Hall, Elizabeth Hand

Diavola, Jennifer Thorne

Some people may try to tell you that horror is a discrete genre---I am here to tell you that it's not. All great novels are horror stories, and those listed above especially. From The Rehearsal's self-important artistes, to the therapy-speak Millennials of Big Swiss, to the musicians of Wylding Hall (who miss every sign that Something Is Happening) and the Pace family of Diavola (who deny that the signs mean anything, even after fleeing their vacation home in the night)....all these novels are a study in people experiencing something painful, even terrible. And yet, that provides incredibly fertile territory for their authors to explore the things that come with horror---complicity, desire for closeness, narration and performance, the open wound of family, the thin netting of modernity that keeps us from plunging into something older and darker than we can comprehend.

The only exception might be Vintner's Luck. Not because it's not there as a theme, but because the novel itself spans the narrator's life. By the time he's middle-aged he's committed so many errors, he can't judge too harshly when others do. In this respect it's almost an answer to the questions horror poses---not just how do you survive this? but how do you go on, having survived that?

Honorable mention to Dead Inside, by Chandler Morrison, because it was stomach-turning in the very best way. Echoes of Cipher by Kathe Koja---when an author really knows, really understands, how to wield grossness without shirking or apologizing for it, the result is delightful.

Books of 2020 | Books of 2021 | Books of 2022 | Books of 2023

[jeonstellate]

currently writing the fic for this idea prompt, and i’m highkey pissed i can’t fit these in:

(won’t provide additional context, except that peter is six who kinda acts a little younger because . . . reasons.)

“Happy birthday, Alfred!” Peter flashes a smile that gets everyone, sans Jason, in the room stilling. They know that smile. “Here’s Uncle Jay’s gift for you!”

“It’s from all of us Outlaws,��� Jason corrects while his nephew hands over the wrapped box to the Wayne family butler. “And Peter and Lian.”

Before Alfred, or anyone else, can say anything, Peter deems it important to throw his uncle under the bus right there and then. “Auntie Artemis said Uncle Jay accidentally left it at home because he forgot to set an alarm.”

Some can’t help but chuckle with amusement. Children really don’t have well-installed filters. “For shame, Jason,” Steph chastises playfully.

Peter notices the cakes on the table and leans forward dangerously without any warning. Had Jason’s reaction time been any slower, the former would’ve surely face-planted onto the cakes below.

“Careful, buddy,” he says after jerking his nephew closer to his chest and further from the table. He almost sighs in relief upon averting a crisis (read: Kori’s disappointment). “You don’t need to be that close to look.”

Peter doesn’t pay him any mind, green eyes never leaving the desserts that have captured his attention. “Is this one for you, Uncle Jay?” He inquires after a moment, pointing at the cake with Happy Birthday, Jason! elegantly written on top.

“Yeah.”

Peter hums a note that doesn’t sound impressed. “I like the one me and Lian decorated better.”

Jason doesn’t know how else to react to that besides avoid looking at Alfred, who baked and decorated the cake his nephew doesn’t seem to approve of. Everyone else is too stunned to move.

Jason follows what caught Peter’s attention on the ceiling. His eyes land on the unsuspecting chandelier.

“No, Peter,” he shuts down the idea barely brewing in his nephew’s head. “You can’t swing on the chandelier.”

“Aw.”

Somewhere in the room, Duke can’t believe his ears. “That’s hereditary? How the—”

Peter fixes him a stare. Eyes slightly widened, bottom lip slightly pushed out. He wisely averts his eyes. “Don’t give me that look. Artemis will have my head. And that’s if your mom doesn’t get to me first.”

“Jaylad, you’re injured. You shouldn’t be carrying—” Bruce starts to say while inching closer to where his third eldest stood.

Jason is quick to react. “Nice try, old man, but I know what you’re trying to do.” He shifts Peter to his other arm, the one that’s further from his adoptive father, and straightens his body even more in an attempt to hide his nephew from the other’s view. “I won’t let you sweep him away.”

“I’m not—” Bruce starts again, but this time stops in middle in his own accord. In a softer voice, he eventually admits, “I just want to hold him.”

Jason doesn’t let up his protective stance. “Peter doesn’t like strangers carrying him.” To strengthen his argument, he turns for back up. “Right, buddy?”

However, much to his utter astonishment, the boy that has been attached to him since he showed up unannounced is no longer where he last saw him mere fifteen seconds ago. Instead, he’s in the arms of the second eldest Wayne child and is now holding a glowstick.

Jason doesn’t even have a clue when the transfer must’ve taken place. He didn’t feel his nephew detach while his eyes were locked on Bruce.

Cass smiles triumphantly as she rests the child on her hip.

“Uh-huh!” Peter confirms enthusiastically, unaware of — really, uncaring for — how his current position is an unignorable contradiction to what he just agreed to. He waves the glowstick with fervor. “Look, Uncle Jay, I got a baby lightsaber!”

[dolorousvale]

(RE?)connecting; @jeremiahofphilo

Wednesday night. Cool, moderately windy, with the moon mostly blocked by the clouds.

Half an hour earlier than the agreed upon time, Dolasach arrived at the arcade—a flashy building with three floors of entertainment that ranged from the classic crane game, to a newly installed interactive holographic setup ‘that brought VR into IRL.’ Rolling up the sleeves of the beige and navy cardigan that her pouty lover insisted she wear lent her, she made her way deeper inside with a goal in mind.

Recalling that Jeremiah mentioned that he couldn’t figure out some of the machines, she made it a point to take some time to scour the place for anything that either looked like something Jeremiah would know about, or seemed like the right level of complexity for it to still be fun to figure out. Or maybe they could have fun with something they could both figure out together?

It crossed her mind that this was probably way more busywork than Jeremiah could’ve ever expected from her, but after how… Awkward? Some of their last meeting went, she just wanted to try and make sure things go relatively well. Or at least, they wouldn’t have that much dead air if it did get awkward again.

She pulled out her phone and quickly sent Jeremiah a text once she was satisfied with her findings, the time hitting close to their rendezvous.

->Mr. Philo-dendron: Let me know when you’re here, will meet you at the entrance. Take your time btw! No rush :>

[andrewlloydwebber]

Imagine the utopian society we would live in if Arthur Masella was in charge of keeping up Hal Prince’s legacy instead of Seth Skylar Heyn imposing his own vision on Phantom for some reason

[dolasach]

"The wanderers are taken care of. Are you hurt anywhere? Don't lie."

“I’m—“

The automatic response gets cut off by Dolasach’s own realization that no, she isn’t fine, and the fact that she couldn’t join in him battle made it extremely clear to her that there’s no lying her way through this.

As the dust settles around them and the final vestiges of the fallen Wanderer’s dissipate into nothing, the pain in her leg from an attack she failed to dodge makes itself even more known. At first glance, it wouldn’t seem like anything was wrong thanks to her pants obscuring everything, but judging from the pain, she had to wonder if something had been fractured.

She sighs and leans back against the tree she’d been resting on for support. It’s getting dark, and they’re in a no-hunt zone. It’s best if she didn’t waste their time trying to put on a brave face.

“I… Don’t think I can walk on my own.”

[roadtophantom]

After 13 years, the Korean production of The Phantom of the Opera returns on stage. Busan previews begin today!

[operafantomet]

"The history of the Musical-Theater Basel once began with Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. With this very production, the theater operator FBM Entertainment is fighting against the Basel government's plans to close the theater 29 years later.

(photo of the theatre's facade during the original 1995 production)

A few of the not-so-young premiere guests on Thursday evening will probably still have some memories of when Basel tried to establish itself as a musical city on October 12, 1995 with Webber's successful work based on the chilling novel by Gaston Leroux. Among them was certainly Basel tenor Florian Schneider, who sang and played the title role at the time. A good 700 performances were staged within two years before the musical was canceled in 1997.

At the premiere, Schneider was a sought-after interview guest for the numerous TV and radio teams in attendance. He was faced with a new production that didn't really seem particularly new. Nor could it, as the story is unmistakably set in the Paris Opera in the 1930s, when ballet dancers still wore tutus and the singers performed in lavish baroque costumes.

(...)

The tragic love triangle between the sad and evil phantom in the catacombs of the opera, the beautiful opera diva and the aristocratic lover is clearly still captivating, as the short but powerful final applause at the premiere showed. This was certainly also due to the vocal performance of the trio, above all the soprano Georgie Wilkinson as Christine, but also Dougie Carter as Raoul and Nadim Naaman as the Phantom.

(Dougie Carter and Georgia Wilkinson in Little Lotte)

In terms of the setting, however, some compromises had to be made in comparison with the original Basel Phantom. In 1995, the Phantom was able to make full use of the stage in a theater that had been built explicitly for this production. 29 years later, some compromises had to be made here, as this is a touring production, but one that can boast a high formal standard.

(photo of the original Basel proscenium and chandelier)

It remains to be seen whether the new Phantom production can prevail as an argument for the preservation of the musical theater. It has a relatively long run until December 22. The Basel government would like to convert the theater building into an indoor swimming pool. A popular initiative aims to prevent this. This means that the voters will ultimately decide whether "The Phantom of the Opera" will not only be the beginning of the theater's history but also its end."

Review from here: https://www.bluewin.ch/en/entertainment/return-of-the-phantom-of-the-opera-to-the-musical-theater-basel-2438493.html

[jeremyonthelair]

So after ten years of watching the show only from bootlegs, I eventually got chance to see it in person, started with the Chinese and then the Korean production this year. And luckily it was the Brilliant Original in its entirety in Korea.

Playout is always one of my top favourite moments from the musical, so I made this compilation as a memory of my very first experience.

And this way, my 2023 Phantom Journey came to a curtain call.

--------------------

This video is to pay tribute to the Brilliant Original Production itself, to the original creative team as a whole, and to the genius designer Maria Björnson in particular, whose vision has been testified by a standing ovation from phans all over the world throughout the years.

This compilation contains:

• My recordings from the 2023 Chinese Production in Shanghai, and the 2023 Korean Production in Seoul

• A clip published on Weibo by @天酱_

• A clip published on Twitter by Conductor Yang Juin (Musical Director of Phantom Korea)

Available on YouTube at:

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Playing the Best Version of Myself

I’m not intending to permanently turn this blog series into a “Sophie listens to podcasts and talks about the Starcruiser” thing, but… this week I found myself once again listening to a podcast episode about Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. It was The No Proscenium Podcast this time, and the episode was titled “Last Call at the Sublight Lounge.” One of the panelists, Kathryn, said the following about Halcyon passengers:

“I believe that a lot of the people on the ship were roleplaying that idealized version of themselves… Maybe you’re braver, bolder, more confident, more willing to stand up for what you believe in. Maybe it’s a version of yourself that you want to wish into being, but you’ve never had a chance to articulate it before.”

Funnily enough, this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard someone express this idea about the Starcruiser. On the final night of the show, I met up with a bunch of the performers after closing time. Emotions were running high, understandably, but a lot of those emotions were positive. There was so much love and gratitude in that space – for each other, and for what we had created and accomplished. Everyone kept talking about how much we’d grown because of the Starcruiser. Late in the evening, one of the performers attributed that growth to how we’d created a space where everyone who participated, everyone who came to play, could come be “the best version of yourself” – and playing as the best version of yourself changes you forever.

It gave me pause, when that performer said it, and I’m thinking about it further after hearing Kathryn bring it up again – because when I entered the Starcruiser as a guest, I didn’t think I was playing the best or idealized version of myself. I fully intended to not be myself. Sophie Katz knew too much about the Halcyon and its characters. I spent six months running around that ship, making sure that everyone else knew everything they needed to know about where to be, why they were there, and what to do while they were there. The beats of the whole two-day show are imprinted on my brain. So I thought that in order to have fun, and to avoid ruining anyone else’s fun with metagaming, I had to separate my guest-self from my writer-self.

Shira Alderaani Khesed was a character I made up almost two years ago. I wrote a poem about the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars, and afterwards I fleshed out the character behind that first-person perspective. She was a woman without a homeworld, the daughter of Alderaanians who just happened to be off planet on their honeymoon when the Empire destroyed their lives. And as far as I could tell before my voyage, playing Shira would be about as far from acting as my real self as I could get without outright sacrificing my morals. Shira was a mechanic; she’d never had the good fortune to be able to pursue art as a career. She was cynical and cowardly, weighed down by the trauma she’d inherited and unable to imagine a better future – in direct contrast to my real-world optimism. She didn’t have a family or community to support her; her late parents kept her intentionally ignorant of her culture, believing that would protect her from her people’s genocide – unlike my real-life parents, wonderful and alive, who raised me to take pride in my culture. I wouldn’t have called Shira my ideal self; I certainly wouldn’t wish to be her or live her life!

I thought I’d successfully separated my real self from my Starcruiser-self.

But the performers on my voyage were quick to prove me wrong.

I mentioned last week that some of the performers dropped hints that they knew me. Gaya said I looked familiar. Raithe said he knew I understood what was going on better than anyone. Lenka outright added a bit to my backstory, saying she remembered how I helped repair the ship before this voyage.

There’s another example of this that I should mention now.

Captain Keevan’s path did not cross much with mine, but at one point late on the first day, I was standing with a friend in the lower concourse when the captain came out of the dining room. She approached us and asked how we were doing, mentioning she’d heard that I’d had some issues with Sammie the mechanic. I responded in character, explaining that Sammie had asked me to do something that I wasn’t comfortable with (lying to First Order Stormtroopers, which from Shira’s cautious-and-cynical point of view was a good way to get killed).

The captain told me that I shouldn’t have to do anything that made me feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Half joking, I looked at my friend and said, “Does that mean telling my friends to not sing anti-First Order fight songs?” (Which, yes, is another thing that happened. Video evidence here. Sophie loved that scene; Shira did not.)

“Well,” said Captain Keevan, “something like that could be a useful distraction, at times. I find that some people work well on the front lines, and their actions make it possible for others to do the important work they need to do in the background.”

“I do well in the background,” I said.

And she smiled and replied, “And I know you’re good at keeping things on schedule.”

As she walked away, I realized something about Shira. I’d thought that by making her a mechanic, I was making her unlike me. I’m not a hands-on hard-science building-things sort of person. I’d even been a bit nervous that someone might ask me something technical that I wouldn’t be able to answer.

But as Lenka had pointed out, as a mechanic, Shira was someone who had helped prepare the ship for this voyage. And as Captain Keevan had pointed out, Shira was someone who worked well in the background, supporting the people who were visible on the front lines.

In other words, Shira was the me I aspire to be, as a professional creative writer – not the person in the spotlight, but the person who makes it possible for other people to do well in the spotlight. The person who builds the world, who takes care of the details in the background, and who, if I’m doing my job right, goes unnoticed. You don’t notice a mechanic unless something breaks; when things go smoothly, you praise the captain. Similarly, you don’t notice a writer unless the dialogue is bad; when shows make you laugh and cry, you praise the actors and directors. That’s how it is. That’s the space I work well in and take pride in. Sure, I want people to know what I can do, and I want to get credit when I do a good job – so that I can continue to do this work that I love and make a living with it. I don’t dream about being a big flashy hero with crowds chanting my name. I want to be quietly essential.

I realized that Shira had an opportunity here – to learn to be that quiet, essential background player.

And as the show progressed, moments kept coming up that developed her story in that direction. When Lt. Croy ordered that a restraining bolt be put on beloved droid SK-620, Shira whispered to Sammie that he needed to go through it, despite the boos of the crowd, to keep the ship safe. The next day, Shira helped lure Lt. Croy and the stormtroopers downstairs to give Lenka and Saja Fen a chance to rescue SK. During the heist, Shira didn’t get one of the many “noisy distraction” jobs; instead, Raithe secretly passed Shira the gem, and she stood far away from the action, quietly keeping it safe while Captain Keevan ordered Raithe to turn out his pockets. Moment by moment, act by act, decision by decision, Shira was learning how much of an impact she could have on the galaxy from the background, even if – perhaps even because – most people didn’t know she was there doing the work that needed to be done.

Everything culminated in a scene that caught me off guard just as much in reality as in character. Shira wound up in the middle of the atrium, with a whole crowd of people’s eyes on her, telling Lt. Croy a series of objectively terrible lies.

It would be impossible for me to exaggerate how uncomfortable I am with improv. I’m fine with public speaking – I’m honestly pretty good at it – but I always prepare a lot in advance. If you’ve ever heard me say something cool, it’s because I spent at least ten minutes beforehand planning it out. I did not plan for this moment. And so, in that moment, even though I objectively knew that no real-world harm would come to me, my fear and Shira’s were one and the same. All I wanted to do was run away.

But I didn’t run away. I kept talking – babbling, really – because I had to keep Croy’s attention on me, so he wouldn’t turn around and see Raithe sneaking up to the mezzanine to steal the coaxium. Because that’s what Shira would have done, after everything she’d been through on that ship. She would play her part. She would make it possible for other people to do the more obviously important and visible job. And, as soon as the job was done and it was safe to do so, she would run away… straight towards Raithe, who promptly handed her the suitcase of coaxium. He knew he could trust her with it.

And me? I want to be trusted. I want to be someone that people can rely on. I may not literally want to be Shira Alderaani Khesed, but I want to have the kind of impact she had on the story unfolding around her, just by being me, hard at work in the background. Building worlds, preparing experiences, and keeping everyone around me on schedule. Relied on and appreciated by the people who matter most. Quietly essential to a life-changing experience, and given the chance to be so again, and again, and again. That’s the best version of me.

You wanna know the best part? Those two days I spent as Shira was not the only chance I had to be that best version of me. I now understand that the role that Shira played on the Halcyon was the role I played with Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. I see it now more clearly than ever before. We don’t often get the chance to see ourselves so clearly, and I am so grateful to this cast for helping me see. They gave me such a gift. They gave everyone who set foot on that ship the gift of getting to be – and to learn that we are – our best selves.

I know what I can do for others – for a creative team, for an audience, for the world. I want nothing more than to do it again, and again, and again.

Let’s do it again, together.

[bekaterrier]

A little while ago I re-posted the @starfallpod bracelet that I made last year, and the creator, Cloudy, hilariously pointed out that I had used a fake Canva version of their cover art that was used for April Fool's instead of their actual cover art. Whoops! In my defence, it's a great interpretation!

I wanted to make a piece for their actual cover art too so will the real Starfall cover art please stand up:

[theseimmortalcoils]

Ruby red and gold velvet curtains with matching proscenium. Photographer/location unknown.