An Awkward Kind of Gorgeous

Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse. 

[litloverscorsetlaces]

My Favorite Phantoms in 1-2 Sentences

[Once again no particular order but this list includes most of my faves minus Killian Donnelly and TMG.]

John Owen Jones: Yes, I sob loudly whenever I watch that '05 performance with Rachel Barrell. And?

Gary Mauer: The best vocal Phantom imo, argue about it with someone else. Phans love him paired with his wifey Beth Southard as Christine, but that final lair kiss with Mary Danvers is unmatched (iykyk).

Earl Carpenter: His Erik was in love with Christine the whole time, idc idc. Top 3 final lair performer in his early run and I can't even tell you who's ahead of him tbqh.

Peter Karrie: There is literally NO Phantom like him in the history of the role and his '98 boot is the most heartbreaking performance I've ever watched. But is it ableist that his Phantom is so savant/autistic coded?

Hugh Panaro: Master of the hair slick and self caress; lord of the portcullis sprawl; perfector of the whispered "I love you" and "my angel." Holds your entire soul in a psycho death grip from "insolent boy" and doesn't let go until the curtain goes down.

Kevin Gray: Mix together Peter Karrie, Hugh Panaro, and a dash of Crawford and you get Kevin Gray. That's a deranged, hair-raising, and completely magical equation.

Ramin Karimloo: Gets disproportionate hype because of the 25th anniversary performance but his 25th anniversary performance is still worth the hype??

John Cudia: There are three ingredients to a Cudia performance: softness, sadness, and sexiness. He may not blow you away if you like your Phantom unhinged, but he will bring those three things every time.

Howard McGillin: Starts out classic and suave but ends the show completely broken with all the feels. Also a banging vibrato if that's your thing.

David Thaxton: The theater gods reward a risk taker, and Thaxton has so many unique touches that I admire his commitment even if I'm ambivalent about some of his choices.

[More phantoms here and here.]

[litloverscorsetlaces]

New fandom level unlocked: I officially have an AO3 account.

POTO retelling loading. And maybe I'll even overcome my trauma and restart the Jane Eyre fanfic I lost more than a decade ago when my computer was stolen.

[litloverscorsetlaces]

Recent Phantoms I've Watched in 1-2 Sentences

[Mostly in the order of which I've recently watched them, which is random.]

Ted Keegan: A legend. Very much "I know how I want to interpret this character and I will do it consistently well over 20+ years and still make you cry each time."

Jeremy Stolle: The acting is always there, but the voice comes and goes? King of mishaps.

Paul Schaefer: I've only seen one vid of him. His Phantom is literally diabolical up to the very last minute and it's...interesting.

Ben Crawford: Great voice before the post-COVID struggles, but questionable acting decisions. Oddly enough he grew more as an actor as his vocals declined.

Dean Chisnall: Such a shy and sensitive Phantom who sings every note with ease! He wins the award for best reptilian stomach crawl during STYDI.

Laird Mackintosh: He was a good understudy in the 2010s, but I was awed by how much he owned the role as a cover in 2023 up to closing.

James Barbour: Ruined by the legal issues and the fact that I saw him as Rochester first.

Killian Donnelly: He's the perfect combination of sensitive acting and a great voice. Always sticks the landing in the final lair, but he does it a different way each time so each performance feels new.

Tim Martin Gleason: He has the most beautiful hands and I love how soft and tender he becomes after the kiss. He genuinely wants Christine and Raoul to escape safely.

Norm Lewis: If Erik was your dad...but also your toddler?

[wheel-of-fish]

Killian Donnelly + Lucy St. Louis | London 2023

[papillon-de-mai]

Antoine Cécile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot — Portrait d'une dame vêtue de blanc, debout dans un paysage boisé. details. 1820-1845

[forthosebefore]

Sunday in Little Rock, Arkansas (1935)

Farm Security Administration Collection, Arkansas Photographer, Ben Shahn The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Photographs and Prints Division

[terminallyinferiorpoet]

I wish the world were ending tomorrow. Then I could take the next train, arrive at your doorstep in Vienna, and say, ‘Come with me, Milena. We are going to love each other without scruples or fears or restraint because the world is ending tomorrow.’ Perhaps we don’t love unreasonably because we think we have time or have to reckon with time. But what if we don’t have time? Or what if time as we know it is irrelevant? Ah, if only the world were ending tomorrow. We could help each other very much.

Franz Kafka, “Letters to Milena” (via terminallyinferiorpoet)

[innersweetss]

[9710144]

[mack-7-0]

This time a bit more focused 🎯

[lemessiedumal]

Marlene Clark in Ganja & Hess (1973)

[cottageaesthetic]

[arearchive]

Villa Palazzetto, Monselice, Italy | Source: @danilo.scarpati

[norrmajeane]

Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll in Paris Blues (1961), dir. Martin Ritt

[lost-moonlight]

[daughterofchaos]

[metamorphesque]

— Susan Sontag, As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks

[text ID: My library is an archive of longings.]

[gypsums]