Masqueradin’ Jaden @the-ghost-and-his-soprano - Tumblr Blog

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hazel-jane

Beautiful artwork from the 1988 edition of Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux and illustrated by Greg Hildebrandt.

chickpeamcb

he is there inside your mind, is the thing

behindthemirrorofmusic

What a horrible thing to say 🙁

"Mackintosh stood by the move, stating that: "Am I sorry? I'm sorry they're upset, but I do find it odd why musicians would want to keep doing the same thing year after year. I believe we should not be holding jobs for actors or musicians ad infinitum. This is not the Civil Service, we're creating art.""

Full article

thatdisasterauthor

HELLO FRIENDS. ALL OF YOU NEED TO GO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW:

It has:

Two ADORABLE queer lead characters. Tooth rottingly adorable.

A magic system that really digs into what it feels like to use magic.

The best hurt/comfort I’ve ever read outside of fanfic.

Fantastic sibling relationships.

Emotive male characters that are never looked down on for struggling/crying/etc.

Pirates.

Twists.

Healthy responses to trauma.

Great plot that you will not want to put down. Carve out a chunk of time to read it in one sitting.

That cover. Gorgeous.

Just. Go read it. It is so damn good. Easily the best book I’ve read in years.

margograce

"Flattering child, you shall know me

See why in shadow I hide

Look at your face in the mirror

I am there inside!"

carmelvardi

It's been a LONG TIME with this one, since frickin October. And it is not finished- but somehow I lost the fucking masterfile of this and I wanna cry T^T I also started adding Kaley Ann Voorhees and now I have nothing of that progress. So at that point I just gave up and decided to upload what I have.

So this was supposed to be the conclusion of my ~Christine Studies~™,but then school happened and I barely had time to work on this. And Sierra's sketches are actually for a different project I'm currently working on that we'll see when I'll give up on.

madmoro

…hide your face so the world will never find you…

couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name

I miss live theater! I'm getting antsy about it! Idk about broadway, but I think once the weather gets better we really need to start looking into outdoor shows. Like, some shows are impossible to do outside, I get that, but there are plenty that are doable! Smaller, localized outdoor performances of shows would be cheaper to put on and safer for an audience, plus would put a lot of artists back in work like...come on people Please who do I write to to get this ball rolling

- Hair. Hair literally,,,,doesn't even Have a set and for the most part the hippies are supposed to be out in a field. The only thing I could see being a problem is the snow machine for 'the flesh failures' but like...not impossible to set that up. Put the show in an actual field and the show gets even more interactive than it already is! Sell customed themed face masks with the tickets! Blankets for the audience to sit on can be spread out around the cast at safe distances. oooh and can you imagine how cool a night show would be??? yelling 'LOOK AT THE MOON' while the moon is actually out? I'm getting literal chills imagining the draft card burning scene right now, it's dark and they shut off the other lights so the trashcan is the main source of light and Claude singing right over it....chills, I tell you.

- Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It's literally a concert?? any outdoor concert pavilion would work? hell, if that's to pricey to rent out, in the show the concert is supposed to be in a parking lot lmfao so the cheaper the venue the better. You know how sometimes James Corden does a bit where they put on musicals during traffic??? That is SUCH a Hedwig vibe idk you could have a LOT of fun staging that show outside

- Rent. First of all, pandemic, housing and renting crisis, depressed young adults who desperately want hope for the future, so much else like...I'm sorry a Rent revival would slap so hard right now. The only set Rent ever has is like, a table and a scaffolding, maybe two tables if you're lucky. You can set that up anywhere. Fuck, find an actual empty lot for it. absolute vibes. Scatter the life support people throughout the audience. Whenever Mark isn't 'on stage' have him walk throughout the crowd filming people. Angel can be playing the tub drums while people enter the area and find their seats. When Roger leaves the apartment for the first time he actually fully leaves the show area until Christmas Bells starts up. The homeless characters can be scattered around the audience...like it's Easily good

- Hadestown. Okay listen. since I saw Hadestown I've wanted to see it as interactive. And what I'm proposing here is definitely crazy but NOT impossible and I feel like it would def draw an audience if only out of curiosity. Okay so like...have the show move. Like, there's an area set up for the bar in the beginning, tables strewn around with the audience and cast sitting together (at a safe distance ofc) so it feels like you're really IN the show. and when the story moves past that setting...so does the audience. Like, following Eurydice as she gets lost and dies (oof Hermes trying to get through to Orpheus can be like pre-recorded or in a different area so you can only Hear them while watching Eurydice) and then like listen....what town doesn't have an abandoned railroad track. I know it's an out there idea but would it not be so COOL to see all the railroad scenes staged on an actual railroad? Oh God and for the end the audience is once again following Eurydice, only seeing Orpheus's back until he turns around a second to soon....tell me you wouldn't get so wrapped up in the drama of that moment? hello? managing to pull off a production like this would simply fuck so hard I'm sorry

I'm tired so I'm stopping this post for now but like....I miss theater so much please let's just get safely creative please

wheel-of-fish

dragonrebelrose

Wait so Christine and Raoul get married IN the performance, but whoopsie-daisy the pastor turns out to be the Phantom?? Where is there a bootleg of this nonsense? I need it NOW.

wheel-of-fish

youtube link :)

glassprism

Do you know if there was any clarification for the first UK tour (1993-1996) to use the Broadway/International libretto, instead of the West End one they used in the second UK tour? It surprised me when I heard the Wandering Child duet and Meg’s chatter after Angel of Music.

Honestly, what lines and libretto is used in which production is super confusing and seems to have been dependent on a number of factors like the time period and location of the production. I started digging around in both my recordings and librettos, and here’s a general timeline of what the heck was going on.

The London production began with some different lyrics in ‘Think of Me’ (“What a change” line for Raoul and the “Fly away” lines for Christine), the trio in ‘Wandering Child’, and no second “Help me say goodbye” in ‘Wishing’.

The Broadway production, when it opened in 1998, changed the ‘Think of Me’ and ‘Angel of Music lyrics, added in Meg’s “Rehearsals, rehearsals!” line, changed the ‘Masquerade’ lines, and altered the trio to a duet.

London eventually changed the ‘Think of Me’ and ‘Angel of Music’ lyrics but did not add Meg’s lines, change ‘Masquerade’ or do the duet, while international productions that opened in this brief 1988-1989 period followed the Broadway libretto (meaning they had Meg’s lines and the duet). These included Japan, Austria, and Sweden initially.

Around 1989, one of the productions, either the Los Angeles sit-down or the Toronto production, added the second “Help me say goodbye” in ‘Wishing’. All subsequent productions would include this line, and even Sweden, which initially did not have it, would add it in.

So all is well and good, but sometime between 1988 and 1990, the London production changed the middle stanza of ‘Wishing’ to the “Three long years” lines, which would remain until around 2002-2003.

Broadway does not pick this up, but a couple of international productions that opened around this time did. This includes not only the UK tour that ran from 1993-1995, but also the Dutch (opened 1993) and Belgian (opened 1999) productions, even though they keep the other changes in ‘Think of Me’ and ‘Angel of Music’ and stick to a duet. Switzerland does not, but that’s probably because they’re using the Vienna / Hamburg translation, written before the changes to the line. So basically, this era seems to be a weird mishmash between using mostly the Broadway lines but also London’s “three long years” lines.

Meanwhile, according to Operafantomet’s post, there were yet other international productions that would get librettos that included the old lines in ‘Think of Me’ and ‘Angel of Music’. This seems to have happened mainly in the original Swedish (opened 1989) and Danish (opened 2000) productions.

But it seems that around 2000 or so, things finally settle down, perhaps because everyone is as confused as I am at this point. The UK tour now begins to use the London libretto, including the trio and “three long years” line, perhaps because it’s, you know, in the UK. Otherwise, subsequent international productions like Mexico and Spain stick to the Broadway libretto. The ones that don’t do it is likely because they’re using older translations and don’t really alter it.

But two postscripts! First, after being discard for a decade, the “three long years” lines make a comeback in the 2013 restaged US Tour.

And second, around 2017 or so, the trio is now the version that will be used worldwide, so all productions pick that up, with possibly the exception of Japan, which as far as I know has steadfastly refused to make any changes to the libretto since they opened in 1988.

There, I hope this was enlightening and not, I dunno, utterly confusing.

celinekim218

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA #6 PORTRAIT PAINTINGS

Probably the very first two painting I did for the PotO project to see if I can capture the mood of the character with a painting. I originally looked into a lot of Mead Schaeffer’s paintings as reference for the whole project so thought I might as well do paintings that clearly shows what paintings I was basing off of. I later grabbed more movie screenshots(mainly for lighting and staging purpose) for reference and looked less into Mead Schaeffer.

extraplanetarysabotage

Hot take: Nothing Changes, If It’s True, and How Long? are a fantastic trio of songs and they’re criminally underrated.

klausscrimshaw

Post-musical headcanon of mine

(Meg gave the mask to Christine after she found it in the lair, and Erik is still not over the kisses)

exigencelost

A non-comprehensive list of lines from earlier versions of Hadestown that were cut from the Broadway version and which I mourn daily. Might add to this later. Might also someday make a list of lines that were added for Broadway that bopped enormously to create spiritual balance. Bold is actually meant as emphasis for once.

Ruminations on Hades and capitalism:

“King of diamonds, king of spades / Hades was king of a kingdom of dirt / miners of mines, diggers of graves / they bowed down to Hades who gave them work / and they bowed down to Hades who made them sweat / who paid them their wages and set them about / digging and dredging and dragging the depths of the Earth to turn its insides out / singing la la la la la la la.”

—Epic 1, original concept album and Epic 2, NYTW live recording.

(note: Anaïs Mitchell said ¡¡Keep it in the ground!!)

“The heart of the king loves everything / like the hammer loves the nail.”

—Epic 2, original concept album, and Epic III, NYTW live recording.

(note: I fell in love with this line at 13 and never got over it. This line actually permanently shares a file in my brain with a Zadie Smith quote from White Teeth, “Oh he loves her, just as the English loved India and Africa and Ireland.”)

“And Hades is king of the scythe and the sword / he covers the world in the color of rust / he scrapes the sky and scars the earth / and he comes down heavy and hard on us.”

—Epic 2, original concept album and Epic III, NYTW live recording.

(note: the condemnation of industrialization and urbanization..skyscrapers and mining as a physical wound inflicted on nature…also the consonance…)

80089mt

Rare clip of Simon Bowman and an unknown Christine in the Final Lair. Enjoy!

1997, London.

i-penna

😢😢😢

ballerinadellamusica

Phantom Bulgaria:

All I ask of you reprise/proposal

(Looks like Raoul unmasks the phantom in this version)

Pictures from Musicbulgaria.bg Facebook

the-ghost-and-his-soprano

I know it’s Not Popular but I love the restaged tour because it was my introduction to phantom and y’all can fight me

On a more serious note, though, when I saw it on broadway (before I was like, super into the phandom and knew every aspect of the broadway set and blocking) I was actually disappointed by some of the original stuff! Like sure, there is appeal to the classic. The red death costume was one thing I was super impressed by. And the elephant. But otherwise, there were things that I missed from the tour.

Prologue: Cobwebs>weird baggy proscenium. Yes, the tour chandelier reveal is less impressive since it doesn’t start on the stage, but the baggy proscenium is just horrible, sorry.

The Mirror: Meg. Her relationship with Christine is so played up in the tour (no doubt to set up LND), they do this little dance together and it’s super cute.

Title Song: The descent into the lair!! The floating staircase blew my mind and after that broadway’s weird back and forth on the floating catwalk was a bit of a letdown.

I Remember/STYDI. In the tour, the phantom takes off his mask to wipe his face, and Christine startles him and turns him around. I don’t have any particular feelings about that tbh. What I did find strange is how, on broadway, Christine is able to get so close to the phantom without him noticing. Like, you have a strange lady in your house, and a Big Secret. Shouldn’t you be a little more on alert??

Il Muto. I found it really funny when the husband hid in the wardrobe. Also, when buquet is strangled a real dude really rises off the ground in the tour! It was shocking and worrying and caused real concern in the audience, and when I saw on broadway that it was just a dummy tipped off a catwalk I was nonplussed.

All I Ask of You: That set though!! Love that the phantom is straight up onstage with them and we don’t know. In contrast the floating angel seems too far removed, like he’s not even in the same locale. I also like the contemplation of suicide, but think it’s done way too obviously. Just a glance downward off the stage would have been more effective than the whole arms out, ready for death bit.

Masquerade. The one big thing I missed here was the phantom’s exit. In the tour he kinda twirls out of his cape and leaves it behind. On broadway you could kinda see him in the background just… walk off? Idk that was a bummer.

Madame Giry’s Tale: Honestly this was one of the coolest moments in the tour for me, because there’s this little shadow play going on in the background of Erik’s exploitation with the fair. When the scene happened on broadway in like, almost complete darkness? Bored.

The Graveyard: That sucker punch!! Hell yes Raoul, get him. On broadway I was a little thrown by the fire shooty skull staff. Like when did he get magic powers?? okay?? Also, that is one Big Hat, why does he have such extra fashion sense?

Notes II: Christine fucking bitch slaps Raoul and I am HERE for it. I know it’s done to set up LND, like I know, but it’s still so satisfying to see her take a stand when she’s not being listened to.

PONR: In retrospect, I think it the table dancing was a bit much, and that the scene is better played through sexual tension rather than straight up sexuality. However it was what followed in the tour version that I liked better. The unmasking from behind and the more fearful reaction of the phantom to the gunmen make more sense to me. Also something that continues to bother me about the broadway blocking is the struggle between Christine and the Phantom when she recognizes him. Like, she’s actively resisting him and giving every cue she can, why is no one picking up on the fact that he switched places with Piangi???

The Final Lair: (this is a long one sorry) Admittedly things get a little rapey in the tour, but given the more unstable characterization of the phantom, it seems plausible. I don’t love it, but it gives the actors something to do rather than dance around each other looking worried, especially since there’s no portcullis (which I also didn’t mind). Also I like the tour version of Raoul’s strangulation better. The rope is part of the scene and not just conveniently dangled from the flies. At the end, the tour Christine doesn’t approach the phantom to give back the ring, she just sets it on the desk unnoticed. In that context, the phantom’s “Christine, I love you” was a private declaration that just happened to be overheard, and the anguish of the moment was really heartbreaking. When I saw it on broadway, I was surprised. Like, only moments ago he was ready to kill you and your boyfriend, and yet you’re totally comfortable going face to face? Like I don’t actively mind the original ending but it really threw me seeing it for the first time. Then in the very last moment of the tour version, Meg finds the phantom standing, and when she goes to touch his cloak, it collapses and he’s gone. I think that’s a little more dynamic than the “let’s sit in the chair and prepare to die” broadway blocking.

Overall, I feel like broadway’s overall vibe for the phantom is “WwhhOOoOoOOO mysterious!!!” Whereas the tour is just like “creep, but like, feasible creep”. Its not quite as supernatural or campy, and that resonates better with me. Additionally, I tend to prefer the new blocking. A lot of the problems I have with the original blocking is how bare it is. People say the tour is busy but I think the original can sometimes feel slow and unmotivated. Of course, that can have as much to do with the actors as anything. Also, in retrospect I totally agree that many of the tour costumes were stripped down or cheap looking. However. Did I notice that at the time? Absolutely not. Would I have noticed if I had seen the broadway show first? Maybe. But when I did see broadway, the quality of the costumes was not the first thing that stood out. It’s also not the most obvious thing, either, unless you’ve got some nice-ass seats. One costume thing that did catch my eye, though: the phantom’s wig. I’m sorry but the broadway wig is Ugly. I get the super made-up aesthetic that Erik is supposedly going for, but I don’t like it. Every picture I see of the actors in their bright pink lipstick with heavy drawn on eyebrows makes me cringe. I like the tour phantom look and I think the wig is cute and I will fight you.

I think at the end of the day, the dislike of the tour in the phandom, stems from the fact that “iT’s NoT tHe oRiGiNaL!!!!!!” Which is totally understandable. But I think instead, the hate gets blamed on the “cheap” look and the “edgier” blocking. For me, the tour is the original. It was my first experience with the show, and what made me fall in love. This probably won’t change anyone’s mind, but I just felt the need to stand up for it. And also, to point out that the original is not, by default, untouchable and perfect just because it’s the original.

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