inklingfair I’ve been back on a Phantom of the Opera kick after almost eight years, and it’s worse better than ever. For one, YouTube did not exist in 2004, so the only ways I could (feverishly) consume the phandom (yes, that’s what we call it) was through the (slightly ho-hum) movie, the 2-CD Original London Cast recording given to me by Ena (at the time I disliked Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, but was a huge fan of what I could hear of their grave scene and the final lair scene with Steve Barton), the horrible Julian Sands B-movie (I would have liked to have the Lon Chaney silent film, but alas, internet speeds were considerably slower then) and the PhantomoftheOpera.com forum. I think that was my first online fandom, the first time I discovered fanfic (Erik/Raoul slash abounded, less common was Phantom/the Persian), and the lurked in the threads till the wee hours.
It was in the forums that I discovered Susan Kay’s excellent Phantom. At the time, it was out of print, so I had to content myself with a text file I found online. My dialup connection was forever timing out, but one fateful day, the guy from Remy’s in Marikina Shoe Expo called to say he had it. I was ecstatic, and the book was stupendous. I read it over and over for a couple of months until the Phantom in my mind was Kay’s Erik, with Michael Crawford’s voice (he grew on me, but Sarah did not). I scoured the used bookshops for other versions (I only had the granddaddy of all Phantoms, the Gaston Leroux PDF, which I had printed out – imagine! – with the ALW libretto), including Frederick Forsyth’s sequel Phantom of Manhattan (awful) and Charlotte Vale Allen’s Night Magic (ridiculous). I only kept Kay’s version. Then after a year, I got into U2 and the Phantom was forgotten. I gave my CDs to my sister.
Fast forward to 2012 — in March I learned they were staging POTO at the CCP in August. Well, when you’re a phan, you’ll never quite shake off the Opera Ghost. And – the joys of technology! – the phandom had grown massively.
1. Most of the Phantoms were on Youtube, so I could watch snippets of performances by Michael Crawford (smooth and evilly sublime), John Owen Jones (the most gorgeous version of Music of the Night), Ramin Karimloo (pop opera x metal)
2. There’s The Phantom Project, an ongoing review project of all known Phantom derivatives in existence
3. There’s the 2011 25th Anniversary Concert with Ramin and Sierra Boggess (the most exquisite Christine, IMO)
4. ALW staged his sequel, Love Never Dies based on the Forsyth novel (which I knew I was going to hate but I watched, anyway). Ramin and Sierra were in the original cast recording, and Ben Lewis was the Australian (filmed) Phantom. It was terrible overall – how can you improve on that novel? – but I thought Dear Old Friend and Till I Hear You Sing still had that old magic.
Tim’s watched the 25th Anniversary and LND with me, and I’m afraid I’ve been talking his ears off about Erik, but he’s been game so far about the whole thing, even doing his usual psychoanalysis on the trio and Meg Giry. But no, he’s no phan. Now he’s in Dumaguete for three whole weeks, so I can gush and read and watch and listen to everything to my hearts content. I’m a happy camper. 🙂
Some fun facts:
1. Christine sings “… you are not alone” before she kisses the Phantom in the final lair scene. That makes him Doctor-like. I am pleased.
2. Disfigurement and appearance: The stage Phantoms are uglier than Gerard Butler’s version, but I hold that the Lon Chaney one is the correct version. I suppose the full mask would be hell for the singers, though. Ben Lewis’ version mysteriously loses his harelip after “ten long years of waiting” – when did plastic surgery begin?!? And why didn’t he go all the way then? Did he do it himself? He could have, he’s the 19th-century Tony Stark after all (except the women run away, rather than to him).
3. Okay, Sierra Boggess’ Christine I ought to hate. She’s gorgeous. But I can’t. She obviously is in love with the Phantom, not Raoul. She has my sympathy. And she totally builds the case for Love Never Dies, singlehandedly.
4. Canon!ALWPhantom is no longer a virgin. This gives me mixed feelings.
5. Ramin Karimloo is of Persian ancestry! Though ALW should have made another version with him as daroga – or the shah – and Ben Lewis as Erik.
The cuckoo is a very beautiful bird! – Raoul, Susan Kay’s Phantom
