It's Phantastic!

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

Happy Thursday, everybody. This is my first post for my new blog. A little about this blog... It's going to be all about musicals (my passion, my guilty pleasure). I am not familiar with EVERY musical in the world, but I'm trying to really learn a lot. I hope I'll learn in this blog about musicals. 

And a little about me. I'm sixteen, I'm a high school student, I'm a musical geek. Nobody knows I am doing this blog, not even my parents haha. So I'm pretty excited and nervous about this. I also apologize if I have wrong grammars. I'm not from an English-speaking country. I am actually from Asia. 

I am going to highlight one musical in my every of my post. That musical could be repeated, it depends on my mood. And as of now... I am in the mood for some Phantom of the Opera!

If you're familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, then you're lucky. But if you're not, let me educate you with the basic. (Warning: This contains spoilers!) It's about this aspiring singer named Christine Daae. She's been trained by this man who she thinks is an Angel of Music that her father sent her to guide her. But in truth, he's only a man living under a lair in the Paris Opera House and he is in love with Christine. He has a disfigured face, and he wears a mask. Meanwhile, Christine was reconciled with her childhood sweetheart, Raoul, and yeah they fall in love. I don't want to say anything more, because I don't want to spoil your Phantom experience.

I first watched this musical in it's film adaptation back in 2004, starring Gerard Butler as Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine and Patrick Wilson as Raoul. I didn't like Gerard. He could really act but hell, he couldn't sing. I'm sorry if you like him, but I really don't. I mean, yeah, he made my eyes water when he acts but when he sings... nah. Emmy Rossum was my favorite when I first watched the movie. She was absolutely gorgeous and she has this amazing voice. She was only sixteen (oooh, around my age!) when she was acting as Christine, and she's really good. There may be holes in her acting and singing, but what do you expect? She's only a teenager. Patrick Wilson was also a good actor and singer. Yeah, it's not his usual horror movie (he was the father from Insidious 1 and 2, and that husband in The Conjuring), but he was really good at this one. I liked his singing more than his acting, though. I heard he was from Broadway... but I couldn't be that sure.

Gerard Butler as Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine 

and Patrick Wilson as Raoul

I have a confession to make... I never watched this musical live. It came to my country years ago but I wasn't able to watch it because I was broke, I was in the middle of my exams and my parents won't let me go (huhu). But I watched the 25th anniversary, starring Ramin Karimloo as Phantom, Sierra Boggess as Christine Daae and Hadley Fraser as Raoul. I was amazed on how the stage musical was so different from the movie. The actors and actress were good, but only that. Ramin was an okay Phantom. I loved his acting in the Final Lair, and he was really scary there. But I prefer him when he was a Raoul. He just doesn't give me the chills that I like to feel when I'm watching Phantom. Sierra was the highlight of the 25th anniversary. Man, that girl could act and sing! Her version of Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again made me cry, and her singing is gorgeous. The only thing that I don't like about her is about her pronunciation. She fails to pronounce the "s" sometimes. Like the moment from I Remember. "I remember there was mist..." Yeah, remember that song? I don't like her singing that. In stage, you MUST pronounce everything because you have a live audience. There'll be no subtitles below you. So, yeah, that's my only problem with Sierra. Hadley was a good Raoul, but certainly not my favorite. He's the kind of Raoul that's harsh and strong, not the usual sympathetic one. I like that he's trying to be a new Raoul, but I wish they could have picked someone who played Raoul before. Ramin played the Phantom back in 2008 with Gina Beck (also one of my favorites) and Leila Benn Harris and Robyn North. Sierra played Christine back in Las Vegas. But Hadley never been Raoul before. I think he was picked as Raoul because of his performance as Grantaire in the Les Miserables 25th anniversary a year before. 

Hadley Fraser as Raoul, Ramin Karimloo as Phantom

and Sierra Boggess as Christine

You must be wondering who my favorite cast are. Well, my favorite Phantom is Hugh Panaro. He's a popular one in Broadway, and I've seen enough bootlegs to know that he's a really good one. I cried in his performance with Sandra Joseph in the Final Lair. When Sandra gave him back the ring... Damn it! I can't just help myself. Michael Crawford is also a good Phantom, one of the very best. My favorite Christine Daae is Rebecca Caine. She's the original Cosette in Les Miserables, and she's my favorite. She's the perfect soprano, the perfect actress and the perfect face. I really love her, but some people kept saying that she's a bit snobbish in person, but that's not the case here. She's awesome, and if I ever get the chance to play Christine Daae, I'd look up on her. If YOU are going to play Christine Daae, I recommend you to buy the original Canadian cast album. She was the original Christine in Canada, with Colm Wilkinson. I haven't made my mind up yet about my favorite Raoul, but maybe it'll have to be John Cudia? His performance with Elizabeth Southard was absolutely beautiful. He was also a good Phantom, but I prefer him as Raoul. And oh, he also married Kathy Voytko - a Christine Daae before. But I think they never got the chance to perform together. I'm not sure...

Hugh Panaro as Phantom 

Rebecca Caine as Christine

John Cudia as Raoul

My first encounter with The Phantom of the Opera was the book by Gaston Leroux. I was about nine years old when I read it and I was terrified by the Phantom. The way he dragged Christine by the hair? Yikes, that was scary. But the musical made him more gentler and I felt sympathy for him. 

So it's currently 9:46 PM and I still have school tomorrow, but I still want to write more.

And so I will write more.

The original London and Broadway cast are Michael Crawford as Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine and Steve Barton as Raoul. Michael Crawford was a very good Phantom. Can you believe that they were about to choose Steve Harley for Phantom? Mr. Webber, this is not Jesus Christ Superstar. This is not a rock musical. You don't need Steve Harley. Michael was the perfect choice for Phantom. His voice is really sweet and scary at some times. At the Final Lair when he was singing that Masquerade reprise, it gave me tears. Like, literally. Sarah Brightman was an okay Christine. She was a good soprano (just watch out for her eyes! They're really distracting when she's vocalizing for the title song). Also a good actress, and the musical is really written for her. She was married with Andrew Lloyd Webber at that time, and the only reason I think she got the part was because she was his wife. When they brought this musical to Broadway, Hal Prince (the original director) wanted Patti Cohenour - who was just as talented as Sarah, or maybe more! - to play Christine. But Andrew didn't want to. He said he won't bring Phantom to Broadway without Sarah being Christine. And so, they have no choice but to cast Patti as the alternate Christine only. Steve Barton, on the other hand, is the PERFECT choice for Raoul. His voice was mellow-y and sweet and when he sings All I Ask of You "No more talk of darkness..." it gives me an assuring feeling. It was as if I was safe just staying beside him. Kind of like how Christine must feel to be with Raoul. I was sad to learn about his death in 2000, or 2001. He was a great lost, and I was sad not to see him in the 25th anniversary. He could have sung with Sarah again. He was also a good Phantom, and he paired with one of my favorite Christine, Rebecca Luker.

Michael Crawford as Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine

Steve Barton as Raoul and Sarah Brightman as Christine

So I guess that's all for today. My next post is still going to be about Phantom of the Opera, but this time the songs! I don't want to end it here yet, but there's no time haha. So I'll just cut this short.

Expect a lot more musicals coming from me in the future, though! Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical of all time, probably because it's the first musical I've ever watched. It was nice writing this blog to you! 

PS: If you're wondering how about I know all of these people without even watching them perform, then it's all about bootlegs. I know it's not legal, but it's the only way I could watch it without spending a plane ticket to go to New York or London. I'm sorry if you're against with bootlegs (some people don't like others who watches bootlegs), but it's the only way for me.