David Shannon & Gina Beck

Ripped my beating heart out of my body.

A particularly devastating clip of Michael Crawford, featuring not one but FOUR “I love you”s and his voice breaking. Los Angeles, 1990, with Mary D’Arcy and Reece Holland. 

Recent Phantoms I've Watched in 1-2 Sentences

[Mostly in the order 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 solid understudy in the 2010s, but I was awed by how he totally owned the role as a cover in 2023 up to closing. He really brings the heat in the first lair.

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 every 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, like what??

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

He and Dean Chisnall should be arrested for how they deliver this line, they are trying to kill me. My heart--

I can't believe they let this hAPPEN

I'm going to reblog this combination whenever I see it.

I've just thought of a phantom of the opera remake directed by guillermo del toro and now I will never know peace

All final Broadway Phantoms, the kiss.

Ted Keegan's Phantom is always so happy and innocent at that organ before STYDI, why would Christine do such a thing to him?

(Side note: I love when actors lean into reminding us that Erik is genuinely in love with music. Adds unspoken character depth and helps answer questions like: Why is he so obsessed with Christine? How has music functioned as his primary means of socialization and processing emotions?)

Chapter 2 is live!!

Some random thoughts in the void as I try to work through wtf I actually want to do with this fanfic:

“Think of Me” is the first song I heard from POTO before I was even properly introduced to the show. But once I watched Phantom in full, I realized how much of an “odd man out” the song is. I get that it serves an introductory function and that it’s basically a Christine/Raoul leitmotif, but even so it doesn’t seem to feature much in the musical overall.

And I guess this fanfic retelling is taking up the song in a completely different vein and asking what the story would look like if “Think of Me” was a potential leitmotif for Christine and Erik. What if Erik and Christine had encountered each other in one set of circumstances, gone their separate ways, and then reconnected and “remembered” each other—but with a new set of emotions and challenges?

Maybe I’m just trying to extract an Erik/Christine ship 😅. But also want to gently explore whether it’s possible for Erik’s Angel of music/father figure act to be meaningful for the both he and young Christine and not just loaded with manipulation and grooming. And I feel like the only way that’s even slightly possible is for her to actually have room to grow up and come back to the opera house as a woman.

Maybe it won’t work but 😂🥴

A ROOM WITH A VIEW (1985)

dir. james ivory

Not sure what I just experienced watching the restaged POTO tour, but now I need to revisit David Shannon bootlegs to help me recover.

I just watched Thomas Schulze's final lair. Send help.