Poto Musical - Blog Posts

embrace

curtain call

Girls rlly look at the most murderous societal rejected gremlin and say "he's my favorite" (I'm girls)

The world (me) needs more erik content please I'm begging

Must I remind us all.. You don't choose Phantom of the Opera, Phantom of the Opera chooses YOU. (and maybe the angel of music too)

okay girlies i just listened to the WHOLE movie album of phantom and oh god...

everything i said in my other post about ponr still stands for pretty much the rest of the music lol. gerard cant do vibrato and it physically hurts when i hear where they cut his notes short because he cant hold out a note for that long😭

also i feel like everything is just... meh. they toned down the music so much and yes i understand that you have to do that with most stage shows turned movies because with theatre you have to be big and bright for the back audience and you can't be that big for most movies, but with phantom... i feel like you need lots of energy

phantom of the opera is such an emotional show that needs lots of big actors to play these roles and the music is also super big (sorry for saying big so much lol) and swelling because thats what fits with this kind of story. when they tone down the music in the movie it just made everything sound more muddy and half-assed🤷‍♀️

saw phantom of the opera and the lighting/stage was gorgeous so i tried to recreate it 😌

“If I am the Phantom, it is because man’s hatred has made me so.”

- Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

Whoops, you thought I was over Davis Gaines?

He's just so ghoulish and graceful.

This Week's Phantom Spotlight: Marcus Lovett

He's not everyone's cup of tea, but after going back and forth about this a few times with different watches I've decided he's mine (oddly enough).

Detractors call him stiff (and he is) and aloof (I get it), but those are choices that make sense when you understand the logic behind his portrayal. "Unsocialized" doesn't [always] have to look like "unhinged;" it can also look...detached, hyper-rationalizing, wheels turning in head at all times.

^^^ And that would get old were it not for the fact that Lovett plays that vision very methodical and consistent so that it can all be undone in the final lair. His Erik's arc is calculating/processing by imitation -> learning how to feel organically. His tension: "Oh shit, I'm actually feeling things. I wasn't supposed to feel things."

Slightly hard to tell bc of the glare in the boots, but 95% sure he embraced Christine back (hesitantly) during the kisses/hugs and also held AO'B's hand, and that decision matters for his portrayal (saves it from being too stiff and consistent and he plays it like he's embracing her despite himself--stopped thinking, started to feel).

Also has to be paired with the right Christine, which he was with Anna O'Byrne. She got it; they played off each other well.

Forget Raoul, that veil is Lovett's real antagonist in the final lair.

Filing An Emotional Distress Claim Against Earl Carpenter's Phantom for:

How softly he whispers "sing" during the title song.

Nearly putting his arms around Katie Knight Adams while singing "soooarrr" during MOTN but chickening out.

The emphasis he puts on "lead me save me from ~my solitude~"

Hands (see items 5-9):

Directing Christine (and honestly the music) during the title song like he's literally pulling the melody/sex out of her.

Doing that wrist twist thing during the cape twirl and MOTN.

Doing all the things during PONR.

Always holding Christine's head/hair during the kiss and sometimes even putting his hand on her cheek. [Melts.]

Reaching for Christine when she returns because he thinks she's coming back for him only to try to refuse the ring when she gives it back.

Falling to his knees during the ring return and offering the ring to her AGAIN?!?! This is very intentional infliction of emotional distress wtf!!

Going all the way to the floor like a baby during the whole "go now and leave me" sequence.

Reaching through the damn portcullis with the damn veil in hand while singing "you alone can make my song take flight."

The fact that he came back to the West End for a limited run in 2023 and destroyed us all over again.

And then ended that 2023 limited run with the ultimate sad wet cat "noooo" after the ring return in the final lair. Who let this happen?!?

So honestly this is a respondeat superior case bc the producers of POTO allowed Earl Carpenter to victimize us all in the 2000s and then brought him back aged like fine wine just to find devastating new ways of milking our tear ducts all over again.

This has to be actionable. My lawyers will be in touch.

Phantom Acting Choices That Live in My Head Rent Free (Part 3)

Final lair edition because this scene alone has permanent residence in an entire area of my brain.

When Davis Gaines and Stephen Buntrock take "this face which earned a mother's fear and loathing" up an octave. If you got the range, flaunt it I guess.

Hugh Panaro absolutely torments Raoul. Why are you waving at him from the other side of the portcullis? Why are you singing "raise up your hands to the level of your eyes" like that?!

The way Ian Jon Bourg and Kevin Gray scream "I love you."

The way Hugh Panaro whispers "I love you."

The way John Cudia fumbles "I love you. I--" in his performance with Sarah Lawrence.

Honestly there are no less than fifty Phantom I love you's that play in my head at any given moment. I'm obsessed with extra ilys.

But also Earl Carpenter saying "fuck an ily" and just dropping to his knees to offer Christine the ring again like the sad wet cat he is.

David Shannon screaming "No!" when Christine says "you deceived me."

Phantoms who lean their cheek against Christine's hair between kisses (shout out to Ben Crawford, Laird Mackintosh, and Jonathan Roxmouth, this is an underrated 2020s calling card).

Any Christine putting their hand to the Phantom's cheek during the kiss. Common West End staple, but bonus points if a Phantom reacts to it (Ramin, Earl, David Shannon, etc.)

When Sierra Boggess turns back to look at Erik one last time during the 25th anniversary performance and RK gives her that slight nod like, "Go ahead, it's ok." Kill me.

Lucy St. Louis staring down Killian Donnelly's Phantom through the portcullis while she (supposedly) sings "share each day with me" to another man.

To say music is your life is an understatement. Music is what makes you wake up each day—albeit always in darkness. It’s the living substitute for the family and friendships your face, a damning accident of birth, has denied you.

Then one day you hear her voice from your desolate hiding place. You discover music personified in the form of a grieving girl just as lonely as you are. You can't explain why you took the risk of revealing yourself to her; you only know that there’s no meaning in music anymore without that seraphic voice in your possession. Molding it, controlling it, is your closest approximation to happiness.

It doesn’t end well. Your desire turns to a murderous obsession that nearly wrecks her. You forget that that messiness of the human heart is only partly transposed in the sheet music of an opera. She isn't music personified; she’s just a woman who belongs to the living world from which you're exiled. 

Still, she shows you compassion. For a moment she sees you. In that fleeting fraction of time, she understands you better than you've bothered to understand her in your relentless quest to own her. And so you release her. With one last goodbye, she returns the ring you gave her and your eyes follow her long after her form disappears from view.

You’ve accepted it. You nod your head in resignation and kiss the ring that once touched her fingers. You'll be brave! You’ll think of her fondly and savor the fragments of her that live in your mind's eye.

Then you hear her voice again: that call that first summoned you from the darkness; the instrument that shaped you as much as it was shaped by you; the melody on which you'd set all your wretched hopes. It possesses your body as usual. As it radiates down your spine, you react like a cobra to a charmer's flute. The angelic sound seems to await your response.

But your face crumbles when her rescuer sings back. In the notes of their duet you hear all the things you can't give her, all the grief you've caused, and the sure certainty that you've lost her forever. You hang your head and realize that you're not brave; you're sorry. So very, very sorry, and...

You love her. You love her desperately!

Filing an Emotional Distress Claim Against Jonathan Roxmouth for:

The way he sings/acts "is THIS what you wanted to see?" during the unmasking. Why is it so unique and convincing??

That reptilian neck movement in the graveyard. He is a poisonous snake. He will BITE you, Raoul!

That looooooong pause in the final lair before he whispers "you try my patience."

(3a) Sometimes a well-placed pause is more powerful than a yell--especially in a musical like POTO where everything is meticulously paced and most of the audience probably thinks they know what to expect. I thought I knew!! Turns out I did not, JRox.

His hands. I'm bringing a claim against JRox's hands alone. They just kept...doing things that made me want to cry and/or die like (see points 6, 7, 8, and 9):

Touching Christine's face in PONR.

Wrapping his fingers around the apple like that.

The flickofthewrist during the title song.

Reaching for Christine during the ring return as if this is an Earl Carpenter throwback, I am GUTTED.

The whole first lair. The whole thing.

Resting his cheek against Christine's head during the embrace between kisses like he's being soothed/mothered.

The general thoughtfulness of his interpretation. Props to him for maturing into this role the way he has, it's all so assured now! He really "gets" it, but I'm just emotionally damaged by it.

I issue a public apology for my completely private judgments of you JRox. But you will still be served papers.

Was completely unprepared for JRox to snatch my entire soul and now I'm just...unsettled. How am I supposed to sleep?!?!

Holy Week coinciding with the anniversary of POTO's closing on Broadway is a very dark combination when you think about it.

Look, I'm very excited to see Jordan Donica in the Gilded Age, but all I know is THIS BETTER NOT INTERFERE WITH MY DARKEST DREAMS OF HIM PLAYING THE PHANTOM FOR THE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR. Listen to the voice. Look at the hands. Imagine the pants!! This man was made to play the Phantom. He is the second coming of Davis Gaines or Howard McGillan in the making.

Whoever is in charge...whoever I need to contact, petition, or pray to...MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

Phantoms: Sad Wet Cat or Crazy Bitch?

Inspired by this tweet by @glindaupland (i think). May delete because, well...

Earl Carpenter: Duh, the OG sad wet cat OG.

Kevin Gray: Definitely a crazy bitch, but makes me a sad wet cat watching him.

Ian Jon Bourg: Sad wet cat pretending to be a crazy bitch.

Tim Martin Gleason: Name a difference between his final lair and a kitten left out in the rain?

Hugh Panaro: Psycho bitch who becomes a sad wet cat for 1.5 seconds when he says "my angel."

Davis Gaines: Sad wet crazy bitch.

JOJ: Crazy wet cat.

David Thaxton: Is a crazy bitch because he's a sad wet cat.

Ramin Karimloo: Extra crazy bitch. No cat in him whatsoever, unfortunately.

Jeremy Stolle: Was a sad wet cat in his early days as an understudy but graduated to crazy bitch and sex god in the 2020s.

Greg Mills: People literally call him finger lickin' Greg...but he's still a wet cat.

Ben Crawford: Crazy bitch who swears he's not crazy.

David Shannon: Sad wet cat who is also injured.

John Cudia: Sad wet cat who makes my cat w—*phone dies*

An Essay on Why David Shannon and Gina Beck Are My Favorite Final Lair Coupling

They are just absolutely brilliant together. And I think it's a combination of bouncing off each other's spontaneous reactions well, but also having a plan and complete synergy in how they understand their characters and the arc of the scene. It all works together to secure the Phantom's transformation and redemption while also leaving the audience feeling like Christine made the right decision, which is such a hard line to walk in the final lair.

I think Gina's Christine genuinely loves Erik in this one, but there was absolutely no way she was going to stay with him after everything he'd done. The decision is questionable for other Christines, but her particular take on the character just wasn't going to allow for that, especially given his Phantom's more aggressive approach to the final lair.

And unlike other interpretations of this scene, both she and David/the Phantom know that and it plays out in their body language post-kiss. Up to that point, David had literally been grabbing Christine at will and throwing her all over the place, all while desperately denying that his actions were dooming their relationship. And now she comes back to return the ring and he literally can't make himself touch her because he knows he's pissed away every claim to that kind of intimacy with her. There's no verbal or physical bid for her to stay; that unfulfilled caress says "I recognize what I've done and that I have no right to ask you to be with me, so I'm letting you go." And even worse is the fact that David also plays Erik with chronic pain, so we can hardly tell if the face twitch/wince he does is literal or figurative (let's just say it's both).

GIVE THEM A DAMN OSCAR, IDC.

As a rabid POTO fan, imagine how I shocked I was when I watched this niche independent film for class and learned that LND was featured. I literally thought I had left another window in my browser open playing ALW but nope, the filmmakers actually weaved the song into the final frame. My hyperfixation is following me everywhere in the best way.

24 Frames (Abbas Kiarostami, 2017).

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 😂🥴

I love the way Earl Carpenter telegraphs the whole range of Erik's thoughts and emotions after the kiss. Like he doesn't say a word but you can literally see the whole internal dialogue and it's like "I've always wanted to know what that felt like but WTF have you done to me what are these feelings and I can't even let you see me like this *whimper* but that was single handedly the best thing that's ever happened to me I might cry WHY DID YOU DO THAT CHRISTINE AND WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!?! Oh....Goddamnit. I have to free your boyfriend."

Me: Do I like my Erik a tender and sensitive loverboy like Earl Carpenter or a deranged sex God à la Hugh Panaro? Also Me: ...YES.

Phantom Acting Choices That Live in My Head Rent Free (Part 2)

The way Hugh Panaro says "sing for me" during the title song. Extra emphasis on the ME, like this man knows Christine doesn't sing for anyone else like this--especially not that insolent boy.

Tim Martin Gleason's emotionally regulating self-hug.

David Shannon plays the Phantom like his skull exposure is actually vulnerable/causes him chronic pain.

Earl Carpenter directs tf out of Christine's voice during the title song in his '06 run. Gospel choir director energy, but make it sex.

Phantoms kneeling during the Don Juan AIAOY reprise. (Looking at you David Thaxton and Hugh P.)

Every acting decision Gina Beck makes in the final lair.

There's a boot (I think 1995?) where Davis Gaines pauses after he says "this is the choice" and he actually realizes he's gone off the deep end and "this is the point of no return" fr.

Michael Nicholson's deranged laugh turned sob. So sad, so disturbed.

Gary Mauer says like 4-5 ily's in the final lair like he can't stop now that he's uttered it aloud. And the more the merrier imo lol.

Phantom Acting Choices that Live in My Head Rent Free

Kevin Gray touching his face while Christine sings "pitiful creature of darkness."

The point in MOTN when Laird Mackintosh and Earl Carpenter's Phantoms walk up on Christine hesitantly so the segue into "turn your face away" is just them chickening out.

The way Gary Mauer yells "NO!" in the angel before crashing out on "you will curse the day."

Davis Gaines's deliberate hand movements during the kiss and "Christine I love you." And the way he sobs and falls to the floor without it reading melodramatic. (Davis Gaines as a whole, tbh.)

When Erik and Christine lock eyes for a hot minute after the kiss. (Killian Donnelly/Lucy St. Louis and Hugh Panaro/Mary Michael Patterson are so good at this.)

The unique way Dean Chisnall sings "save me" during PONR/AIAOY reprise like his voice is breaking a little.

David Shannon wants to touch Christine's face so badly but just can't bring himself to do it.

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 Marie 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.

Edit because I forgot Davis Gaines [HOW could I forget Davis Gaines??]: My second favorite Phantom voice behind Gary Mauer, even though they're totally different. He just has such a deep and hypnotizing baritone that's offset so perfectly by some of his vulnerable acting choices.

[More phantoms here and here.]

David Thaxton's Phantom is a special kind of unhinged and...amazing?

Slowly starting to discover Phantoms 2018-present as I build my mini archive. He and Killian Donnelly (but also maybe Dean Chisnall?) are carrying the post-Panaro era on their backs.