Profile for PTOPhan

Sweet Lips, I'm echoing Art Man -- pay no attention to the insults. I learned to type when people were taught to leave two spaces after the end of a sentence. Now, it's one. I still do two because it's hard to break the habit, but the same folks criticizing you could easily criticize me.

Mr. Roxy wrote: Yeston's phantom never really made it to Broadway and it is probably better musically than the one now at the Majestic. I may have the facts off a bit, but I think I read that Yeston and Kopit wrote their version before ALW wrote his. However, they had to wait to produce it until the Leroux original came off copyright in the U.S. (Perhaps they couldn't afford the royalties.) The copyright period ended earlier in Britain, which gave Ken Hill and, more importantly, ALW, the jump...

In terms of body types, I wonder if the alternate JVJs are taller than Ramin -- he always struck me as too short for the Phantom, whom I picture as tall and lithe (and older) and for JVJ, whom I picture as tall and brawny. Regarding Samantha Hill, I saw her on Broadway in, I think, her second performance as the alternate Christine Daae. She blew me away, and I wasn't surprised when she became the main Christine and Marni Raab became the alternate. BTW, is "alternate" the correct term for an a...

I loved it in DC -- I saw one of the last performances. It sounds like I'll be seeing it again in New York. I thought the plane crash song was searing. (I'm a terrified flyer, and this didn't help). The *SPOILER* death of the husband had me in tears, as did her alter-ego's meeting him towards the end -- **MORE SPOILERS** it was as if the first Elizabeth had indirectly killed him by marrying him, because it was the birth of their second child that had caused him to delay his Army deployment an...

I have two weird POTO-oriented stories (naturally ) First, at the Broadway 25th anniversary performance in January, those phanatics (including me) who won the Facebook contest and who were seated in the rear mezz seats at the Majestic all made fools of ourselves. I was decked out in full Phantom-themed regalia (earrings, jacket, pendant, and pins), but my outfit was NOTHING compared to the young ladies around me who had huge Phantom masks tattooed on their backs. What if a new show that they ...

1) TMG, I think you mean "twit," and not "twat." If I'm not mistaken, "twat" is an obscene term for a portion of the female anatomy, but I am by NO means an expert on obscenity. 2) Phantom of London, when in doubt I'll always side with other Phans, unless they're Republicans. (American political joke). Why don't you confound all the folks complaining about your signature and change it to list everyone who has played the Phantom in New York, London, Las Vegas, on every tour, and in every "offi...

I saw the show on 12/4, and realized that there were lots of changes, even though I hadn't read this thread. The giveaway to the changes was a few stumbles on the lines. As far as the switches between timelines, I noticed the name change and, sometimes, the lighting, but not the handbag. I've been suggesting a wardrobe difference in comments I made on Facebook -- a scarf, perhaps. The plane crash isn't a crash anymore -- it's a near miss. In act II, Beth and Lucas see each other and talk abou...

I didn't watch the broadcast but I've looked at pieces of it on the Web. I was surprised when I saw that "Something Good" was in it, because I recalled that Richard Rodgers wrote it for the movie. Namo, thanks for confirming that I was correct. I suspect that the live action was the gimmicky part. I didn't think much of the results when the "Les Mis" movie shot the songs live. Having to put everything together in a live production that has to worry about ending on time, and neither has the be...

I read in comments to the BWW article about Carrie Underwood's tweeting "Mean people need Jesus," that she was responding not to folks who had criticized her singing or acting but to vicious attacks, including death threats. I often find comments to news items, no matter on which blog, to be less accurate factually than "The Onion," but these ring true. Criticism is one thing, but vicious personal attacks, especially those that threaten or potentially incite violence, are out of bounds. Nonet...

After seeing a clip from Frozen, I decided that Wicked would be perfect as a Disney animation -- or even a non-Disney animation. Stage fantasies may work better when they're animated for a movie because the theater leaves a lot to the imagination. Once the story moves to live action film, people expect either out-of-this-world special effects or exact translation from the stage, set and all -- perhaps both at the same time. Another advantage of an animated film would be the potential availabi...

If/Then for best musical. LaChanze (?--spelling) for best featured actress (in a musical). Best Book should be If/Then as well. I saw it on 12/4, and suspect they've made changes -- it's not particularly confusing now, although I'd like to have seen Elizabeth wear a different scarf or hat or something to signify that she's Liz now or Beth now. The score was incredible -- especially "What the F---" (don't know how they'll sing that one for the Tony award broadcast, :-})and the song where the e...

A few weeks ago, someone started a thread mentioning a song line about things going well for three weeks. The person couldn't remember which show the line came from. It turned out there were two answers, "Fiddler on the Roof" (the dream sequence) and another show. I thought it would be interesting to see if people can think of any other song or dialogue phrases that appear in multiple shows. (I'm not talking about sequels or revivals -- solely about unrelated productions). The one I thought o...

To me, family friendly means it isn't too dark and they'll probably understand it. Also, it has to have enough in the way of visuals and movement to keep them engaged. My list would be: Annie Shrek A Christmas Story Matilda Probably Wicked Lion King (Maybe) Spiderman Little Mermaid Mary Poppins The Sound of Music My Fair Lady Depending on the family, Jesus Christ Superstar Again depending on the family, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat Again depending on the family, Fiddler on th...

There is a fascinating version of My Fair Lady with Kiri Te Kanawa and Jeremy Irons. Sadly, even though their take on the roles is interesting, I didn't sense much spirit from either of them.

Patash wrote:And add me to the ones who don't "get" others trying to compare his film role to a stage role. Do people on this website really not get the difference -- particularly with the way Les Mis was done as a film? Patash, I mostly agree with you. However, I think that the way Les Mis was filmed made it more like a stage show, because the voices were recorded live, on the soundstage, with no "do overs." Frankly, I didn't like the results -- even the great Colm Wilkinson sounded thin and...

Marway, I think the Philly sales will skyrocket starting today, 11/22, when the individual tickets go on sale -- before today, there were only subscriber and group sales, and sales to folks that knew to click through from the official POTO site. (Thanks again for letting me know they were already available). Lizzie Curry, I had written that "they'd better keep the boat and "Music of the Night" or I'm going to curse the day they did not do, all that the Phantom asked of ... them," which I said...

I can't remember the name of the song from "Fiddler on the Roof," where Motel sings to Tzeitel about how God has given her to him. "Do You Love Me?," also from Fiddler, is funny and sweet -- a definite upper. "Master of the House" is a pick-me-up from "Les Mis" -- a show that desperately needs a break from the misery.

Marway, I saw on the official Phantom site that, by clicking on the advance sale code info shown in a blog entry, it's possible to buy tickets now. (Alternatively, log onto the Kimmel Center cite and use the code "Christine.") I just got two dead center seats for row DDD, in the closest section to the stage. I think it may be the first row, based on its being the only row that shows up in that section, whether empty or occupied. Thanks for letting me know that it's possible to buy them before...

I just noticed DeNada's comment from January 2013 that "the melodramatic atmosphere is the complete antithesis of everything that's popular on Broadway at present." I can think of one melodramatic show that has been running on Broadway for almost 26 years, with dialogue such as this: "Have you gorged yourself at last in your lust for blood? Am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh?" "That fate which condemned me to wallow in blood, has also denied me the joys of the flesh."

I haven't been able to track down good seats at a decent price in a location relatively close to DC. My best shot is when the tickets go on sale Friday morning for the Philadelphia run. Boston has almost nothing in the first 10 rows of the orchestra, in the center section. I'm becoming worried that the subscribers have gotten all the good seats, everywhere -- either that, or the EBay scalpers bought them up. (I thought scalping had become illegal). For me, aside from the music, the thing that...