Good morning Angels! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! This is a pre-scheduled post, and I am currently driving from my little town in Texas to another little town in Arkansas where some family is staying. I hope everyone else traveling out there is being safe.
Updates for this week... Not a lot unfortunately. Nothing I can find is going on in the Phantom community itself, but I'm keeping an eye out.
If you haven't ready my first post about Susan Kay's Phantom, take a look and tell me what you think. I'm going to try and get started on my second post about Erik's time with the Gypsy camp while I'm on vacation, but we'll see if I actually get to it. I'm also currently half way through posts on both the Robert Englund movie and Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse. I'm really enjoying rewatching some of these Phantom movies, and seeing new ones that I'd never encountered before, but I'm not really thinking about what order I'm going to post in.
Chronologically is just too easy... right?
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Happy Holidays
Good evening Angels. It's Christmas eve, and I'm getting ready for dinner with my family. With shopping and cooking and decorations, this is a slow blogging time for me. But I wanted to update with a bit of holiday cheer curtsy of Cressida. Oh Gerry... how you slay me...
Oh my! *Evil cackle* And, for those of you that haven't known me for very long... I kind of have this thing about elves...
And I can hear the critics now. How dare you post indecent photos of our Gerik! Well, my friends, I say this to you:
Everything is always in good fun. Enjoy the holidays, and I wish you and your families the best.
Until next time, be good Angels,
- Maya
Friday, December 23, 2011
Susan Kay's Phantom - Madeleine
Susan Kay's Phantom is probably the most well known novels spun off from Laroux's Phantom of the Opera. As I get deeper and deeper into this book, the more I feel that I need to go back and talk about the sections I've already read. Kay does a masterful job of breaking up Erik's life, prior to the opera house, into sections of experiences and homes that he lived in.
We start off the novel with Madeleine, Erik's mother.
Every time I read the original novel, I always had to suspend reality a bit when Erik spoke of a mother that never kissed him. For some reason, this was always hard for me. I couldn't think how to imagine the person that Erik described, that could think that way about her own child... all because he was ugly. Kay finds a way to do it and make it completely believable.
The first section of the story is told from Madeleine's point of view. We find out very quickly that she was a spoiled child, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman that didn't let his daughter feel any sort of worldly hardships. She marries Charles at a young age, gets pregnant, they buy a house in the country and start there life together. All seems well in this woman's life... until she's 7 months pregnant and her husband dies in some work related accident and her perfect little life begins to crack and crumble.
It isn't until Erik is born that her life shatters. I feel that her madness begins here, when the midwife and her maid run from the house to fetch the priest and never return after seeing this infants face. She couldn't give the child her husbands name, like she'd planned, so instead tells the priest to christen him after himself. She asks the priest if she refused to feed him, if she ignored him and let God take him, if she would be sent to hell.... but being a "devout catholic" she recognizes this as murder and tries to bring herself to find a way to care for this devil's child.
So... she covers his face with a mask.
Madeleine's section of the book rushes through a lot of little stories. It covers 11 years in only 75 pages, but serves as an effective way to paint the picture of the child genius. At only a few months old, he plays a tune with a string of bells that Madeleine's friend strings above his crib like a mobile. He develops a love of architecture and scribbles and draws plans for beautiful buildings to perfect scale. He composes music, and frequently takes singing lessons from the priest who gave him his name.
One part of this that I found odd, and perhaps I didn't quite understand, but Madeleine can not be in the room when Erik takes his singing lessons from the priest... because she find his voice so beautiful that it is almost incestuously sensual. Not that she is suddenly attracted to her son, but that his voice fills her with emotions that manifest a physical reaction as well that she can't seem to control. On one hand I like the idea that not even Erik's own mother can ignore the beauty in his voice... but on another hand I wish she could ignore it just as piously as the priest seemed to...
When Erik is old enough to begin to doubt his mother's words and push the boundaries of discipline, as all children do, Madeleine's punishments are clearly just as insane as she is. When she's not beating him to bruises and broken skin, she always seems to do something to him that she admits will never leave him as long as he lives. On his fifth birthday, for example, she rips off his mask and takes him to the only mirror in the house and shows him his face. Erik doesn't understand and thinks it's a monster in a window... and not a reflection of himself... The realization of this fact seems to take Erik much longer to realise (I felt like it was months before he truly understood, which is an eternity for this very smart child) and he tried first to rationalize the monster by saying that the mask was magic and would keep the monsters away.
Scenes like this happen every year or so for Madeleine, and as she reflects on them she always seems to admit that she has scared him for life and she truly feels guilt... but this doesn't stop her from doing something else just as stupid and immature when she's angry again, or even try to fix it by being nice to Erik for a few days afterwards. No, she just sort of shrugs, says she made a mistake (to herself, never would she actually admit the mistake to Erik) and goes on about life as normal.
The end of this section was a bit slow to me. Madeleine found herself a love interest that tried to convince her to put Erik in an asylum so that they can be together. Erik's dog and only friend passes away, and after he's told that dog's do not have souls and wont go to heaven he renounces any faith in God and runs away. Madeleine doesn't go after him, and we presume that she goes on and starts life over again with her new man and forgets the last 11 years with this child.
While I found this section of the book dragging a bit at times, I feel that it helped me understand a lot of the developmental aspects of his childhood that shaped him to have the attitude towards himself that manifested in his later life. He was ugly, because the only person that should have loved him thought he was ugly. He was a monster because she thought he was a monster. It really makes me want to know what would have happened, how he would have developed, if he'd had a normal and supportive family.
Madeleine's section helped to form Erik's views of himself and of God, while the next section, told by Erik's point of view, will help us understand how he developed his view of the human race.
So, until next time, be good Angels,
- Maya
We start off the novel with Madeleine, Erik's mother.
Every time I read the original novel, I always had to suspend reality a bit when Erik spoke of a mother that never kissed him. For some reason, this was always hard for me. I couldn't think how to imagine the person that Erik described, that could think that way about her own child... all because he was ugly. Kay finds a way to do it and make it completely believable.
The first section of the story is told from Madeleine's point of view. We find out very quickly that she was a spoiled child, the daughter of a wealthy gentleman that didn't let his daughter feel any sort of worldly hardships. She marries Charles at a young age, gets pregnant, they buy a house in the country and start there life together. All seems well in this woman's life... until she's 7 months pregnant and her husband dies in some work related accident and her perfect little life begins to crack and crumble.
It isn't until Erik is born that her life shatters. I feel that her madness begins here, when the midwife and her maid run from the house to fetch the priest and never return after seeing this infants face. She couldn't give the child her husbands name, like she'd planned, so instead tells the priest to christen him after himself. She asks the priest if she refused to feed him, if she ignored him and let God take him, if she would be sent to hell.... but being a "devout catholic" she recognizes this as murder and tries to bring herself to find a way to care for this devil's child.
So... she covers his face with a mask.
Madeleine's section of the book rushes through a lot of little stories. It covers 11 years in only 75 pages, but serves as an effective way to paint the picture of the child genius. At only a few months old, he plays a tune with a string of bells that Madeleine's friend strings above his crib like a mobile. He develops a love of architecture and scribbles and draws plans for beautiful buildings to perfect scale. He composes music, and frequently takes singing lessons from the priest who gave him his name.
One part of this that I found odd, and perhaps I didn't quite understand, but Madeleine can not be in the room when Erik takes his singing lessons from the priest... because she find his voice so beautiful that it is almost incestuously sensual. Not that she is suddenly attracted to her son, but that his voice fills her with emotions that manifest a physical reaction as well that she can't seem to control. On one hand I like the idea that not even Erik's own mother can ignore the beauty in his voice... but on another hand I wish she could ignore it just as piously as the priest seemed to...
When Erik is old enough to begin to doubt his mother's words and push the boundaries of discipline, as all children do, Madeleine's punishments are clearly just as insane as she is. When she's not beating him to bruises and broken skin, she always seems to do something to him that she admits will never leave him as long as he lives. On his fifth birthday, for example, she rips off his mask and takes him to the only mirror in the house and shows him his face. Erik doesn't understand and thinks it's a monster in a window... and not a reflection of himself... The realization of this fact seems to take Erik much longer to realise (I felt like it was months before he truly understood, which is an eternity for this very smart child) and he tried first to rationalize the monster by saying that the mask was magic and would keep the monsters away.
Scenes like this happen every year or so for Madeleine, and as she reflects on them she always seems to admit that she has scared him for life and she truly feels guilt... but this doesn't stop her from doing something else just as stupid and immature when she's angry again, or even try to fix it by being nice to Erik for a few days afterwards. No, she just sort of shrugs, says she made a mistake (to herself, never would she actually admit the mistake to Erik) and goes on about life as normal.
The end of this section was a bit slow to me. Madeleine found herself a love interest that tried to convince her to put Erik in an asylum so that they can be together. Erik's dog and only friend passes away, and after he's told that dog's do not have souls and wont go to heaven he renounces any faith in God and runs away. Madeleine doesn't go after him, and we presume that she goes on and starts life over again with her new man and forgets the last 11 years with this child.
While I found this section of the book dragging a bit at times, I feel that it helped me understand a lot of the developmental aspects of his childhood that shaped him to have the attitude towards himself that manifested in his later life. He was ugly, because the only person that should have loved him thought he was ugly. He was a monster because she thought he was a monster. It really makes me want to know what would have happened, how he would have developed, if he'd had a normal and supportive family.
Madeleine's section helped to form Erik's views of himself and of God, while the next section, told by Erik's point of view, will help us understand how he developed his view of the human race.
So, until next time, be good Angels,
- Maya
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday Update
I finally got a profile picture up! Yay for me! But I looked at the slightly daunting task of filling out the rest of my profile that that's all I really got to. Who really wants to know what my favorite books/movies are or what I do in my free time? You're here for PHANTOM! Isn't that all that matters? (*cough*cough*ExcusesExcuses*cough*cough*)
Anyway. In actual Phantom related news. This last week, the release date for the Australian filmed Love Never Dies has been announced and is also available for preorder through Amazon. It has been rumored that LND will be released in cinemas before the dvd release date, much like the 25th Anniversary screenings, but I have yet to find any credible source to confirm that.
I have high hopes for this dvd, and I'm genuinely interested in the story that I've heard so much about... good and bad. But, I'm not going to give any more opinions until at least February 7th. :)
Check out the latest trailer for this film HERE.
I've been working on my post about Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse, but it wont be ready until at sometime next week. I got the David Staller Musical in the mail this week as well, although I haven't had the chance to even crack the plastic on the thing. I am finishing up Unmasqued by Colette Gale, which has been interesting to say the least, and will be starting either Phantom by Susan Kay or Phantom of Manhattan after that. All of which, eventually, will have a post accompanying it!
Until next time, be good Angels,
- Maya
Edit~ I just saw a new post on Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera. Vicki is offering her print edition of the blog FREE on Kindle for the next four days. Check out that post HERE.
Anyway. In actual Phantom related news. This last week, the release date for the Australian filmed Love Never Dies has been announced and is also available for preorder through Amazon. It has been rumored that LND will be released in cinemas before the dvd release date, much like the 25th Anniversary screenings, but I have yet to find any credible source to confirm that.
I have high hopes for this dvd, and I'm genuinely interested in the story that I've heard so much about... good and bad. But, I'm not going to give any more opinions until at least February 7th. :)
Check out the latest trailer for this film HERE.
I've been working on my post about Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse, but it wont be ready until at sometime next week. I got the David Staller Musical in the mail this week as well, although I haven't had the chance to even crack the plastic on the thing. I am finishing up Unmasqued by Colette Gale, which has been interesting to say the least, and will be starting either Phantom by Susan Kay or Phantom of Manhattan after that. All of which, eventually, will have a post accompanying it!
Until next time, be good Angels,
- Maya
Edit~ I just saw a new post on Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera. Vicki is offering her print edition of the blog FREE on Kindle for the next four days. Check out that post HERE.
Friday, December 16, 2011
How It All Started
I suppose the best way to start off a blog about the Phantom, is to share when I was first introduced to the Phantom. So, how else would anyone have been introduced to Erik post 1986? By Andrew Lloyd Webber! (Really... were you all that surprised?)
In 2006, one of my best friends had a great-uncle that unfortunately passed away. He loved both the cinema and the stage, and collected memorabilia from all sorts of productions. I had helped my friend with one of several estate sales her family was organizing after his death, and while looking through his extensive VHS collection I came across the Claude Rains (1942) version. My friend told me I could take it home, but said if I was taking the VHS I might as well take some more! She then pulled out a few things she said she'd found earlier that day: A two disk CD of the original London Cast performance of Phantom of the Opera along with the booklet you can buy when you attend a show. I can't remember if she told me he actually went to the show in London, or if he came across these articles somewhere else, but either way I was the one who ended up with them.
I took the items home with me, and unfortunately they sat on my kitchen table for far longer than I would care to admit now. It wasn't until some afternoon when I was cleaning up my kitchen that I noticed the CDs and decided to do a bit of a sample listen while I finished cleaning.
The CD came on, the Prologue started with one of the most interesting premises I had ever imagined. I feel embarrassed now, admitting that the most I knew about Phantom of any kind, ALW or otherwise, was it was about some man in a mask and a ballerina (I still will NEVER figure out where I got the ballerina thing from....). A Hannibal poster, a musical monkey... and a previously broken Chandelier... I was intrigued and the dishes were not getting the attention they probably needed.
Then came the overture. Holy mother....
I can't say that my reaction was quite so dramatic, but I can say that from that point on I never looked back. I spent the rest of that afternoon flipping through the program I had received and trying to imagine how a story like this could have been staged. Within a week I knew the words to Christine's part, and most of the words to the other songs (although, I still couldn't tell you half of the lines in Notes... and it doesn't help that they seem to change the lyrics to Think of Me every couple of years) and after my friend clued me into the fact that they made a movie in 2004 (I know! I'm late on that bandwagon!) I soon owned that on dvd as well.
I watched the 1942 VHS tape that night, and I didn't take to it quite as strong as the musical did earlier that day, but I kept it for no other reason than for my nostalgic pack-rat tendencies. I will talk more on this version later, just because I'm a bit sad that this was the first movie version of the story I had ever seen. If I had gotten my hands on a number of other versions, I might have formed an interest for Erik's story away from ALW much sooner than I did.
It wasn't until early 2011, while surfing youtube for Love Never Dies footage (I am choosing to hold my opinion on Love Never Dies until I see the Australian DVD for myself. I will not judge something I haven't experienced to the best of my abilities. Just an FYI... I suppose) that I stumbled onto a fan made trailer (ClickHere) for the Charles Dance (1990) made for TV miniseries. I knew there would be a huge difference, given my experience with the 1942 version, but for some reason found this very well done trailer much more appealing... so much so that I found it uploaded on Youtube and immediately started watching it.
I will go into greater detail about the 1990s version at a later date as well, but this movie was what got me searching for more. I now have a quickly growing collection of Phantom films and spin off books, and am slowly learning and understanding more and more about Erik and who he was and who he has evolved into.
And, I suppose, that this is the root of this blog. Finding and understanding Erik and his passage though this last century. I think a lot of people have differing views on who Erik is, and in no way is any Erik the right or wrong one. But this is what I hope to find out, and I hope you all will share it with me.
Until next time, be good Angels.
- Maya
In 2006, one of my best friends had a great-uncle that unfortunately passed away. He loved both the cinema and the stage, and collected memorabilia from all sorts of productions. I had helped my friend with one of several estate sales her family was organizing after his death, and while looking through his extensive VHS collection I came across the Claude Rains (1942) version. My friend told me I could take it home, but said if I was taking the VHS I might as well take some more! She then pulled out a few things she said she'd found earlier that day: A two disk CD of the original London Cast performance of Phantom of the Opera along with the booklet you can buy when you attend a show. I can't remember if she told me he actually went to the show in London, or if he came across these articles somewhere else, but either way I was the one who ended up with them.
I took the items home with me, and unfortunately they sat on my kitchen table for far longer than I would care to admit now. It wasn't until some afternoon when I was cleaning up my kitchen that I noticed the CDs and decided to do a bit of a sample listen while I finished cleaning.
The CD came on, the Prologue started with one of the most interesting premises I had ever imagined. I feel embarrassed now, admitting that the most I knew about Phantom of any kind, ALW or otherwise, was it was about some man in a mask and a ballerina (I still will NEVER figure out where I got the ballerina thing from....). A Hannibal poster, a musical monkey... and a previously broken Chandelier... I was intrigued and the dishes were not getting the attention they probably needed.
Then came the overture. Holy mother....
I can't say that my reaction was quite so dramatic, but I can say that from that point on I never looked back. I spent the rest of that afternoon flipping through the program I had received and trying to imagine how a story like this could have been staged. Within a week I knew the words to Christine's part, and most of the words to the other songs (although, I still couldn't tell you half of the lines in Notes... and it doesn't help that they seem to change the lyrics to Think of Me every couple of years) and after my friend clued me into the fact that they made a movie in 2004 (I know! I'm late on that bandwagon!) I soon owned that on dvd as well.
I watched the 1942 VHS tape that night, and I didn't take to it quite as strong as the musical did earlier that day, but I kept it for no other reason than for my nostalgic pack-rat tendencies. I will talk more on this version later, just because I'm a bit sad that this was the first movie version of the story I had ever seen. If I had gotten my hands on a number of other versions, I might have formed an interest for Erik's story away from ALW much sooner than I did.
It wasn't until early 2011, while surfing youtube for Love Never Dies footage (I am choosing to hold my opinion on Love Never Dies until I see the Australian DVD for myself. I will not judge something I haven't experienced to the best of my abilities. Just an FYI... I suppose) that I stumbled onto a fan made trailer (ClickHere) for the Charles Dance (1990) made for TV miniseries. I knew there would be a huge difference, given my experience with the 1942 version, but for some reason found this very well done trailer much more appealing... so much so that I found it uploaded on Youtube and immediately started watching it.
I will go into greater detail about the 1990s version at a later date as well, but this movie was what got me searching for more. I now have a quickly growing collection of Phantom films and spin off books, and am slowly learning and understanding more and more about Erik and who he was and who he has evolved into.
And, I suppose, that this is the root of this blog. Finding and understanding Erik and his passage though this last century. I think a lot of people have differing views on who Erik is, and in no way is any Erik the right or wrong one. But this is what I hope to find out, and I hope you all will share it with me.
Until next time, be good Angels.
- Maya
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Nicole Scherzinger as Christine?
According to Broadway World, article HERE, it's been confirmed that the former Pussy Cat Doll, 2010 Dancing with the Stars champ and current judge on The X Factor will be performing the title song of Phantom of the Opera at this year’s Royal Variety Performance. Famous Phantoms Simon Bowman, Earl Carpenter, Ramin Karimloo and John Owen-Jones will join her. The performance was filmed December 5th and will air tonight, December 14th.
Click HERE for a video of the rehearsal for Scherzinger and the four Phantoms. They overlay the audio so you wont be able to hear how Scherzinger interprets the music, but you can at least get an idea of how they will be staging the performance. Seems a bit like the 25th Anniversary performance to me. Also, anyone else think that Karimloo looks odd with a beard?
I have confidence that Scherzinger wont botch the role, like other "pop" stars might. Here is a video of her performance at the Hollywood Bowl 2010 production of Rent. I've been fortunate enough to see Rent live twice, and I feel that Scherzinger's Over the Moon is fantastic. Funny, as it should be, but sung well. Here is Take Me or Leave Me from the same performance.
Until next time, stay good Angels,
- Maya
Edit ~ Alright Angels! How do you think she did? HERE is the youtube video. Man I love JOJ... hell I love all of them. And Ramin did his "signature" "Grows Stronger Yet" which we didn't get to see in the 25th anniversary dvd. As far as Nicole goes, I think she did an amazing job... and I have to say I love her hair (Is that off topic?) Did they drop that high note at the end? I can't tell from this video.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Mail Call and Update on Future Posts
Well that was quick.. Look what I got in the mail today!
If you're waiting, why not comment or send me an email with your favorite version (weather it be film, book or other)?
Stay good Angels,
- Maya
I've already watched it through once, and overall I really enjoyed it. I'm going to watch it at least once more (twice more if I have the time) before I share any serious notes on the film, but I am honestly much more impressed than I thought I would be. These students did a fantastic job, and it really shows the writers love for this novel.
Really, if you haven't taken a look at this film, see my post from earlier today. It's worth looking into.
On another note, I also got Phantom of Manhattan in the mail today, and am currently working on a post about the Robert Englund (1989) version. Charles Dance (1990) will be in the works soon as well, but because I feel my views on this piece are a bit biased, I want to explore some other versions first and come back to the version I loved so much. I would also love to take another look at Gerard Butler (2004) at a later date as well.
If you're waiting, why not comment or send me an email with your favorite version (weather it be film, book or other)?
Stay good Angels,
- Maya
Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse
I feel I need to preface that this site is still, technically, under construction (But I feel this post needs to be made with a bit of haste).
Another Phantom movie is now on sale! Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse is an independent film created and directed by a local (to me) TCU student, Ryan Bijan. I have ordered my copy, but I have yet to see the entire film, so I wont be giving any actual feedback on the movie itself until I get the DVD.
I'd seen bits and pieces on Phantom forums though out the year (my understanding is that the film was announced in production sometime in October of 2010) but I had yet to see any footage until The Phantom Reviewer (YoutubeLink) put in a few clips at the end of his Angel of Music review last month. Those clips got me very, very interested.
Below is a link to one of the three trailers that can be found on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INXK-FRIm90&feature=youtu.be&noredirect=1
The dvds are available exclusively through BigJohnCreations website, link below, for $18.00. I have confirmation from BigJohnCreations (Confirmation Here) that the dvd is region free and can be played on any dvd player.
http://www.bigjohncreations.com/#!__officialstore
So look forward to my comments on Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse, which will hopefully be ready later on this week. Until then, be good Angels!
- Maya
Edit~ Regarding the "Under Construction" portion. I'm on the lookout for some well done fan art that can serve as a background for this site. The current photo I have tiled I really do think is beautiful... but tiling (is that a word?) bothers the snot out of me. I've looked enough for today, image wise, but if anyone can point me in the direction of an artist that wouldn't mind me using there work, please let me know.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Under Construction
Hello Angels,
If you've come across my soon to be re-vamped blog, welcome. This will soon be a more structured composition of my recent in depth exploration in the world of Phantom of the Opera.
As you can obviously see, this site is still very much under construction. I will edit this post below with any news on what's coming, what changes I'm making, or anything else regarding the status of this blog's grand opening.
Please feel free to email me at mayalynnpenn@gmail.com with any direct questions, or just want to chat with a very eager Phantom Fan.
Your Obedient Servant,
MayaLynn
If you've come across my soon to be re-vamped blog, welcome. This will soon be a more structured composition of my recent in depth exploration in the world of Phantom of the Opera.
As you can obviously see, this site is still very much under construction. I will edit this post below with any news on what's coming, what changes I'm making, or anything else regarding the status of this blog's grand opening.
Please feel free to email me at mayalynnpenn@gmail.com with any direct questions, or just want to chat with a very eager Phantom Fan.
Your Obedient Servant,
MayaLynn
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