My Obsession With The Phantom of the Opera: The Beginning

If you've ever met me, no doubt you would know that The Phantom of the Opera has been one of my obsessions since my teenage years. What most don't know is how my obsession began. While most fans have shared their story of how they were fans of the old films, the Gaston Leroux book or were introduced to the cast album through a family member, mine was  a little bit different. I was a flea market junkie when I was a kid and the booths that appealed to me the most were the ones that had records, tapes and CD's. I can't remember the exact age or the but I do remember it was before my parents split up so it must have been around 1989 or 1990 when found a blue cassette holder with a slightly cracked cover containing a dozen tapes for $2.50.

A cassette holder similar to mine in a lighter blue.

I actually bought the lot for one tape in particular, Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth. Laugh if you must but to this day, I think Debbie's voice is amazing and her tunes are infectious. As for the rest of the cassettes, I had no idea what most of the others were even after I listened to them. There were a couple of Reader's Digest compilations featuring instrumental versions of old country songs that sounded a lot like the music played in the Delchamps grocery stores back in the late 70s and early 80s and a few classical tapes, or at least what I considered classical, including one without a cover called The Premiere Collection The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I didn't know who this Andrew Lloyd Webber was but I popped the tape into my not so state of the art Emerson stereo's single cassette player, rewound the tape from it's half listened position and hit play.

By this time in my life, my musical taste didn't stray far from top 40 pop and my collection of Madonna's albums. As for musicals, I didn't know much regarding show music other than what I'd heard from The Sound of Music film and my elementary school music teacher's attempt to broaden her student's musical minds by playing selected tunes from Rupert Holmes' The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

When I hit the play button on my, not so state of the art, Emerson stereo with a single cassette player, turntable and AM/FM tuner, I had no idea that the very first track called The Phantom of the Opera by Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley, would make an impact on my life. From the second I heard the organ play the famous chords, I knew I LOVED this Andrew Lloyd Webber guy. Due to the fact that the cover was missing, I didn't realize the songs were drawn from musicals. Yeah, I was a little dense but the songs were great and aside from one or two, I could have seen them played on the radio at one time or another.

When I left home at the age of 16, I ended up in Columbus, Georgia for a few weeks with a music major named Lee who just so happen to love musicals. I'm not sure where he is now but in recent years, he was the musical director of a major symphony orchestra in the northeast. During the two weeks that I stayed with him, he taught me to appreciate genres other than pop music, show music in particular. He played the violin and one night, after a few glasses of wine, he decided to show me one of the most difficult things he could play. If you own the Original London Cast Recording of The Phantom of the Opera, cue up disc two and track up to the graveyard violin solo before Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. While the violin solo was not played by Lee on the recording, he played along and to my ears, he actually sounded better than what was recorded.

As impressed as I was, I was intrigued by what the other tunes from The Phantom of the Opera were like. Lee switched the cassette to tape one and started it from the beginning. From the time I heard "SOLD" I was entranced. Within the first two minutes, the Overture erupted from the speakers with the chords that I knew from the song on the tape I'd bought at the flea market several years back. A few minutes later, the song I knew from that cassette began to play, while slightly different the baseline and chords on the organ were unmistakable and the sounds coming from the speakers were even better than the version on the flea market tape. I was obsessed and knew I HAD to see the show featured on the tapes. It seemed so magical just listening to what was playing out on the recording, I could only imagine what the actual show was like. When I left Columbus for Atlanta, I "accidentally" took Lee's The Phantom of the Opera cassette tapes along with me.

 

I spent about a little over a month in Atlanta, always with my Walkman and a couple of tapes including my ill gotten Phantom tapes in my fanny pack. This was a time when fanny packs were an acceptable part of fashion in addition to being a practical way of carrying stuff around. I listened to those two cassettes on a loop and I thought no one could sing this better than these people. I wanted to see this show and I couldn't wait for the day that travel to New York and see Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford and Steve Barton in the roles they sang on the recording. Keep in mind, I was pretty new to the genre of musicals and didn't realize that original stars don't traditionally stay in shows for long and thought the show was specifically written for them and they would be in it until it closed. 

The day that I met Andrew Wilder, he asked what I'm doing in midtown, "Trying to get to New York" I said jokingly. He told me, "OK, Let's Go!" Here's the kicker, that actually did happen, we acquired a white convertible Chrysler LeBaron and drove north and eventually landed in New York within a couple of days. We were a little slow and several things happened on the way. The details of that journey will be in my book. When we arrived in New York City, I demanded that he drive to 44th Street because I wanted to see the Majestic Theatre up close and in person. When we arrived a few feet from the theatre, I got out of the car and inspected every photo in front of the theater and to my surprise, I saw no mention of Sarah, Michael or Steve. What I saw were generic show photos as well as some photos of Karen Culliver, Mark Jacoby and Hugh Panaro. Who were THESE people and why were they there? A few weeks later I found out exactly who they were.

Andrew was more interested in other ventures and I was all over the place from Greenwich Village on up to Central Park throughout the day. So much to do in New York and when you are young and hot, like I was, it was easy to make friends wherever you went. Eventually, Andrew and I parted ways though his business ventures occasionally overlapped mine. Shortly after meeting and moving in temporarily with my friend Al, he decided to surprise me with tickets to see Phantom my very first time. I was SO excited but  also so very tired because I'd spent the entire night before out with my friend Sergio at an after hours club which didn't close until 8 am. The tickets Al had bought were for the 2pm matinee so I had no time for a nap. Once I fall asleep in a bed, I am usually out for at least ten hours and I was not going to mess up and miss the show I had been itching to see since the beginning of the summer. Once Al and I were in our seats, which I sort of remember being orchestra section seats M5 and M7, I was excited yet at the same time disappointed that Sarah, Michael and Steve weren't going to be singing.

When the show began, I was in awe of everything, not just with the music, scenery, costumes or the Chandelier but the fact there was more musical content and also some slight lyric changes than featured on the recording I had obsessed over. By the time Karen and Mark set out on their journey across the lake in the boat, I'd forgotten the voices of Sarah and Michael and was actually enjoying Karen, Mark and Hugh even more. The first act was so very beautiful and there were a lot of tears throughout. Once we got to the second act, I remember how colorful and lavish the Masquerade scene was but shortly thereafter, exhaustion had got the best of me. The violin solo Lee play played for me in his dining room played and as, Karen Culliver sang the intro to Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, I drifted to sleep. I woke up just as Karen began to sing midway through The Point of No Return. What did I miss? I had to use use my imagination for what I missed until I saw it again, fully rested. By the end of the show Al had treated me to, I was in tears. I witnessed something that wasn't just one dimensional as listening to a tape and for the first time, this was something that didn't Madonna that I found myself fully immersed in and totally in love with.

Karen Culliver, Mark Jacoby, Hugh Panaro & Karen Culliver

A few days later, I wanted to see the show again and realized I could get the student ticket prices at $15 and even though I wasn't a student, I told the person at the box office I lost my student ID and they didn't seem to care as long as I had the cash. The scenes I slept through the first time were even better than I imagined and I LOVED that Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again didn't just end on a low note as heard on the Original London Cast, it ended with a high note. Well Done Karen Culliver!!! A few days later, I wanted to see it AGAIN and I made sure that once again I was fully rested for this show and I was just as excited as before until I noticed Karen Culliver was off for the night and someone named LuAnn Aronson would be Christine. I was disappointed the star wasn't there but I spent $15 I couldn't get back and thought I'd stay just to see the boat scene then leave. By the time LuAnn sang the Think of Me cadenza and she and Mark made their journey across the lake in the boat, I didn't leave. LuAnn's acting, a bit different from Karen, was just as amazing.

LuAnn Aronson

Those cheap tickets became a habit, just as someone would turn on their television to watch an episode of their favorite sitcom, I was presenting my ticket at the doors of the Majestic and usually just a little before the show so I could scope out empty single seats near adults that were closer to the stage. I figured out, most adults came in pairs and if a single seat was empty, it was either a no show or just didn't get sold. I also thought that an usher would presume I was with the adults next to me and not check my ticket to see if I am in the correct seat or send me up to the section I paid for. I loved seeing both Karen and LuAnn as Christine. Mark and Hugh were amazing also and were at every performance I had seen so far. By the time I had seen the show twenty or so times I'd not seen anyone else play the role of Christine other than Karen and LuAnn and it seemed anyone listed on the cast list as an understudy in a main role never seemed to happen, that is to say not until the night a piece of paper fell out of my Playbill that read "At Tonight's Performance, the role of Christine Daae usually played by Karen Culliver will be played by Raissa Katona. What? Neither of my stars were in the building? Who is this Raissa?

Raissa Katona

This was the same feeling I got the night I first saw LuAnn Aronson performing in place of Karen Culliver. I was disappointed until the part Miss Katona sang "when you are far away and free" during "Think of Me" and my disappointment transformed into surprise. I was shocked that the part of Christine, as difficult as it was, could be played by more than a couple of ladies. Thus, my obsession, not with the Phantom, but with Christine, was born. I've made it no secret that I feel the ladies that play Christine are the true stars of the show. The Phantom's stage time is a fraction of Christine's and she is required to sing a wider more difficult range all while wearing heavy dresses. I have joked to some of the ladies that have played the part that I privately call the show Christine of the Opera. After seeing Karen, LuAnn and Raissa, I began to make it a point when I see the show a few times at a time to try catch more than just the principle Christine and at times hope that an understudy will be on that night. As of today, I have seen 24 different actresses play the role. I have my favorites though I will say that I loved each Christine for different reasons, whether it was the timber of their voice, the way they chose to play a certain scene on up to the strength of their cadenza during Think of Me. I've heard some people grumble about seeing an understudy before the show but over the years I have found that understudies sometimes have an extra special something within their performance that you don't see with someone who's job is to do it like clockwork. Don't think that just because they aren't the one listed as "the star" that they aren't capable of being a star for the night or in the blink of an eye take over full time. You will still hear the high C during Think of Me (though a couple I've seen hit a B flat) and the high E at the end of the title song, though pre-recorded, is as high as it's ever been. Today's understudies are tomorrow's stars...Rebecca Luker was the original Broadway Christine understudy and many other productions later now considered Broadway Royalty. ;-)

Since the days I obtained the cassette of The Premiere Collection and my ill gotten copy of the Original London Cast, I have collected every officially released recordings as well as a lot of promos and solo albums and listen to them all frequently.

So when asked how my obsession began, in short, it tracked back to hearing the Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley single version of the title son. Incidentally, during the time that I lived in New York, though I didn't object to seeing a matinee, I discovered this was the only Broadway show that I preferred to see at night. There's something about the cover of night that made the show more magical than seeing it during a daytime performance, at least for me it did and still does. Possibly, as it is in the lyrics, night time sharpens and heightens each sensation. ;-)