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MzGalinda

When was your First Time?

Tell the world!

I was seven years old, and at the ripe old age of five I had had the entire thing memorized and I enjoyed putting on my mom's old ball gowns to belt out Think of Me off-key. I had front row right orchestra seats, just me and my folks. I was totally and utterly scared because I thought that my parents told the cast that I knew the soundtrack and that they'd invite me up to sing in front of EVERYONE. (I had a bit of stage fright at the time) And after that we went to the Hard Rock cafe where everyone sang me happy birthday over the loudspeaker.

Happy times.
NoOneMournsTheWicked

I saw it for the first time in March. I was blown away. Julie Hanson and Hugh Panaro were AMAZING. I cried. And I was back at the theater a few days ago, and I realised that that is what I want to do with my life. The small dressing rooms, the wonky stairs, mini hallways. It is everything I want and more.
The Very Angry Woman

San Francisco, fall 1995.
JemiBoe1981

I was intoduced to it at about five... I too would sing along and i even told off my music teacher that she hadn't nearly as good a voice as Sarah Brightman... a shock since, when you are that young, your music teacher is god.
I saw it when I was eleven. I adored it.
MrsJemimaMistoffelees

My dad and mom saw the show in NY (with MC and SB) and my dad fell in love with it. So, he put "The Phantom of the Opera" song on a mix tape and would play it in the car, and that's how I first got introduced to it.

He took me to see it in San Francisco on June 22nd, 1994. I was like 7 or 8.

Veel Liefs,
Jemima Very Happy
Quique

First Time Ever......?

I was already a Les Mis fiend by the time I first got to see Phantom. I had 2 Les Mis performances under my belt, hehehe. Smile

I was introduced to Phantom by a fellow classmate named Monica. I was about 14 or 15 years old then. We were both in love with it and soon, we recruited 2 other friends into hysterical, teenie-aged, highly irrational Phantom freak-dom. Twisted Evil

The show had already been in L.A. for a couple of years, how convenient. So all 4 of us, Me, Richie, Marcos, and Monica all came-up with the $60 that each ticket cost and set out to buy our tickets. But wait.....we needed a ride, so I pushed my brother Jose into going with us...and also purchasing the tickets for us while he was at it, haha.

We almost passed-out when we found out my brother had gotten 1st row, Orchestra, dead center! We tried to stay quiet about paying him back, but $240 was a bit much for him to forget, darn! Mad

Anyway, the day was 25 March, 1992 when we dressed in our favorite rags and made our way down to the Ahmanson Theatre. We had the best seats in the house, so naturally, we all acted snooty and snobby as we floated our way down row AA...so much so, you'd think row AA stood for "Absolute A**holes." Mad Though our noses didn't remain in upright position for long, as we set our eyes upon the opening set-up of foggy light, draped proscenium, and covered chandelier upon that stage.

Phantom was only my second Broadway show ever, so I was obviously blown away to bits, so were my friends. My brother had seen the same production once before with Michael Crawford, our Phantom was Davis Gaines.....lucky bastard! Evil or Very Mad

Davis was really, really good though, hehe.

After the show, I was awestruck and highly dumbfounded. My friend Monica asked me, "So which show do you think is better now?"

I muttered, "F*ck Les Mis."

That all changed, after 40 self-inflicted lashes. Mad
JemiBoe1981

Re: First Time Ever......?

Quique wrote:
I muttered, "F*ck Les Mis."

That all changed, after 40 self-inflicted lashes. Mad

Ahhh! BAD, Enrique, BAD, BAD, BAD!!!!!!
I am glad you changed your mind... but that was still very upsetting for me to read. Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad Crying or Very sad
dramatic_mizfit

I have been listening to Phantom as far back as I can remember, literally. It was among one of the first things I remember ever listening to. When we lived in West Berlin, we listened to the Original Broadway Cast a lot--and we even had this equalizer thing that would automatically equalize itself with the music, so all the buttons would slide up and down. And my dad told me it was the Phantom doing it, and I believed him, for the longest time. I saw it first when I was about 6; we were living in Upstate New York and took the bus from Buffalo to Toronto and saw it at the Pantages Theatre with Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom. And I remember being scared to death of the chandelier, because we were in about the third row from the stage, so it was literally right over my head. I've seen it twice since then, and it's coming to Denver in November, and I'm hoping to go then as well.
Quique

Phantom.....

Out of curiosity, how many times has everyone seen it so far? Honestly, I've lost count, as the show has been to Los Angeles many a time and that made it easy for me to surpass the total times I've seen my favorite show; Les Mis.

Les Mis, I've seen 22 times so far.

Phantom, 30+ Mad

I've seen it once in San Francisco (1st national tour), twice on Broadway, the original Los Angeles (1st national tour) production three times, the 3rd national tour twice, and the rest are from the 1997 and 1998 2nd national tour engagements at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre.

Am I the only one here who has seen all 3 U.S. national tours of both Les Miserables and Phantom, plus their Broadway productions? I just realized that. Oh, and I've also seen both U.S. national tours of Miss Saigon, including the Broadway production as well....hmmm, interesting.
Confused
LesWickedPhantom

I believe Phantom was my second Broadway show ever (the first being Cats). And I went with my girl scout troup...hehe. I think I was around 9 years old. Sadly, I don't remember the cast I saw...my mom liked to throw out playbills (I save them, and ticketstubs, now). And although I was completely blown away by the show (a friend and I screamed at certain parts that were horrifying at our age, like the chandelier and the hanging man, and cried a bit too, hehe), its only recently that I started getting back into again. I would really like to get tickets to see it again, now that I appreciate it more.
GlamorousGriz

I first heard the cast recording about five years ago but I still haven't seen it. I'll be seeing it either on July 30th or 31st in London - I can't wait.
Mungostoffelees

About 5 or 6 years ago now on the UK tour, so I would have been 12 or 13. I had only seen one or two musicals before and hadn't liked them, and this was the first show I saw which I adored and launched me into theatre generally. It also lead me on to all the other hundreds of shows I now love too. It will always be a favourite of mine partly for that reason.
MzGalinda

Re: First Time Ever......?

Quique wrote:
I was already a Les Mis fiend by the time I first got to see Phantom. I had 2 Les Mis performances under my belt, hehehe. Smile

I was introduced to Phantom by a fellow classmate named Monica. I was about 14 or 15 years old then. We were both in love with it and soon, we recruited 2 other friends into hysterical, teenie-aged, highly irrational Phantom freak-dom. Twisted Evil

The show had already been in L.A. for a couple of years, how convenient. So all 4 of us, Me, Richie, Marcos, and Monica all came-up with the $60 that each ticket cost and set out to buy our tickets. But wait.....we needed a ride, so I pushed my brother Jose into going with us...and also purchasing the tickets for us while he was at it, haha.

We almost passed-out when we found out my brother had gotten 1st row, Orchestra, dead center! We tried to stay quiet about paying him back, but $240 was a bit much for him to forget, darn! Mad

Anyway, the day was 25 March, 1992 when we dressed in our favorite rags and made our way down to the Ahmanson Theatre. We had the best seats in the house, so naturally, we all acted snooty and snobby as we floated our way down row AA...so much so, you'd think row AA stood for "Absolute A**holes." Mad Though our noses didn't remain in upright position for long, as we set our eyes upon the opening set-up of foggy light, draped proscenium, and covered chandelier upon that stage.

Phantom was only my second Broadway show ever, so I was obviously blown away to bits, so were my friends. My brother had seen the same production once before with Michael Crawford, our Phantom was Davis Gaines.....lucky bastard! Evil or Very Mad

Davis was really, really good though, hehe.

After the show, I was awestruck and highly dumbfounded. My friend Monica asked me, "So which show do you think is better now?"

I muttered, "F*ck Les Mis."

That all changed, after 40 self-inflicted lashes. Mad


I love you! Yeah, that happened with me, too, except it was with Wicked instead of les Miz, and I was feeling very badly about relinquishing my rabid fandom to LSoH.
MzGalinda

Ah, seen the nat tours of Phantom, twice, but not as much as you, quique...I feel so lame. But i saw wicked 12+
AngMisto8182

MzGalinda wrote:
But i saw wicked 12+


Wow... that's a lot!

I regret to say I haven't seen Phantom live. Stupid me. I passed up the chance three years ago when the tour came to the closest bigger town-ish/city thing (when JemiBoe saw it), and you can imagine how dumb I feel now... haha
MzGalinda

Oy, it's okay. Yeah, call me a freak for green people....I just saw CCBB and fell in love with the Childcatcher, not to even go anywhere near my morbid fascination for Hunter Foster...Mmmm....Plants....
Mirabelle

First time: August 1998 - New York City

Total number of times seen: 13 to date (twice in NYC - rest is of tour in various cities)
EFXF

May 4, 1995 at the Pantages Theatre in Toronto.

Phantom: Ciaran Sheehan
Christine: Glenda Balkan
Raoul: Christopher Shyer
minesayrejoice

May 31, 2005. 8:00 PM at the Majestic Theatre, NYC.

Phantom: Hugh Panaro
Christine: Sandra Joseph
Raoul: John Cudia
dramatic_mizfit

EFXF wrote:
May 4, 1995 at the Pantages Theatre in Toronto.

Phantom: Ciaran Sheehan
Christine: Glenda Balkan
Raoul: Christopher Shyer


I saw it there too, but I don't remember the date. It had to be a year or two at least before that, because we moved out of New York in late 1995. The cast was different. Phantom was Colm Wilkinson, Christine was Rebecca Caine, and....dammit, but I can't remember Raoul...anyone know which dates I'm talking about?
AngMisto8182

dramatic_mizfit wrote:
...Phantom was Colm Wilkinson, Christine was Rebecca Caine...


Shocked

Lucky!!
JulieJordan

My first time was with John Owen-Jones and Nicky Adams as the Phantom and Christine sometime in March last year, but I just didn't fall in love with it. It's a show that's really grown on me, so I think that my "real" first time was July 14th 2005, when I saw Earl Carpenter and "my" girl, Jane Mark as the Phantom and Christine Smile
*Musical_Meggy*

My first time seeing the show was on Tuesday!!! went to see it in london! i though it was fantastic!!! Allready loved the show and now i love it even more!!!
Angel-of-Music

First time was in December 2004.

Phantom: John Owen-Jones
Christine: Katie Knight-Adams
Raoul: Oliver Thornton


Have seen it three times since. Smile
dramatic_mizfit

AngMisto8182 wrote:
dramatic_mizfit wrote:
...Phantom was Colm Wilkinson, Christine was Rebecca Caine...


Shocked

Lucky!!


Yes I know! I really didn't know how famous he was back then, but when I realized who he was, I was astounded I didn't pay better attention! Ah well, at least I have the CD.
ImatheatreGeek

i heard the soundtrack when i was like 3 and i would choreorgraph dances to it with my sis and we would always ask the rest of the family to watch us. LOL and At the end where Christine would hit the high note, I would spin very fast and when she would stop, i would faint and my sister (who played the phantom) would catch me. HA HA HA HA HA HA!! And then i saw the show when I was like 4. and man was i excited.

it was awesome!!
dramatic_mizfit

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
i heard the soundtrack when i was like 3 and i would choreorgraph dances to it with my sis and we would always ask the rest of the family to watch us. LOL and At the end where Christine would hit the high note, I would spin very fast and when she would stop, i would faint and my sister (who played the phantom) would catch me. HA HA HA HA HA HA!! And then i saw the show when I was like 4. and man was i excited.

it was awesome!!


I used to do that too. I remember dancing to "Masquerade" and waiting in one position for the entire Overture. I seem to remember one time I even had a washcloth over my face as a masquerade mask, too. And then there was another time when I was 6 or 7 when I "directed" Phantom with the kids I went to daycare with, and I was (of course) playing Christine. We didn't make it very far, because during "Think of Me", I spun around and hit the girl playing Carlotta (appropriately cast, if I may say so...ahem) in the nose. She was so upset she made us stop. And I was crushed. Laughing
ImatheatreGeek

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!! thats great stuff!
The Very Angry Woman

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
i heard the soundtrack when i was like 3


You were born in 2001?
ImatheatreGeek

it was onstage before it became a movie. like in the mid 80s
The Very Angry Woman

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
it was onstage before it became a movie. like in the mid 80s


No, really? I had no idea...
MrsJemimaMistoffelees

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
it was onstage before it became a movie. like in the mid 80s


TVAW is referring to the mistake you made by calling the cast recording a soundtrack.

Veel Liefs,
Jemima Very Happy
Jaynie

1995 in Toronto.
girlwfoolishgrin

The Very Angry Woman wrote:


You were born in 2001?


^^^dunno if I quoted right


Ok TVAW she didn't know you were being sarcastic

and thank you MrsJemimaMistoffelees for making things clear for her
girlwfoolishgrin

that wasn't sarcasm
The Very Angry Woman

girlwfoolishgrin wrote:
Ok TVAW she didn't know you were being sarcastic


I kind of got that impression.
ImatheatreGeek

anyways
The Very Angry Woman

"Anyways" is not a word.
B3TA07

Dictionary.com tends to disagree. Wink
Quique

Anyways.....

B3TA07 wrote:
Dictionary.com tends to disagree. Wink


Dictionary.com also tends to agree with the listing of Nonstandard (Nonstandard: Associated with a language variety used by uneducated speakers or socially disfavored groups) words, such as the already mentioned "Anyways" and this little gem.....click me.

Heeheeheehee! Razz

Twisted Evil Shorry, I ain't no meanie. Just couldn't help it! Twisted Evil

Anyways....
Wink
dramatic_mizfit

Clever. Laughing
ImatheatreGeek

i thought this is musicals.net

not englishgrammarcorrection.net
dramatic_mizfit

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
i thought this is musicals.net

not englishgrammarcorrection.net


It sure is. We just like to be smart asses. Me personally, I'm a stickler for correct grammar. So, if someone hadn't gotten it first, it would have been me.

By the way, your avatar is huge.
B3TA07

ImatheatreGeek wrote:
i thought this is musicals.net

not englishgrammarcorrection.net



Consequently, "i thought this is musicals.net" is not grammatically correct.
ImatheatreGeek

hooray
aquamarine fishnets girl

The whole thing started for me with the movie, much as I hate to admit that. Several of my friends brought me along to see it - knowing how freaky I am for musicals -, and I enjoyed it quite a lot (having never seen anything Phantom before). As remotely lame as it sounds, when it came out on DVD some of my friends and I even had a "Phantom party" which consisted of about twelve girls and one boy sitting around my living room watching the DVD and eating lots of popcorn, a few of us in sad last-minute approximations of costumes.

So fast forward to last Monday. I was in New York with my best friend and her parents and we were getting tickets, and we decided, hey, let's get tickets for Phantom! So we got tickets for Wednesday, second row orchestra, far left, and it was an experience that was absolutely wonderful for me. There's something to be said for being able to feel the heat from onstage fires and the cold from the dry ice. Plus, a lot of action happened right in front of where our seats were, which was really great - I could see all of the details in the Phantom's (Hugh Panaro) makeup, which made me excited since I just took a class in stage makeup. And Meg (Kara Klein) kept coming down right near where we sat, which was cool for me because Meg is my favorite character. I've always felt an affinity towards her, mainly because I too am the often overlooked best-friend type.

Wow, I can't believe that was only a week ago. It feels like yesterday.
ShadowInTheWings

Well, my "First Time" seeing the full thing was watching the movie, which I actually enjoyed (don't shoot me!). The first I saw at all, was "Auction/Little Lottle/The Mirror/Angel of Music" being performed as part of our school production. I'm told I'm biased, but I liked our Christine a lot more than Emmy Rossum. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie, and the songs are amazing. I'm just not a huge fan of Emmy. Side note, "All I Ask of You" is possibly my favourite song in the entire world.
GlamorousGriz

Back track to Thursday, Aug 4th - my first time seeing it. It was phantabulous! Earl Carpenter, Celia Graham, Oliver Thornton, Sally Harrison... all great. we met several cast members after the show too and they were very nice.
MrsJamieWellerstein

First time in contact with Phantom was in the fourth grade. My mother got three cast recordings at once: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and Cabaret. I loved it. I was a little soprano boy in grade four, and I would sing along with Carlotta. It was fun.
First time seeing it was (sadly) about a year ago. It came to Boston and we saw it at the (newly renovated) Opera House. It was absolutly wonderful, although Raoul wasn't a fantastic actor. During "Point of No Return", he started off looking like he had a noose around his neck, and then...forgot or something. He just stood there and sang. Then at the last few notes before the noose is removed, he remembered that he was being killed.
B3TA07

In the backseat of a '68 Dodge Charger.







...I haven't seen it yet.
GlamorousGriz

B3TA07 wrote:
In the backseat of a '68 Dodge Charger.







...I haven't seen it yet.


LOL, that made my evening.......
dramatic_mizfit

MrsJamieWellerstein wrote:
I was a little soprano boy in grade four, and I would sing along with Carlotta. It was fun.


That's really kind of sad, haha. But it made me laugh.

I got tickets to see the show on November 15th! So excited! And our seats are better than the ones we had when we saw Les Mis, which is fantastic. I haven't seen Phantom since 1996 when we were in the back of the mezzanine, ugh.
B3TA07

I was actually supposed to see this on Broadway in March when I went to NYC with my orchestra & choir...some bastard bought the whole theatre the night we were going.

We ended up seeing All Shook Up, which was surprisingly good. The lady I sat next to on the plane told me it was "cute"...and that term is not something I like to hear. I wish I could've gone to the stage door though 8(
MzGalinda

dramatic_mizfit wrote:
AngMisto8182 wrote:
dramatic_mizfit wrote:
...Phantom was Colm Wilkinson, Christine was Rebecca Caine...


Shocked

Lucky!!


Yes I know! I really didn't know how famous he was back then, but when I realized who he was, I was astounded I didn't pay better attention! Ah well, at least I have the CD.


I loved Colm in the London cast recording of Les Mis. In general, he's a really talented actor. I only wish he was in any recent shows.
Fantine

I saw it for the first time on Wednesday, october 19th 2005, aged 17. Very Happy

I loved it and perhaps I even love it more than Les Mis... Shocked Don't tell anyone though Confused
Josefine

First time

My first time was July 18 1988 in London, with Dave Willetts, Claire Moore and Michael Ball.
PAMIE

Re: First time

I saw the show in 1989 it was my 1st broadway show and my 1st trip to NYC
flying_pigs

Re: First time

Josefine wrote:
My first time was July 18 1988 in London, with Dave Willetts, Claire Moore and Michael Ball.


oooooooo I would have loved to see this cast, how were they?
Josefine

Re: First time

flying_pigs wrote:
Josefine wrote:
My first time was July 18 1988 in London, with Dave Willetts, Claire Moore and Michael Ball.


oooooooo I would have loved to see this cast, how were they?


I'm sad to say that I don't remember a lot, unfortunately.
MzGalinda

That is such a fun show. I only wish it didn't require a huge stage, otherwise more theatre companies'd do it, for sure.
flying_pigs

My first time was Feburary 2005 and I was blown away and we had such good seats.

Phantom: John Owen-Jones (one of his lat performances Sad )
Christine: Rachel Barrell
Raoul: Oliver Thornton and like many people after I saw it Les Mis obsession seemed to evaporate and was replaced by Phantom, sooned changed back though!

Then I saw it two months ago and the cast was the same save from we had Earl Carpenter as Phantom and Celia Grahem as Christine, I prefered Celia and To Rachel, oh and we had a better Meg Naomi Cobby the understudy who could dance and sing!
Carlotta

MrsJamieWellerstein wrote:
I was a little soprano boy in grade four, and I would sing along with Carlotta. It was fun.


The first time I ever heard the cast recording, it was Rosemary Ashe who captivated me, not Sarah Brightman. I loved Sarah, yes, but there was something about Rosemary... when my best friend and I decided to do the show in her living room for her parents (we must have been 8 or 9 at the time), I immediately grabbed the role of Carlotta. I didn't want to be Christine, I wanted to be Carlotta. There's something about the role of Carlotta that is gripping and beckoning. I will play this role professionally some day before I die... I just know it.
Fantine

The role of Carlotta is awesome, I really like her. She's comical, bitchy ánd amazing looking Very Happy
Carlotta

Agreed! She's amazing!
Fantine

She can really steal the show when done right Smile
Carlotta

Yes! How interesting that it is Christine who is upstaging Cara, but Cara can in reality upstage Christine...
Fantine

Yeah she could... if the actress is good enough.
dramatic_mizfit

I'm going to see it on Thursday (and on the 15th as well) and I am really excited to see how Carlotta performs, as well as the rest of the cast too of course. I've heard great things about Gary Mauer.
GlamorousGriz

Oh, do tell us all about it!
dramatic_mizfit

I definitely will! Very Happy
jcstar

I saw Phantom in Ottawa in 1992 with Jeff Hyslop as The Phantom. It was a class trip in 7th grade. Our music teacher bought the tickets (for twenty-seven children, herself and any parents who wanted to come). It was a regular school day, and we all went home had supper then came back to the school for the bus trip.

When we got to the theatre, I noticed that the row in front of me was empty! So, I took the seat right in the middle and had the row all to myself during the show. The chandelier was right over my head.

What a night. Hyslop was amazing. His "Music Of The Night" stopped the show... litterally! He got a five minute standing ovation after the song. The crowd was that impressed... and so loud as well. It was fantastic.

The month before the show, I had lost ofne of my Grandfathers. "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" brought me to tears.

Ah memories.

Andy.
Jordan

I saw it when I was about 17 or 18, about 15 years ago. Sat in the 'Gods' but still thoroughly enjoyed it.
Lady Jemima

Sadly (very, very sadly) I've never seen a live production of Phantom. Confused But that doesn't mean I don't love it all the same! I grew up on the my mom's Phantom cassettes. Wink
happyguava

Yeah, me too. Come to Australia, Phantom!
~*~SweetSeduction~*~

i was 13 years old and my friend was ranting on about it so when the movie came on sky it hought oh yea okay ill watch it im bored so i did and my mum sed i never took my eyes off the screen i cried in al i ask of you and at the end so the next day i booked tickets for london and cried there and im off again in september!! i bought the video after i booked the tickets and then the dvd offa amazn!!


laura xx
MsDivaKate

My first time seeing Phantom was in 1995. I was 12 and I saw it at Pantages theatre in Toronto in 2nd row orchestra seats as part of my grade 8 class trip. I loved it so much that my parents took me again for Christmas and got the same seats. There was something for that show about being so close to the stage and being able to feel the heat of the fire used and just see everything so close that was amazing for me.
audreydarling

I was seven..and it was my first professional show..I too had most of the music memorized..I remember it being fabolous but it was a long time ago..so I don't remember individual performances..We had orchestra seats right under the chandelier..in the theatre (I thought it was going to fall on us and was relieved when it didn't) I really want to go again..it's an amazing show Very Happy
zeppy1223

My brother saw it when he was 10 through a field trip and has been raving about it ever since. When I was 11ish I was so excited to hear it was coming back to Buffalo... and he was nice enough to include me with his 3 other friends. Yay Phantom! Applause
Pawzxx

I went down to london with my school to see it last year. It was so brilliant! I really enjoyed it. Earl Carpenter was the phantom and Rachel Barrel was Christine.

After the show I asked my dear friend Ian what he thought, to which he replied, "It was more boring than watching paint dry."

Seriously felt like gubbing him. Laughing
Stan Marsh

July 9, 2006. During its run in my hometown.
Cake_in_Song

Last Wedensday. 5th row at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver. It was amazing. Even without the music and acting, it would have been amazing. The sets and costumes were superb, and the pyrotechnics were the icing on a very nice cake.
phantomphan85

I saw it in London for my 18th birthday and was absolutely blown away. I thought it was excellent.

But Les Mis is still the greatest!
What Is This Feeling?

I saw it in the Winter of my 5th grade year when I was 11. I saw it with my puupy-love girlfriend and her parents and mine. Magnificent!!
theatre_grl

NoOneMournsTheWicked wrote:
I saw it for the first time in March. I was blown away. Julie Hanson and Hugh Panaro were AMAZING. I cried. And I was back at the theater a few days ago, and I realised that that is what I want to do with my life. The small dressing rooms, the wonky stairs, mini hallways. It is everything I want and more.

my story is sorta like yours, and it might be more similar to someone's in pgs 2-7, but i was too lazy to read them. lol
growing up id heard the songs from different places, none of my family is really into theatre but i must have heard them somewhere b/c when the movie came out i had a vauge idea of what it was a about, but no real recollection of learning it.
i saw the movie a month after it came out and fell in love with the story. i read Gaston Leroux's phantom which seemed long for me, but it went really fast (any one on this forum who hasnt read it, shame on you and read it!)
In 2005 when phantom (I think it was a national tour, idk) finally came around here (im sad to say im not privileged to live near broadway), I took my father to it for fathers day. (more a gift for me, but that beside the point...)
Even from the top row (see how very inexperienced I was that I didn’t know a $20 seat was bad) the show (especially gary mauer) was AMAZING beyond words! Having been curbed of my melodramatic impulses by my parents, tears don’t come quickly to me—I didn’t cry when I saw the movie—but the musical had me sobbing by the end, I almost was hating Christine; how can she leave him? It seemed to irrational then for a young girl to go to her nice handsome rich (foppish) childhood friend over a disfigured madman. When I write it, it sounds silly, but the music changed everything.
That’s when I realized I wanted to do that for my life—be on broadway! I still have a long ways to go, but if I ever make it, phantom was my inspiration!
(sorry I wrote so long—I probably bored all of you out of your minds Embarassed )
Glinda Upland

Ok,I was 11 years old and in 6th grade. Our schools Drama Club ( I'm the resident Drama Queen at school) was doing a bunch of fundraising to see some touring broadway shows. We saw Joseph and the amazing Technicolor dreamcoat, and lion king. The last was Phantom. So I was all set to go. I knew nothing about the show at all. So I went during school to a matinee. I sat with my best friend kiki.

Then I went and bought out the little souvenier stand with the money I had been saving for 2 years! it was so much fun!

A funny thing that happened (Don't forget I was an 11 year old) was during act 2, around Wishing You were somehow here again, someone came through the door. I was on the aisle but i coudn't see because it was so dark. Well, I told you I had never seen the show before and kiki convinced me that it was the phantom and he was going to make an entrance from the audience. Anxious I was freaking out! But then at wandring child I heard the phantom singing and saw him shoot those cool fireballs at Raoul I stopped freaking out. I was so blushing! Embarassed But it was funny!!!!! Laughing

So that was my first time!
Paula74

I'd loved this show since discovering the OLCR in 1988, but...for various reasons...didn't see it live until April of 2005.

My cast was Hugh Panaro, Marie Danvers, and John Cudia.

Unfortunately, after that long wait, the performance was heavily marred by the woman behind me who chatted the entire time...explaining the scenes in detail to her children.

Not to mention, Hugh Panaro spit in my eye during Final Lair. I recently confronted him about that (his spitting is legendary). He gave me a defiant grin and said that's what I deserved for sitting in the front row. Rolling Eyes
OldDeuteronomy

my first time was March of '89 at the Ahmanson in LA. The show was FABULOUS sure Davis Gaines was no Michael Crawford but I didn't care I was SEEING PHANTOM! 9 months later the show opened in San Francisco and I saw it a bunch of times up here during it's run.
bwayluvor31

My first time was at the Ahmanson in LA too! But I saw the most recent revival about four years ago. It was incredible!!!!!!!!! And I thought that Brad Little was an amazing phantom! I cried at the end (how could you not?). I saw it again this year, and even though it wasn't the same, it was magical.
Glinda Upland

Paula74 wrote:
I'd loved this show since discovering the OLCR in 1988, but...for various reasons...didn't see it live until April of 2005.

My cast was Hugh Panaro, Marie Danvers, and John Cudia.

Unfortunately, after that long wait, the performance was heavily marred by the woman behind me who chatted the entire time...explaining the scenes in detail to her children.

Not to mention, Hugh Panaro spit in my eye during Final Lair. I recently confronted him about that (his spitting is legendary). He gave me a defiant grin and said that's what I deserved for sitting in the front row. Rolling Eyes


Oh! You are so lucky! I wish Hugh Panaro would spit in my eye! Lol! Very Happy
Paula74

Glinda Upland wrote:
Paula74 wrote:

Not to mention, Hugh Panaro spit in my eye during Final Lair. I recently confronted him about that (his spitting is legendary). He gave me a defiant grin and said that's what I deserved for sitting in the front row. Rolling Eyes


Oh! You are so lucky! I wish Hugh Panaro would spit in my eye! Lol! Very Happy


Ha...a couple of months later, I had the same seat and he spit in my cleavage from the angel. He's defiant about that, too!
Glinda Upland

I've never been lucky enough to see him in person. I've heard tons of cool stories from people who have seen him. I just have never been blessed with his presence! Thats pretty close to the top of my To-do list! Lol! I'm so psychotic! Cool
Paula74

Glinda Upland wrote:
I've never been lucky enough to see him in person. I've heard tons of cool stories from people who have seen him. I just have never been blessed with his presence! Thats pretty close to the top of my To-do list! Lol! I'm so psychotic! Cool


I've gotten to know him really well over the past eighteen months. He's a really sweet guy - very genuine, humble, and funny. His cast-mates used to call him the Spitmeister, though. Laughing
Glinda Upland

Very Happy I'm not sure I'd like to be called spitmeister, but if I could have all of that talent I'm sure I could find a way to deal with it!Very Happy
Paula74

Glinda Upland wrote:
Very Happy I'm not sure I'd like to be called spitmeister, but if I could have all of that talent I'm sure I could find a way to deal with it!Very Happy


He's almost proud of it. Rolling Eyes
Glinda Upland

Lol! Applause Rolling Eyes
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