litloverscorsetlaces

Latest Posts by litloverscorsetlaces

Again: Marie Danvers stood on business when it came to laying smooches on her costars. And her roster was impeccable.

Anywhere you go, let me go too.

I just watched Thomas Schulze's final lair. Send help.

This is ungodly 😭🤪🤤

john cudia supremacy🗣️‼️

obligatory gifs pulled from the dregs of my hard drive!!

Also here he is making out with Marie Danvers:

And shoving the phantom:

It’s Monday and I’m still thinking about that Cudia boot.

What I love about theatre is that no matter how many times you’ve seen a show or even a particular actor’s performances, there’s always room for surprise. I always liked John Cudia, but that boot was distinct from all his other performances. He just walked into work that day and said “I feel like being more feral than usual.”

I went to dinner and when I checked my phone a little later my best friend was live tweeting the Phantom boot I gifted him. Suffice it to say...I think I've converted my first person to the phandom.

I started him out with the 25th anniversary performance and then proceeded to give him comparative highlights of Hugh Panaro, Earl Carpenter, Davis Gaines and Norm Lewis to give him a sense of scope. Then built it out with others. Sprinkled in information about canon and the different Erik/Christine types and ranted a lot about hands and my personal tastes.

And then I gave him a Lucy St. Louis boot bc I suspected he'd like her and I asked him to share his thoughts afterward. Now his takes have me screaming because I've totally indoctrinated him.

"She was good, but I didn't like this Phantom. His ILY was weak! The hands weren't right. DO YOU WANT HER OR NOT BRO??" I warned him about the post-COVID fall off but now he's blaming me for setting him up with high expectations and declaring his allegiance to the 2000s era.

And he's already abbreviating POTO.

I'm so damn proud of myself (and him) lol.

I don't think you understand how John Cudia's STYDI hands have disturbed me on a visceral level. He went OFF in this boot.

Same. SAME.

still not over that boot actually

Suing John Cudia for Emotional Distress for:

The way his evil laugh sounds like a wail/sob.

Looking upward during the portcullis sprawl like his soul is going to leave his body with Christine brushing up against his--

Panicking and considering CPR when Christine faints.

HANDS (see items 5-7)

Doing motions that make me squirm during STYDI of all numbers when most Phantoms are concerned with the crawl.

Clutching at everything--fabric, air, his own knees and legs--during PONR.

Balling up in a fist when Christine kisses him and then stationed like they're almost protecting his heart afterwards.

The way he slides his whole body up against Christine during PONR.

The way he slides his whole body up against Christine during the final lair kiss.

Laying ON TOP of Christine when he's spiraling during the final lair.

Turning his neck at a damn near 90 degree angle when Raoul arrives in the graveyard.

Cheekbones.

It was all intentional. Lawyer up.

I'm ruined.

John Cudia + Jennifer Hope Wills

2006 U.S. tour

Made by @mattxiv on Instagram.

Hugh Panaro's evolution over the course of his different runs deserves more attention.

There's that mysterious year long run in the 90s that I know nothing about (is there even footage of it?).

Then he came back around '03 and early on it seems like he tried to fit the mold of the more "classic," operatic Phantoms...but then by '05 you see him embrace his unique vocal style and that more psycho, jokeresque approach to the role.

And then you've got the final run in the 2010s where he builds on what he started exploring at the end of run 2 and perfects the unique touches like "my angel" and offers a more queer-coded Erik, and I love it all. How many Phantoms do you get to have these kind of change over time analyses with??

Whoops, you thought I was over Davis Gaines?

He's just so ghoulish and graceful.

-Gregory Orr, “When Eurydice saw him” from Orpheus & Eurydice

Whoa Jon Robyns and Lily Kerhoas were such a good pairing, their voices mesh so well and their interpretations make sense together.

The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019)

dir. joe talbot

The Winged Victory of Samothrace J.E. Schuler, Masterpieces of Sculpture

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2005) dir. Joe Wright

A Sentimental Soapbox Essay on Fandoms and Archives and Why Your Hyperfixation Matters

Offline, I'm a grad student/historian in training who studies a community that is systemically under-archived. A significant part of my day job involves helping that community craft the archive from what's "left" while coming to terms with what they've already lost. In the meantime, I'm also navigating how to write the dissertation I want to write without the sources I want/need.

Aside from providing the fodder for my gothic romance hyperfixation, fandoms are a breath of fresh air because they remind me that it only takes a few passionate people to build an archive and, eventually, a preservation ecosystem. It all starts with someone who records things, collects stuff, and accumulates niche knowledge--and then shares it with others--just for the joy of it.

Two episodes of a (now obscure) Jane Eyre BBC adaptation have been missing for years, and today an anonymous superfan/de facto JE adaptation archivist who never gave up announced that they've been found after all this time. Masters take the time to make elitist or ephemeral artforms like musicals more accessible for present and future generations' enjoyment and now several Phantoms who performed the role before I was even born are among my favorites. Stuff like this warms my heart as a fan, historian, and a human.

Don't take for granted that some institution is studying and stewarding that "thing" you care about. Universities, museums, and the internet are flawed systems and, yes, instruments of power and capitalism. They also just can't (and shouldn't) do it all. Preservation runs on informal archivists and spaceholders like @glassprism and @wheel-of-fish and @behindthemirrorofmusic and trading economies (in the case of POTO) and so many other people/spaces. It thrives on us investing in the things that bring us joy. And that investment doesn't have to be financial; it often just looks like collaborating with others for free and finding time to channel our intellects and energies toward what we love.

The things that matter to you...matter lol. Don't let *gestures wildly* all the stuff going in the world convince you otherwise. Now or somewhere down the road someone's going to be glad you cared this much.

“Everyone saw in my face evil traits that I didn’t possess. But they assumed I did, and so they developed. I was modest, and was accused of being deceitful: I became secretive. I had a strong sense of good and evil; instead of kindness I received nothing but insults, so I grew resentful. I was gloomy, other children were merry and talkative. I felt myself superior to them, but was considered inferior: I became envious. I was ready to love the whole world, but no one understood me, so I learned to hate. My colorless youth was spent in a struggle with myself and with the world. Fearing mockery, I buried my best feelings at the bottom of my heart: there they died.”

— Mikhail Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time (trans. Vladimir Nabokov)

Franz Kafka, from a letter to Milena Jesenka featured in "Letters to Milena,

nine/or so people i wish i knew better :)

(Awww, I love being tagged in stuff)

tagged by: @wheel-of-fish and @selcouthself (oop and @dj-triumph lol)

favorite color: indigo blue

currently reading: Yvonne Chireau, Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition (grad student lol)

last song: "My Funny Valentine" (Chet Baker cover) by Matt Maltese

last film: Sinners dir. Ryan Coogler

last series: Obsessed with Étoile on Prime.

sweet/salty/savory: This is so hard but I could eat chocolate chip cookies until the end of time, so sweet.

tea or coffee: Chai!

working on: grief, a syllabus project on AfAm Religion and American Cinema, and a fanfic that keeps my spirits up lol.

tagging: @poorerik @flora-gray @daaesviolin @forever-and-whats-left @achillmango @from-aldebaran @warpweight (sorry if you've already been tagged by someone else!)

Michael Crawford's "I love you" wail and "[big voice] YOU ALONE [sad wet cat voice] can make my song take flight" are actively disrupting my day.

Ripped my beating heart out of my body.

A particularly devastating clip of Michael Crawford, featuring not one but FOUR “I love you”s and his voice breaking. Los Angeles, 1990, with Mary D’Arcy and Reece Holland. 

The "Isn't he sexy" stream notes

'Blair Witch Phantom' by @illuminaughty and 'Mr incel dungeon' by @flora-gray as alternaitve titles

The VHS quality in general made it so cozy

Someone noticed how this production's Carolotta really embodies Belle Époque, I see that

Someone has said it was 'one of the Three Sit-Down Productions in the U.S. back in the 90s' - this one by Christine Company (LA), and @phantoonsoftheopera kindly listed all 4 companies: Phantom (Broadway), Christine (LA & SF), Raoul (2nd Natl Tour), and Music Box (3rd Natl Tour)

apparently, Oracle of Delphi was high from the geothermal vents @illuminaughti-online . It seems like academics found some evidence for gases which could cause vivid imagery, but it's up for a debate whether there were enough exposure to chemicals to cause these hallucinations

Trivia about the Crawford production that's new to me: apparently, at first many expected little from Crawford's Phantom since he was more used to comedy parts @stephistopheles

In the same lieu, from @glassprism: '@daaesviolin I remember Operafantomet talking about how both Crawford and Brightman sang using, what, an elder RP accent is what it might be called? It's not really taught anymore I think, so you don't hear it nowadays'

List of Phantom actors with 'ghostly' voices: Michael Crawford, Hugh Panaro, Davis Gaines, Alexander Goebel, Masachika Ichimura, Peter Karrie

Someone noted Crawford moves like a panther (in parallel to other Phantoms who are lizard-like)

@lit-ari-ture has found an academic article that discussed Michael Crawford's hands a lot! "‘Think of me fondly’: Voice, body, affect and performance in Prince/Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera" (tmblr doesn't let me link the pdf here, but if you google it it should pop up on the 1st page)

Isabel Leonard in her trouser roles like Cherubino (when discussing Christine's Serafimo)

@haunted-hideaway: Aww man I miss Car Talk @illuminaughti-online: Gondola Talk got you covered

I forgot to copy it, but I think Celina mentioned how the monkey costume during Masquarade both mirrors Erik's Monkey music box, and possibly represents Christine's anxiety about him

it was far-reaching (which was the original, until someone ad-libbed it, and then it was transferred to libretto; most of this PotO trivia here is from Celina, thank you for sharing the knowledge!)

In one of your older posts I read about how Marcus Lovett deliberately echoed Raoul and Piangi for some scenes, because he thought that Erik would mimic them in terms of “manly” behavior. I thought this was really interesting, and I was wondering if you could talk about any scenes in particular that stood out in this way?

One scene that definitely stood out was the proposal after “Point of No Return”, before the unmasking. Here Marcus Lovett’s Phantom seemed to perfectly mimick Raoul’s movements and manners in the Rooftop scene.

I thought it was an interesting take on it, and I brought it up when talking to Marcus Lovett after the show. He looked mighty pleased that I had noticed that detail. He told it was an acting choice; that he envisioned the Phantom studying the men of the opera numerous times to try and understand how a man was supposed to appear to the world. Which is why the Phantom has a slightly theatrical flair, because without realizing he was just as much studying opera roles than actual men. But with Raoul he saw genuine affections towards a woman, and this is what he figures out Christine wants - hence the PONR moment (albeit he could probably pick up more clues from Raoul, given what happens next...!)

There’s something deeply human and adorably clumsy about this, and when seeing Marcus Lovett’s Phantom again with this arch in mind I loved him doubly. He had really thought of every single little detail he did on stage, from hand movements to grander arch storytelling. Which is also why, despite moments of rusty vocals, I list him as one of my favourite Phantoms.

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.

I can’t remember if I posted this before or not 😭