Ari/lit-ari-ture. @Litlovers-corsetlaces account resurrected and dedicated to POTO and Jane Eyre content.
113 posts
As a rabid POTO fan, imagine how I shocked I was when I watched this niche independent film for class and learned that LND was featured. I literally thought I had left another window in my browser open playing ALW but nope, the filmmakers actually weaved the song into the final frame. My hyperfixation is following me everywhere in the best way.
24 Frames (Abbas Kiarostami, 2017).
i’ve always loved how revered art pieces like these are. and enjoying these art pieces, these tangible forms of people’s adoration, with the person you love is such a beautiful experience <3
also wow, 50 followers! i honestly wasn’t expecting anyone to even see these, so thrilled is an understatement :) thank you so much for interacting with my posts, editing has given me a wonderful way to express my creativity and knowing these images make people happy makes my day <333
Chapter 2 is live!!
Some random thoughts in the void as I try to work through wtf I actually want to do with this fanfic:
“Think of Me” is the first song I heard from POTO before I was even properly introduced to the show. But once I watched Phantom in full, I realized how much of an “odd man out” the song is. I get that it serves an introductory function and that it’s basically a Christine/Raoul leitmotif, but even so it doesn’t seem to feature much in the musical overall.
And I guess this fanfic retelling is taking up the song in a completely different vein and asking what the story would look like if “Think of Me” was a potential leitmotif for Christine and Erik. What if Erik and Christine had encountered each other in one set of circumstances, gone their separate ways, and then reconnected and “remembered” each other—but with a new set of emotions and challenges?
Maybe I’m just trying to extract an Erik/Christine ship 😅. But also want to gently explore whether it’s possible for Erik’s Angel of music/father figure act to be meaningful for the both he and young Christine and not just loaded with manipulation and grooming. And I feel like the only way that’s even slightly possible is for her to actually have room to grow up and come back to the opera house as a woman.
Maybe it won’t work but 😂🥴
Legs.
1. Jeremy Stolle 2. Davis Gaines 3. Hugh Panaro 4. Ivan Ozhogin 5. Ben Lewis 6. Gary Mauer 7. Howard McGillin 8. Earl Carpenter 9. Mathais Edenborn
The content I didn't know I needed.
another excerpt from The Hang With Ramin Karimloo where Sierra talks about regretting her choice at the end
Earl Carpenter
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you
@whynotraisealittlehell
“I am your Angel of Music. Come to me, Angel of Music.”
Incorrect Quotes: Jane Eyre (70/?)
Source
The Rehearsal (1877) by Edgar Degas
I love the way Earl Carpenter telegraphs the whole range of Erik's thoughts and emotions after the kiss. Like he doesn't say a word but you can literally see the whole internal dialogue and it's like "I've always wanted to know what that felt like but WTF have you done to me what are these feelings and I can't even let you see me like this *whimper* but that was single handedly the best thing that's ever happened to me I might cry WHY DID YOU DO THAT CHRISTINE AND WTF AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!?! Oh....Goddamnit. I have to free your boyfriend."
SCREAMING.
thinking about that video of hugh panaro being a slut just about about the normal amount!!!! and had to do something about it
Sir, that’s my emotional support unrealistic romantic delusion
Me: Do I like my Erik a tender and sensitive loverboy like Earl Carpenter or a deranged sex God à la Hugh Panaro? Also Me: ...YES.
The way Hugh Panaro says "sing for me" during the title song. Extra emphasis on the ME, like this man knows Christine doesn't sing for anyone else like this--especially not that insolent boy.
Tim Martin Gleason's emotionally regulating self-hug.
David Shannon plays the Phantom like his skull exposure is actually vulnerable/causes him chronic pain.
Earl Carpenter directs tf out of Christine's voice during the title song in his '06 run. Gospel choir director energy, but make it sex.
Phantoms kneeling during the Don Juan AIAOY reprise. (Looking at you David Thaxton and Hugh P.)
Every acting decision Gina Beck makes in the final lair.
There's a boot (I think 1995?) where Davis Gaines pauses after he says "this is the choice" and he actually realizes he's gone off the deep end and "this is the point of no return" fr.
Michael Nicholson's deranged laugh turned sob. So sad, so disturbed.
Gary Mauer says like 4-5 ily's in the final lair like he can't stop now that he's uttered it aloud. And the more the merrier imo lol.
GIANMARCO SAURINO as PROCURATORE FOURNEAU on "The Law According to Lidia Poët" | Season 2
If this is the level of character analysis Jordan Donica put into his performance as freaking LANCELOT DU LAC then I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WTF HE WOULD COME UP WITH FOR THE TITLE CHARACTER IN PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AND IF THERE IS A GOD PLEASE ANSWER MY PRAYER AND MAKE THIS CASTING HAPPEN I AM BEGGING YOU.
I'm banging my head on the walls of my enclosure don't text DON'T CALL!!!!!!!!
photo credit: melanie gowie (x)
Welp, we've gone this far. Follow me on AO3 and tune in to a POTO retelling lol.
Not sure what I just experienced watching the restaged POTO tour, but now I need to revisit David Shannon bootlegs to help me recover.
Kevin Gray touching his face while Christine sings "pitiful creature of darkness."
The point in MOTN when Laird Mackintosh and Earl Carpenter's Phantoms walk up on Christine hesitantly so the segue into "turn your face away" is just them chickening out.
The way Gary Mauer yells "NO!" in the angel before crashing out on "you will curse the day."
Davis Gaines's deliberate hand movements during the kiss and "Christine I love you." And the way he sobs and falls to the floor without it reading melodramatic. (Davis Gaines as a whole, tbh.)
When Erik and Christine lock eyes for a hot minute after the kiss. (Killian Donnelly/Lucy St. Louis and Hugh Panaro/Mary Michael Patterson are so good at this.)
The unique way Dean Chisnall sings "save me" during PONR/AIAOY reprise like his voice is breaking a little.
David Shannon wants to touch Christine's face so badly but just can't bring himself to do it.
OMFG thank you to whoever captured this.
Dean Chisnall - The Music of the Night (14th August 2024) 7.30 performance
By request, a Gary Mauer final-lair kiss. With Marie Danvers in 2006.
[Once again no particular order but this list includes most of my faves minus Killian Donnelly and TMG.]
John Owen Jones: Yes, I sob loudly whenever I watch that '05 performance with Rachel Barrell. And?
Gary Mauer: The best vocal Phantom imo, argue about it with someone else. Phans love him paired with his wifey Beth Southard as Christine, but that final lair kiss with Marie Danvers is unmatched (iykyk).
Earl Carpenter: His Erik was in love with Christine the whole time, idc idc. Top 3 final lair performer in his early run and I can't even tell you who's ahead of him tbqh.
Peter Karrie: There is literally NO Phantom like him in the history of the role and his '98 boot is the most heartbreaking performance I've ever watched. But is it ableist that his Phantom is so savant/autistic coded?
Hugh Panaro: Master of the hair slick and self caress; lord of the portcullis sprawl; perfector of the whispered "I love you" and "my angel." Holds your entire soul in a psycho death grip from "insolent boy" and doesn't let go until the curtain goes down.
Kevin Gray: Mix together Peter Karrie, Hugh Panaro, and a dash of Crawford and you get Kevin Gray. That's a deranged, hair-raising, and completely magical equation.
Ramin Karimloo: Gets disproportionate hype because of the 25th anniversary performance but his 25th anniversary performance is still worth the hype??
John Cudia: There are three ingredients to a Cudia performance: softness, sadness, and sexiness. He may not blow you away if you like your Phantom unhinged, but he will bring those three things every time.
Howard McGillin: Starts out classic and suave but ends the show completely broken with all the feels. Also a banging vibrato if that's your thing.
David Thaxton: The theater gods reward a risk taker, and Thaxton has so many unique touches that I admire his commitment even if I'm ambivalent about some of his choices.
Edit because I forgot Davis Gaines [HOW could I forget Davis Gaines??]: My second favorite Phantom voice behind Gary Mauer, even though they're totally different. He just has such a deep and hypnotizing baritone that's offset so perfectly by some of his vulnerable acting choices.
[More phantoms here and here.]
[These are like my 'unpopular opinion' Phantoms?]
Josh Piterman: He cheated the unwritten final lair rules by actually embracing Christine back, but I am SO glad he did! He has the voice and natural intangibles for Phantom.
Greg Mills: Love him as a person (on social media at least) and want to love him as the Phantom, but inexplicably...don't and I don't know why *crying emoji*.
Stephen Buntrock: Inexplicably do love him and don't know why. The voice, the vibe, and the choices just work for me and I wish there was more of him to see.
Franc D'Ambrosio: Serving face, serving drama, always so extra, but I have to be in the mood for it.
Peter Jöbeck: I truly do not understand the hate he gets; his voice is so perfectly disturbing and Joker-esque!!! And he actually seems to regret his actions at the end, not just losing Christine.
James Romick: He's very forceful/on the nose (vocally + acting), and I think the Phantom is more than just "commanding." That being said, his "I love you's" are beautiful.
Géronimo Rauch: He's scary and sexy in equal measure. Elements of his performance remind me so much of JOJ.
Jon Robyns: Don't know much about his Phantom, but want to get to know more lol.
Tim Howar: He seemed very violent with Amy Manford's Christine in the final lair, and that turned me off. The Phantom is already "yikes" so let's not add unscripted physical aggression to the equation.
Brad Little: I live for the way he's so bossy and booming in "Phantom mode" but such a damn softy during the AIAOY reprises and final lair.
POTO retelling loading. And maybe I'll even overcome my trauma and restart the Jane Eyre fanfic I lost more than a decade ago when my computer was stolen.
Hugh gave everything this performance. It's historic somehow, idc.
[Mostly in the order I've recently watched them, which is random.]
Ted Keegan: A legend. Very much "I know how I want to interpret this character and I will do it consistently well over 20+ years and still make you cry each time."
Jeremy Stolle: The acting is always there, but the voice comes and goes? King of mishaps.
Paul Schaefer: I've only seen one vid of him. His Phantom is literally diabolical up to the very last minute and it's...interesting.
Ben Crawford: Great voice before the post-COVID struggles, but questionable acting decisions. Oddly enough he grew more as an actor as his vocals declined.
Dean Chisnall: Such a shy and sensitive Phantom who sings every note with ease! He wins the award for best reptilian stomach crawl during STYDI.
Laird Mackintosh: He was a solid understudy in the 2010s, but I was awed by how he totally owned the role as a cover in 2023 up to closing. He really brings the heat in the first lair.
James Barbour: Ruined by the legal issues and the fact that I saw him as Rochester first.
Killian Donnelly: He's the perfect combination of sensitive acting and a great voice. Always sticks the landing in the final lair, but he does it a different way each time so every performance feels new.
Tim Martin Gleason: He has the most beautiful hands and I love how soft and tender he becomes after the kiss. He genuinely wants Christine and Raoul to escape safely, like what??
Norm Lewis: If Erik was your dad...but also your toddler?