The Phantom of the Not-On-This-Blogera.

This is the second post in a row I have tried to make about The Phantom of the Opera, and twice in a row, something happened with WordPress when I tried to post them. Both different issues. Both different Phantoms, even, and so I’m going to take this as a sign that I want to post anything about The Phantom of the Opera, I better make it short and sweet.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original PotO soundtrack was my freaking jam when I was younger. I even had the chance to see it performed live in Toronto on a family vacation, and tell me Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford belting out about the music of the night and the point of no return. Creepy, atmospheric, perfect for pretending I could actually be a strong enough singer that a chemical-burned tragic hero might feel the need to cut chandeliers and steal me away to the sewers of Paris because he couldn’t live without my voice.

And then there’s the 1943 version with Claude Raines and the exquisite Susanna Foster, which I probably watched a million times when I was younger. I had the treat of watching it again not too long ago when my boyfriend, knowing it was a favorite I hadn’t seen in years, purchased a copy, and I was pleasantly shocked to realize that I still knew all the songs. Such a feast for the senses! Gorgeously rendered, lavishly performed, and those voices! Good lord, those voices! It’s not nearly as creepy or scary as the Webber version, but it’s such a heartfelt tragedy for me, and still one of my favorites.

I still haven’t seen the Lon Chaney version, if you can believe it. And I haven’t seen the 2004 Webber “reboot” with Emmy Rossum and Gerald Butler, and that…I don’t think seeing that is nearly as important as the Chaney one.

Are you much of a Phantom fan? Which is your favorite? And I’ll leave it at that before something else happens, and I fail to get a Phantom post up for the third time, at which point I’m going to think it’s just as good as the Scottish Play!