Singing Down Memory Lane

It all started when Mama watched Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary at Royal Albert Hall  when she was sick.  Then we watched it together.  And then Bud came in during the Masquerade scene and loved the costumes and the song.  He begged us to let him watch.  So, the next day, we all watched all of the first act and some of the second.  The kids were entranced and sang snatches of the songs all the next day until we finished the show.

Right now, they are watching it again.

They've found the soundtrack on our iPod.  They've dressed their critters up as various characters and done a puppet show with them.  Then they acted it out themselves, though they want the full soundtrack with dialogue!  Earlier this morning, I was Christine to Bud's Phantom and we sang "Phantom of the Opera" together.

For me, it's quite a walk down memory lane.  I was obsessed with the musical in high school, just as Mama was obsessed with Les Mis.  I listened to it, read the novel, read about the production, and longed to see it.  And then in 1990, on my way to Tunisia for a summer of archaeological digging, Gommie and I traveled via London and saw the musical on our last night there!  We were doubly glad to be there because we'd had a stomach virus most of the time we'd been in England.  It was phenomenal--not just the show, which exceeded my every expectation, but the beautiful old theater where they even sold ice cream in the (very narrow) seats at intermission!  I sang the songs the rest of the summer.  A few years later, I saw it again in NYC.  (See, they come by obsessive tendencies honestly!)

But I haven't really paid it much mind since the late 1990s.  I really didn't like the movie.  At all.  And since it wasn't Mama's favorite, we rarely listen to it.  I think for awhile it was a bit baroque for my taste.  Now, I'm as excited as the kids to revisit it.  And I still know every lyric of every song!  I especially like the 25th Anniversary celebration at the end, with some of the original Phantoms and also Christine, though Michael Crawford didn't sing (Colm Wilkinson, of Les Mis fame did, though, which sounded strange to Mama) and Sarah Brightman seemed aged compared to the young ingenue Sierra Boggess, who is actually in the role here in NYC for the next couple of months.

I'm tempted to take them to see Phantom of the Opera soon.  Lion King first, though, and then Les Mis when they are much older.  And later still, La Boheme since they're interested in opera; then Rent!  But, yes, Phantom of the Opera.

Until then, they're already planning to be the Phantom and Christine for Halloween!  Think they sell child-sized white half-masks?