Happy Hallow's Eve!

Greetings, everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted in so very long... but I knew I couldn't let Halloween go by without some kind of acknowledgment on this blog. I hope all of you have a wondrous All Hallow's Eve, whether you're planning on trick-or-treating, staying home and giving candy to kids (and kids-at-heart) who drop by, going to Halloween parties, curling up with your favorite scary books/movies/music, or doing something else to keep the spirit of Halloween alive in your heart. As for me, I'll be prowling the streets of Waikiki as part of their annual costume parade!

As for what I've been up to all these months that I haven't posted... well, in addition to being caught up with school, work, and the usual craziness, I've been working on a number of Phantom-related projects. One of them is a translation back into English of the Japanese libretto for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version. That project is now complete, and I've given it to a good friend who has agreed to post it on her website. I'll most definitely provide a link as soon as that happens, as well as my own thoughts on the Japanese lyrics.

I've also been working on instrumental tracks for songs from different versions of POTO. One that I was very glad to get a chance to attempt was "Don Juan Triumphant," from Misha Segal's score to the 1989 film (which I have discussed previously on this blog). I discovered Mr. Segal's website and noticed a post he made quite a while ago saying that anyone interested in having the sheet music for his "Don Juan" (or even the entire score for that film) should contact him. I did, and for $20, he gave me two copies (one handwritten, the other computer-printed) in PDF form. If any of you are also interested, I highly recommend e-mailing Mr. Segal. He is a wonderfully nice man and appreciates it when Phans let him know they loved the music from this oft-forgotten version.

In addition to my own projects, there have lately been a couple of Phantom news items of particular interest to me. One is detailed in this video -- apparently, there's going to be a Japanese-language dub of the 2004 movie based on the ALW musical. The odd thing about this is that the film came out almost six years ago, and it was released in Japan without a dub. Why they've suddenly decided to do one after all is a mystery to me, but nonetheless, I'm mostly happy about it. I've generally liked the foreign-language dubs of the 2004 film more than the original English version because the dubs tended to have much better singers. I've heard Osamu Takai (who will be dubbing the Phantom) in clips from the Japanese stage production and think he's an excellent choice for the role. Hopefully, after the December 17th television broadcast in Japan, it will be released on DVD (or at least have a soundtrack made available), and that I'll be able to get my hands on it.

The second news item is a bit unsettling. Many of you have probably heard that this past year, the Really Useful Group has made the rights to perform ALW's version available to high schools and colleges. One of the schools that will be getting this show is Punahou School in my home state of Hawaii, as detailed in this article from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Punahou School happens to be the place where my older sister attended high school. (It has also seen other notable alumni including POTO performer Ian Jon Bourg, AOL co-founder Steve Case, and current US President Barack Obama.) So what do I think? Well, to be frank, I'm very skeptical about schools other than those devoted to music and theater being able to pull off a show like POTO. High school kids simply don't have the training, experience, or physiology to sing roles like the Phantom, Christine, Carlotta, or Piangi effectively. Add to that the technical challenges of doing a show as effects-heavy as POTO; as detailed in the page A Lamentable Mess, potentially dangerous mistakes happen often, even in the professional productions.

However, I don't deny that I'm quite curious about how a high school will try to pull off this show... so that and my longing for POTO on stage (owing to the US Tour's final performance beginning in just a few short hours) mean that I'll likely be going to see it. If I do, I'll definitely post a review here.

Anyway, that's what's been up with me lately. I shall try to post again soon, but until then, I wish you all a happy and safe Hallow's Eve!


I remain your obedient servant,
I.A.E.