New Touring Production Coming Soon!

It was only a matter of time, I suppose (and let's hope this isn't a really bad, early April Fool's Day joke)... but according to a just-released article in Variety, Cameron Mackintosh (who produced the original productions of POTO as well as many, many other musicals in the UK) is planning to debut a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical that will open in the UK and then tour around the world. The production will feature all-new direction, sets, and costumes.

That last bit makes me a bit wary... but I'm willing to approach it with an open mind, seeing as there were many aspects of the non-replica Hungarian and Polish productions that I liked. "Different" doesn't necessarily mean "bad;" what made me fall in love with the musical was the superb story, characters, music, and lyrics, so as long as those aren't messed with and the performers chosen are good, I'll be eager to see what comes out of this. But what do my fellow Phans think?


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

Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch, or Don't Like

The title of this post is taken from two pages on TVTropes, a site I've mentioned here before and probably will bring up many more times in the future. XD This is intended as a response to the most common criticisms of dissenters in general, which have been used quite a bit recently by fans (and even the creative team) of a certain new POTO-related stage show. This seems especially pertinent now given the tactics being employed by the show's composer who, along with his company, has sunk to new lows in order to paint everyone who opposes the musical as a loony whose opinion doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.

Phandom Heresies

I'm a huge fan of the website TVTropes. It's a really fun site on which you can find a lot of popular devices and conventions used in well-known fictional works, be they novels, films, TV shows, video games, and yes, even stage shows. (The section they have for POTO is quite fun and informative, covering the novel, ALW musical, and a few of the film versions.)

The title for this post comes from one of my favorite tropes to return to (and also look at the Troper Tales page for): Fandom Heresy. That trope illustrates the idea that within a fan community, there are certain opinions so unpopular that they may drive people to send hate mail to a fan who expresses them, particularly on fan websites, blogs, and forums -- heaven help you if you're a Star Wars fan who liked Episode I, or if you're a Batman fan (or a movie fan in general, really) with anything negative to say about Christopher Nolan.

Although reactions to differing opinions on the internet can often be intense, I like to think the majority of Phantom Phans are a pretty tolerant bunch. No version of the story nor any actor in a film or stage production is universally loved or hated (with the possible exceptions of Lon Chaney under "loved" and the Forsyth and Argento versions under "hated"), and most Phans seem to be pretty okay with that. No version or actor is going to please everyone because we all have our own visions of what the story is or should be. It's a lot like how everyone who reads a novel is going to have different views of how characters and locations look, how the dialogue is spoken, or what certain things are supposed to represent; therefore, even the most faithful attempt at a film adaptation isn't going to please everyone who loved the book.

There are, however, some Phantom Phans who do take it personally when someone else disagrees with them on favorite and least favorite versions and actors. As I said previously, I understand to an extent why some react so harshly -- the reason why we are Phans is because the story and characters mean something to us and touch us on some deep, emotional level. It can sometimes be a bit shocking to hear that someone really didn't like a version or performance that profoundly moved you. Sometimes, we may try to rationalize it -- for example, if someone didn't like a particular actor, we may tell ourselves that maybe the person was unlucky enough to catch that performer on an "off-night." Other times, as with hot-button issues like religion or politics, we may become convinced that our own opinions are the "right" ones; therefore, everyone who disagrees is "wrong" and has to have their opinion changed to conform to ours.