A Holiday Gift For My Phellow Phans

In the spirit of the holiday season, here is a video I made for an audio compilation I put together some time ago. I love listening to POTO in different languages, and this is something I made to demonstrate why. Enjoy, and please leave comments and/or subscribe to my YouTube account!




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

POTO: The High School Version

A little over a month ago, I had my first experience seeing a high school production of our beloved POTO. The performance was at Punahou School in Hawaii (which happens to be my sister's alma mater). I tried not to come in with too many preconceived notions of what would and wouldn't work in such a production, but let's be honest. I think everyone reading this page has seen the stage show live, or at least watched YouTube clips of one or more productions. Plus, we've had the novel, the movie version, countless cast recordings and cover versions, and all sorts of other media telling us what to expect when we see "Phantom" somewhere.

I wasn't all that worried about a high school version "ruining" POTO for me -- I had seen many school versions, some good and others bad, for many other shows, and none of those shows had been "ruined" for me, nor have any that I consider to be poor shows been "saved" in my eyes by a high-quality production, whether done professionally or by students. Plus, there have been a few POTO adaptations I disliked, but clearly, none of them "ruined" the whole thing for me. But anyway, thus ends my rant over whether a high school or other amateur production has the potential to "ruin" Phantom. I now present my review of Punahou School's production, the first amateur one done in Hawaii.

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!

Recent Occurrences

Greetings, all! Sorry I haven't blogged in so long . . . but to make up for it, here's a huge update on what I've been up to. Toward the end of May/beginning of June, I had an awesome two-week stay in California, during which I got to do quite a few Phantom-y activities.

Ode to a Film Phantom

Robert Englund is one of my favorite horror film actors of all time. His movies, regardless of their quality compared to each other and to others in the genre, have always entertained me. Of course, he's most famous for playing Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street series (the most recent remake notwithstanding). It's his 1989 version of The Phantom of the Opera, however, that holds a special place in my heart.

This version of Phantom was directed by Dwight H. Little and starred Englund as Erik Destler, Jill Schoelen as Christine Day, Stephanie Lawrence as Carlotta, Alex Hyde-White as Richard, and Bill Nighy as Carlotta's lover. As the names suggest, this is not a straight-up adaptation of Leroux's novel. Rather than the Paris Opera House, this story takes place in Victorian-era London. Well, the bulk of it, anyway -- there's also a bit set in modern times with a sort of reincarnation/time-travel plot device to connect the two eras. In some ways, that aspect is similar to Bram Stoker's Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, but in my view, the film overall seems to have more in common with John Badham's criminally underrated version of the classic vampire's story (which starred Frank Langella as the Count). Both are very different from the original novel in terms of plot, yet they evoke the mood and atmosphere of their respective books in a way that's perhaps more faithful than the vast majority of other adaptations.