Stuff I'm Listening To - the Phantom of the Opera

Title: Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Artist: Sierra Boggess (composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart)

Favourite Lyrics:
Wishing you were somehow here again
Knowing we must say goodbye
Try to forgive teach me to live
Give me the strength to try
No more memories no more silent tears
No more gazing across the wasted years
Help me say goodbye


Why?:
I mentioned earlier, Andrew Lloyd Webber was making his musicals available online to keep the quarantined masses entertained and to raise money for charities supporting theatre workers during this time of crisis which is what got me started on this musicals kick. 

Back in the late 80s and 90s in Toronto, we got our 10 year run of 'Phantom of the Opera' at the Pantages Theatre. I'd seen it twice in total. Once when my brother won tickets to the third row. I accompanied my mother (because my brother was uninterested). It was a rare evening out with my mom and so enjoyable. My mother insisted on purchasing the souvenir book for me, making sure we had some memento to look back on. Then once with my ex-boyfriend's mother, who declared a sheer love of Andrew Lloyd Webber's work shortly after we met. With her, it was so nice to see her so happy. Normally chatty, she was left speechless for the evening, clearly happy and overwhelmed by the experience. 

Both times the experience was pretty phenomenal. Despite what you may think of Webber's work, it worked for me. I was definitely sold on live musical theatre. 

I had initially opted to post 'Think of Me' as my choice track, because it features Carlotta, the typical diva character and always a phenomenal soprano. But for each performance I've seen, Carlotta almost steals the show. How easy it must be to overdo it and clearly she is a fun character to play, but kudos to every single singer I've watched, hamming just enough to make Carlotta the antagonist she's meant to be. I have a soft spot for louts and scoundrels and bad guys, and Carlotta is one of them. 

The recently streamed show featuring Sierra Boggess as Christine blew me away and made me rethink my choice track. 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' is this song where Christine is singing at her father's grave. Normally, it's part of the story and I'm just enjoying the music each time I've watched various incantations of the show online. I'll lie and tell you it's quarantine stress that made me emotional when this part came on. 

Of course, I couldn't post about this musical without a nod to the title track. While for most, Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford are their choice for Christine and the Phantom, my biased favourites would be Rebecca Caine and Colm Wilkinson, as they were the original Canadian cast. It was a big deal to have the show with a semi-permanent Canadian home and the promotional video got a surprising amount of airplay on MuchMusic. But posting that video would have been too easy. 

So instead of the two promotional videos you've likely seen many times featuring Sarah Brightman or Rebecca Caine, linked below instead, Antonio Banderas with Sarah Brightman at one of the anniversary shows. Antonio Banderas... Yeah... is it me or did it just get super hot in here? 


Phantom of the Opera - Sarah Brightman and Antonio Banderas