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christinegrrl · 2 years

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Some thoughts on Phantom 10/8

I was lucky enough to see Phantom on Broadway this past Saturday and wanted to record a few thoughts!

Cast: Paul A Schaefer as the Phantom, Emilie Kouatchou as Christine, John Riddle as Raoul, Raquel Suarez Groen as Carlotta, Carlton Moe as Piangi, Erica Wong as Meg, Nehal Joshi as Andre, Craig Bennett as Firmin, Maree Johnson as Mme Giry

The Overture really Hits Different when it may be your last time hearing it live with a full orchestra

Raquel’s Carlotta is just. So good. She lives the role, every detail is carefully thought through and executed. Obsessed

Erica Wong is an adorable Meg. I was bummed not to see Sara Esty again because I adore her Meg, but Erica was so cute and also very thoughtful with her acting. The Megstine hug at the beginning of Angel of Music was !!!!!!!!

Emilie. My love. I have been wanting to see her live for almost a year and she completely lived up to the hype, just incredible. Her Think of Me cadenza was so beautiful, the notes were hit wonderfully and her smile just lit up the stage, it genuinely brought me to tears, which I was not expecting.

John is always doing The Most to be kind and supportive, a genuine friend to Christine. You can tell that he and Emilie are friends off stage, they have wonderful chemistry and you’re really rooting for these crazy kids (yes, even us E/C and Raoul/Giry shippers). Their Little Lotte is sweet, and I have it on good authority that his delivery has become a bit more horny since Jordan Donica’s Raoul which. good. We love to see it

Emilie full on smiles during the Mirror, she is very happy to see him

Much has been said about Paul’s Phantom. Or, well, little has been said because people seem to think little of him. He has a really lovely voice, pretty classical musical theater (as opposed to Ben who’s voice veers a little on the rock side for my taste). His Act 1 was not fantastic. The title song was fine, an inkling of Hand(TM) at the beginning of Christine’s cadenza, an okay hat toss, and then. unfortunately. a very meh cape twirl followed by him folding the cape. The disappointment in our box was palpable. He definitely is a more conventional phantom, Doing the Blocking, and there were moments in Music of the Night where I was getting into it, and then he would like. walk. and it was just the most pedestrian walk you’ve ever seen. and it didn’t work. He also seemed to not know what to do with his arms when he wasn’t doing the blocking which. you could argue is on-brand for Erik but I don’t think it was a Choice. Emilie’s O-faces during MOTN were excellent though, she definitely brought the energy level up, and he quite tenderly tucked her under the cape. STYDI was fine, the plorp was a bit disappointing but he slithered on the floor quite well so we’ll call it a break even

Notes with this cast is great! Nehal, the new Andre, has such an anxious energy about him and I relate on a deeply personal level. Raquel crushed it as always, and Carlton is so great at the little Piangi moments he gets. John is such an attentive actor, he’s always in character even when he’s not the focus, I love watching him in the background of scenes because he clearly loves this role so much! The end of Prima Donna also brought me to tears because it’s just. so good with this cast.

Nothing much for Il Muto except John smiles when Emilie is doing the little pillow toss/plump. I hate them I love them. Also Raquel is still wonderful. They’ve been really playing up the “Maestro bring the ballet forward”/Andre tutuphobia and it hits every time, we really need some levity at this point in Act 1 and Nehal’s yelps were very endearing and hysterical. Shout out to the ballerina who notices the Phantom shadow and then turns around to hit her pose with a forced smile, she brings down the house, give her a raise

AIAOY is just. so cute. John and Emilie are so great together, it’s a very tender rendition, they smile, they giggle, they look like they’re having fun. The first kiss is tender and timid and then Emilie goes for it for the second one and you just want to say “get it girl.” AIAOY reprise gave us some good whimpers, nothing too special but nothing bad either. The gasp at the angel is always a highlight for me

Erica has a leopard print-like Meg Masquerade costume (also like an ombre-ish pink/purple I think?) and it’s important for the world to know this

John Riddle ships Raoul/Giry more than I do, the sexual tension during Mme Giry’s Tale is palpable, and it’s important for the world to know this

Emilie’s “Twisted every way” was heartbreaking, her acting is always phenomenal but your heart aches for her in that moment omg. I cannot sing her praises enough, run to see her if you haven’t yet. Her “Wishing” felt so meaningful given [gestures vaguely around] and if I hadn’t been so dehydrated by that point in the show I would have cried. Really fantastic

The trio for “Wandering Child” was so good, their voices blended really well and it was goosebump-inducing in the best way

Okay. PONR. Paul definitely had a Red Bull or something during intermission because there was energy!! We had some Hands. We had a body shudder when Christine went up behind him. He put his hands on his stomach! His proposal was begging her omg. I was here for it

Emilie was also great. I do enjoy the new blocking and I think she played it really well, showing the evolution of Christine’s realization and feelings over the course of a short time. She really lingers when putting her hand over his mask to show that she Knows, and her realization is one of anger (justifiably). She shoves him close to her at the end, and it’s just. so good.

Final Lair time! (this is. so long omg). Paul was very hunched over and skeleton man during the boat ride, good stuff! It felt like he aged 10+ years since the unmasking. He had some interesting deliveries, his tone shifted A Lot throughout the scene which I really enjoyed, very sarcastic when Raoul showed up versus very monotonous post-kiss. When Emilie went to hug him post-”why make her lie to you to save me,” he almost violently flinched away? I can’t describe it but it was like he couldn’t stand for her to touch him. He also waited a good amount of time post-kiss to release Raoul, good build up in tension. A nice “I love you” post-ring return, and he full on got down on the floor to touch his face to the veil for a veil sniff, which we have to love. Overall just much more engaging and emotive than Act 1, I really enjoyed his performance here

Emilie was also super fantastic, her “tears of hate” was so so so angry, if someone sang like that at me I would simply melt into the ground. Her going for the hug (that’s how I choose to interpret that part anyways) was also interesting, desperate but you could still tell she was pissed. I was angled away from her for most of the scene unfortunately so I couldn’t see all of her acting, but vocally wonderful

John has so much swagger in his totally unbuttoned shirt like sir this is not the time (but also good for him). He also continues to commit to looking/sounding like he’s full on dying in the noose, I really enjoy a more active Raoul in this scene as opposed to Raouls who are just. there. He’s just wonderful

Overall, a lovely time! I was expecting very little from Paul and he was better than these very low expectations, especially in the second act. I also really don’t care for Ben’s interpretation so I was happy to see something new. Emilie was just incredible, lovely singing and great acting, one of my favorite Christines for sure. The rest of the cast was also great, the energy was fantastic, especially considering it was a matinee

Other things: people were standing. They paid like $40(?) to stand for 2.5 hours omg. I’m not over it. Packed house, standing room tickets. The audience was also so into the show. We do not want it to leave Broadway </3

#far too many words for my taste #this is. a lot #but I wanted a record of it because who knows if I'll see it again before it closes #and it was a great show overall #poto #poto broadway #paul a schaefer #emilie kouatchou #john riddle #I don't talk enough about how much I adore Emilie's Christine #I'm obsessed. she's so good. so nuanced and thoughtful. obsessed

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noodles-and-tea · 2 months

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A scene from this fic by @katherynefromphilly !!

#I have been reading it over the last few days and it’s just been an absolute delight #I love the overall plot and how well it connects to the original show #and I can literally just see the whole thing in my brain the writing is loVELY!!#and the characters are so wonderful and it’s just a great time :)))#my art #bbc merlin #merlin #arthur pendragon #merlin emrys #merthur

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mikimeiko · 7 months

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The Fall of the House of Usher | Miniseries (2023), Mike Flanagan

#the fall of the house of usher #tfothou #tfothouedit #tw flashing #i am very sad and a little upset because #some mike flanagan shows have an atmosphere and a tone and a general vibe that i find very compelling #that makes for an intense and pleasurable viewing experience even when the story or the pacing are uneven #and ep2 felt so much like that and i was so in - but then it wasn't there anymore and i kept waiting for it to come back #the cast was great and the cinematography mostly on point but... overall very meh #tv shows i watched in 2023 #i made this #i just want a tag for the things i personally put out into the world

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n4rval · 3 months

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your gaster looks very friendly. i would pat him on the head but im too short

i know what you want anon dnw i got u

#artwork #inbox #wd gaster #gaster #undertale #deltarune #just in case i disappear. merry valemtines #oohh bastard gaster this evil gaster that / this silly grandpa:#hes a little creepy. a little spooky. more than a little crazy. but overall goofy and friendly yes #just a guy who wants a family so bad #do you care him #would you brush this egg #and polish his bald head until it reflects like a mirror #pat him pinch his cheeks squish him love him #show him hes deserving of all things great and wonderful and its never too late

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thestarswhim · 7 months

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So this tweet made a real good point and got me thinking about this scene:

As mentioned in their tweet, "you don't 'beg for mercy' for a job," and here he sounds so scared and desperate, like he's had to do this A LOT before with the directors and it's so... sad.

(more under the cut)

Before he finds out the truth about Eden, he believed they saved him from his former life and gave him new opportunities to continue his dreams, but do you think having to needlessly beg to keep your position as literally being the face of Eden out of fear you'll be replaced and thrown right back out to your old life is a so called dream come true?

Eden even made a trailer for a movie about his life to fame, showing how everyone was rejecting him as a person, which they definitely made it more simplified like I KNOW he was getting way worse treatment than what was shown.

My main point is that despite believing in Eden's motives (before knowing the truth), he still wasn't truly happy deep down. He was STILL getting rejected and slandered by society, and he knew that deep down, so it's not surprising how the possibility of him losing his job made him have a whole breakdown and do the things he did to try and cope.

He quite literally has no one to lean to and hasn't had anyone since showing up to Eden besides the directors (because he probably believed they were treating him fairly and with respect), but... yeah.

He wanted to make a difference, to give hope to hybrids, and he thought he was doing just that. Despite the way the directors and everyone thought of him, despite how alone he felt, he still thought he was achieving his dreams and sharing that onto others

and yet... he was being used this entire time. None of it was true, all the hard work and the things he went through was for nothing.

Everything that Eden has done, and he was the face of it all... it's just devastating.

#another one from my twitter #I've only been a fan of rayman overall for two weeks and now I'm sobbing over him this is a new record #shout out to that one analysis from raygirlramblings #it was because of your post that cemented my love for this character and almost had me cry and get too emotional at a library /pos /lh #captain laserhawk #rayman #cl rayman #cl ramon #captain laserhawk rayman #captain laserhawk ramon #analysis #OH AND ALSO I was watching the show with my sibling who then mentioned to me how rayman had probably been replaced before and #he's just one of the copies and MAN #I NEED ANSWERS GRAHHHHH #anywho if you're still reading this... thank you 🥺💖 and I hope you have a great day!

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sunforgrace · 7 months

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you guys please understand they were going to say “CASTIEL’S PERSONAL HEAVEN” and paper the walls like a teen girls room with pictures of dean pictures of dean’s face PLASTERED onto the bodies of beefcakes all while cheek to cheek blares out. as brought to you by fucking metatron

#cutting an I love you because your actor who’s been kinning this guy for years thinks is out of character:#cutting part of me always believed you’d come back because same actor thinks that’s too gay:#cutting castiel’s personal half naked dean winchester heaven because tptb go hey maybe this is too gay and homophobic. as a bit:#I understand why we’re picking handprint. but I will put forth the argument that this is the bait rounds and that overall #the handprint is less bait and more so the weird boy besties behavior #listen you know I LOVE the handprint. but in terms of genuine great american queerbait #and I mean they put the handprint back on during the love confession at this point that one’s just textual we’re talkin BAIT #closest to bait here I’d argue is the fact they had anna palm it while having sex with dean #like actively pausing the sex scene to just show anna gripping it and dean reacting #but again that’s more. weird. than bait I’d say. Simply because that transcends bait into what the fuck are you guys doing #but at this point cas was hot off the scene by season 9 they KNEW what they were doing and they were DOING it maliciously in a POST YOURE #NOT CRAZY TWEET WORLD

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alyona11 · 2 months

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Tbh rewatching the OBC Hadestown cast bootleg I’d say that no one quite hit that awesome Hades/Persephone dynamic in the show as Amber Gray and Patrick Page. They are so 👌

And with them the show works in its fullest.

#I could write a big post about how their characterisations of these characters work remarkably well for the narrative #hadestown #also now you can’t @ me for not seeing it live #that’s not to say I other characterisations are bad or anything! I watched boots and we show and they were great #but I also got to see London proshot with OBC and once again appreciate the og take on the character in good quality #so like I do think other casts work as well but it seems to me that where Orphedice work 100% with literally any pair of actors you see #hadesphone gives from 85 to 100% of overall narrative experience #maybe I’ll explain what I mean later if you’re interested

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greenfiend · 20 days

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Eyewitness Lake House vs. Stranger Things Lake House

Credit to @lazylama9 for pointing this out!

#loverslakegate #there were lovers at that lake…#another eyewitness parallel maybe?#btw if you haven’t seen eyewitness yet GO WATCH #overall a great show 👍🏼#lovers lake #eyewitness #byler #stranger things #stranger things 5

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spywhitney · 29 days

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How I sleep knowing I'll never trust anyone that hates Sydney but worships Richie:

#the bear #the bear fx #sydney adamu #carmen berzatto #richie jerimovich #jk kind of #well on days I don't see or think about Sydney haters #under every damn comment section in this fandom is someone saying Sydney didn't take accountability #like I know we all have our biases but yall are really shameless about it #Sydney scored A LOT of Ws for The Beef AND The Bear #but one time she makes a mistake and justifiably walks away from a toxic work environment she's the devil #Richie worked at The Beef for years and Sydney did more for it in what less than four months than he did #on top of being a prick to Sydney in particular because she was changing things he wanted to keep the same #to the detriment of the restaurant but also everyone #and overall being unpleasant to Carmy #Nat and anyone that didn't find him funny or interesting or like his bs #pre-Forks Richie reminds me of those types of people that only listen to people that like them #and I love that because it's realistic to some ppl #I do like Richie #it just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth knowing there are people that hate Sydney #ignore her accomplishments only to raise up Richie #in the same breath when the actual show is showing you what's up #like you'd think there were different versions of the show with how these two are perceived #I get this weird need to defend Sydney when people shit on her because I wonder how often said people treat the Sydneys of the world #but that aside #In Fishes Richie mentions something about wasting potential at the beef #In Ceres it's implied he called the popo on the dealers after Sydney deescalated a situation Richie previously dealt with #in an unorthodox manner #he recognised he needed to change but still was an arsehole to the one person who was facilitating that change effectively Sydney #this show is great but people denying what they're seeing on their own screens is crazy

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localguy2 · 1 year

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Kai and Zane both literally have the same exact jackets

Absolutely in love with this because it meant at some point that:

A - one of them decided to get the same jacket for the other not not knowing what the other's sense of fashion is, so choosing their own jacket but a different color

B - it was a deliberate choice on their end by matching jackets

And the 2nd option is especially funny when you consider in how they're both opposites of each other, but are also very much alike

Opposites as in:

Kai, a hot head full of confidence who usually jumps into danger

Zane, a calm and collected person who usually chooses to analyse and plan before attacking

They are both literally opposite in elements, Fire and Ice

But they're also very much alike in the sense that they value their family a lot, to the point of putting themselves in mortal danger just to protect them, and if there's a threat to said family they are not stopping until its dealt with

#ninjago #zane julien #kai smith #These 2 have somethin going on in the background #It was Kai who gave the speech at Zane's statue #And it was Kai out of all people that Lloyd mentioned to Zane when he was the ice emperor #Thier dynamic in the show is also really fun overall #Especially in master of the mountain with Chancellor Kai and advisor Zane #Just overall 2 really great characters that work together really well when they're the only ones on screen #All I can hope for is the writers expand on these 2 and their shared traits more #Because there's a lot of potential for these 2 #Especially in the *family protecting* department

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destinationtoast · 6 months

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Well, it's been a hell of a couple of weeks, and one of many things that happened is that I ended up coming home from Urgent Care looking rather like fruit being packed up for long distance shipping.

I got pretty scraped up when I fell while hiking nearly a month ago. Then I got significantly better... and then I got a whole lot worse.

If you would like to avoid some truly disgusting and painful wounds, you should know that you are likely to develop an allergy to Neosporin if you use it for multiple weeks (and probably the same goes for other brands of over-the-counter antibiotic ointments, I'm guessing).

#in better news #my parents and I successfully moved my grandmother to a retirement home #where she's been on the waiting list for over a year #there's lots left to do still but great progress #and it was hard but went well #and i got my parents each to sign up for some big health treatments they need but have been avoiding thinking about #and i tested positive for covid but it turned out to be a rare false positive #(though that cost us some time with the move while i isolated until i got PCR results)#so yeah overall a hell of a week and a half #also my parents and i rewatched S1 of Ted Lasso #and they were like #'you sure know a lot about this show'#XD #toasty life #contact dermatitis #neosporin allergy #i might be a fruit well-packaged for shipping #op #50

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lollytea · 3 months

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I do love the netflix avatar in my own way because it provides me with enrichment in the same way brain puzzles do for chimps. Like something is WRONG here and it's your very special job to figure out why! And then you will get juice reward!!

#its been making me think about the cartoon a lot lately for the sake of comparing and contrasting #so thats great #it was a very good cartoon #i do actually think that its stupid to complain about how its objectively bad when an adaption makes changes to the original #because that SHOULD be the point of an adaption. to try things in a new way and somehow improve on the story #but i think its funny how this show is constantly like ''we're gonna take a DIFFERENT route with this character''#and then the DIFFERENT ROUTE leads to them driving the car off a cliff #we will not get to our destination this way bestie #out of all the changes theyve made to the original i think the most misguided and overall dogshit is how theyre portraying Azula #it annoying when people say ''theyre ACTUALLY writing her as a victim of her father's abuse this this''#''shes ACTUALLY sympathetic this time''#girl i hate it here #netflix show is a COWARD for showing Azula this way in season 1 #not that its not somewhat in character. if ozai started playing mindgames with her she probably would start spiraling like this #the problem is that we shouldnt be SEEING IT!!#avatar is regarded as Baby's First Media Analysis for a lot of people #and boy oh boy there was a lot of analytic meat to Azula's character #but the netflix version? this is a skeleton!! bones!!!#like obviously if you were watching the cartoon as an adult it would be immediately apparent #that this 14 yo girl acting not only like a grown woman but a calm calculated genocidal tyrant is very concerning #and it makes her sympathetic by defualt on the grounds of being a child #but a kid isnt going to realize that!! Azula is supposed to be polarizing!!#youre meant to buy into the narrative that everything is easy for her. that no effort troubles her mind #her unflappable nature is meant to unsettle you. intimidate you. she has no weaknesses shes unstoppable and shes pure evil #as a kid who is still learning how to think deeply about things thats how youre to perceive her #and then. AND THEN!! then the show pulls the rug out from under you and makes you question everything #Azula's gradually unraveling sanity in book 3 is jarring and unnatural and it forces you to challenge your own opinion of her #you become uncomfortably aware that shes a victim too. after all this time youve spent hating her #just like zuko. just like the fire family child that you had already come to realize was ''actually good''#after that first watch its hard to decide how you feel about her. as a kid anyway. but its sad. its all so very sad

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milo-the-professional-yapper · 4 months

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Can I also say that I love that Hazbin didn’t do this whole Hell good Heaven bad thing other shows do?

Both places have fucked up people

But also really GOOD people!

Heaven ISNT a bad place, and most of the angels aren’t bad either! You’ve got Adam/Lute and the exorcists of course (and Sera is still on the fence for me- she could be better) but then you have angels like Emily and all of the angels who didn’t know about the exterminations. I really cannot wait to see more of heaven in season 2- I would love if they expanded on them, especially since we now know sinners CAN be redeemed!

#hazbin hotel spoilers #Hazbin hotel #vivziepop #Hazbin hotel finale #genuinely this show is great #it has its flaws like every other show #but overall it’s such a fun time #and the story is so INTERESTING!!

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izuku · 4 months

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hot take but the movie pjo casino scene was way better than the one in the show

#honestly i feel....disappointed overall #reminds me of watching kenobi-i want to like it a lot more than i do #which is a bummer #i'll keep watching cuz maybe it'll improve and the writing will get better #ireally hope it does!#the actors are so good and doing so great even with the subpar scripts!#text #izuku.post #pjo show crit

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yardsards · 2 years

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a canonically queer (with a musically-inclined love interest) pointy-eared magic user who has trust issues (influenced partially by their sister (whose name begins with L) who was their best and only friend as a young child) but acts aloof and cocky to hide it, begins begrudgingly giving magic lessons to a heavily neurodivergent-coded human child (who has a special interest in a certain book series and models their life goals around the protagonist of said series) and accidentally grows attached to and trusts that human child wholeheartedly

am i talking about them: