Nightmare Alley

Well it certainly has been a looooong time since my last note. It's been crazy busy but with all amazing things.

First....Nightmare Alley at The Geffen Playhouse. This is one heck of a show. We only had three weeks to create a brand new musical and I gotta tell ya...now I know why we usually do it in 6-8 weeks.

CLICK ME

It was a ton of work in a short amount of time and I think all of wished that we had more of it. That said, I'm very proud of what we were able to create in that time and as we settle in the show becomes more and more grounded.

The cast is just to die for and some of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. And then there is the Geffen and it's staff. It all comes from the top and that's Gil Cates...truly the salt of the earth and I am so grateful to know and have been directed by him. The entire creative staff...everyone.

Aside from the tremendous emotional journey that my character goes through and the sheer exhaustion I feel after each show, I so look forward to getting right back there the next day. It's a remarkable place.

So come on down and give the show a go.

Ramin Karimloo And Sierra Boggess Talk LOVE NEVER DIES

I'm happy to post this link and share it with my readers. It's a wonderful interview with Ramin and Sierra talking about the story and the character changes in Love Never Dies.

I thought it fit well with this blog since I've been dissecting the characters one by one to see what makes them tick in the sequel. It is, as they state too, a psychological in-depth story that continues their lives from the original version examining the repercussions and consequences of their former choices.

Kudos to both of them for their wonderful portrayals, as well as for Joseph Millson and the other stars of the show.

Ramin Karimloo And Sierra Boggess Talk LOVE NEVER DIES 2010/04/19

Sincerely,
The Phantom's Student

Madame Giry in LND

"Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”

The Bible

Madame Giry in Love Never Dies still dresses in a black gown and wears her black hair in the same tightly coiled bun on top of her head. For this dissection, we will stay focused upon Madame Giry as portrayed in Webber's original stage version and in Love Never Dies. To diverge to Leroux or even to the explanations in the movie, will mix the pot far too much. However, I think people will pot mix anyway to draw conclusions or find their own interpretations.

What do we know about Madame Giry from the original Webber version of Phantom of the Opera? Not a whole lot! Where did she come from? Don’t know. Who is the father of Meg? Don’t know. Why does she like to pound a cane on stage? Don’t know. Was she once a proficient ballet performer herself? Don’t know. Was she ever married? Don’t know. Let’s face it, we have very little background in Webber’s version. If you need to know more, go talk to Leroux or pen your own conclusions.

What do we know from the original?  She cared for Christine as a daughter after her father's death.  She delivers the Phantom’s notes to everyone. She warns everybody to keep their hands at the level of their eyes.  She is the stern ballet mistress to a bunch of giddy little girls. She knows the Phantom tutors Christine and pushes her into the spotlight.  She has a daughter she pushes to be a proficient ballet dancer as well.

What does she think of the Phantom? She’s proud of who he is and declares his good points - he is a genius, architect, designer, composer, and magician…a genius (gets that in there twice so we know how smart he is!). She warns others of his bad points and tendency to strangle. She’s aware the Phantom sees all, knows all, and is capable of dastardly things! She hid him as a child from the cruelties of the world, and over the course of time became a mother figure of sorts to the disfigured lad who grew into manhood underneath the Opera House. She has done his bidding and faithfully served him without complaint.

We know from the story of Love Never Dies that she continued  to care for him. Like a loving parent, she has gone out of her way to see that he succeeds in his new life, even at the expense of her daughter. (Playing favorites are we?) She hid him again from the world, even after all the dastardly things he had done to Christine and Raoul, along with bringing down the chandelier. The Phantom never had the chance to reap any consequences for his behavior, because Madame Giry rescued him…again.

Ten years later, in a fit of frustration over what her pseudo son has become, she lets him have it! He gets a verbal lashing and recap of all her sacrifice on his behalf and tells him he is ungrateful man who can’t get his act together. (Gee, sounds to me like a mother and son discussion during turbulent teenage years.)

No use rehashing all the words spoken in that scene of the show. The woman has poured her life out for one man since he was a boy. Let’s face it, she’s a tad bit frustrated to say the least and probably menopausal too at her age – a lethal combination.

There is a lot going on inside that tightly wound bun upon Madame Giry’s head. It appears the coil has finally sprung. She’s disappointed in the Phantom. She’s bitter because she gave her life and received nothing in return. She’s upset because her daughter wants his approval but never receives it. She aging, and now everything she had worked for will be given to his own son – who will care for her and Meg now? There goes her retirement years!

If we look at Madame Giry a bit closer, you might see that deep down inside she is reacting like a parent with a terribly disappointing child. She is a woman filled with bitterness, because all the love, care, and concern she has poured into the Phantom has not reaped the outcome she hoped.

The question came to mind as I wrote in my original post about Madame Giry (follow link here) she could be partially to blame for the Phantom’s immature development. After all, she hid him from the cruelties of the world and rescued him from reaping consequences in his life more than one time. Do you think she was a good mother to Meg? Chew on that one.

Everyone has a breaking point in life where hurts pile up, disappointments bury us, and bitterness results. Madame Giry has played her own part in this play of characters; and though she blames the Phantom for most of her woes, she is a tad bit guilty for the outcome. Like any psychological playground, there is a wealth of possibilities here to explain her actions in Love Never Dies.

What do you think about Madame Giry now? Is she just an old biddy with a bad attitude, another character stuck in a bad plot, or a woman who feels unappreciated, disappointed, and resentful? If you know anything about personality traits, people who are chronic “rescuers” often end up with those feelings, because they are spent, frustrated, and empty inside.  It's the perfect breeding ground for bitterness.

As usual, I’ve poked, now go think it over and come up with your own interpretation of the tightly wound bun in a black taffeta dress. Comments are welcome!

As always, I am your obedient servant too!

The Phantom's Student

Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny in LND

"Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time.

It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable."

Sydney Smith

Introduction

This post will be my third in the line of characters to dissect in Love Never Dies. As I continue this journey, I just want to reiterated I’m not here to justify Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tinkering of the characters. If you have read my former posts regarding the original characters in the Phantom of the Opera, you know that I love to dissect their lives and look into what makes them tick as human beings. What motivations drive them to behave as they do? What lessons, if any, can we learn from their behavior or perhaps relate to in our own lives?

Raoul, in Love Never Dies, has changed. Ten years has turned him into a sour apple most of you don’t wish to taste. You have taken the first bite, hated the result, and puckered in disgust. Read on. I am merely here to strip off his mask and examine the pain underneath. You may relate – you may not. Whatever you see inside Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, just remember by his example, sometimes life turns sour and so do we.

Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny

As I did with Meg, let’s take a step back and look at Raoul. The same holds true that he is a bit different from Leroux to Webber, but his personality is one we are acquainted with or so we think. What do we know about him? Well, he’s a mixture of two stories. He met Christine as a young boy, rescued her scarf that ended up in the sea, went off to the Navy, and came back a man who had traveled the world. He dared to cross the societal lines and pursue a girl beneath his status breaking away from tradition and family to marry.

Webber, however, doesn’t go into such depth in his background in the original, but you get the picture. He is the new patron of the Opera House, who sees his childhood sweetheart. The slightly arrogant aristocrat is filled with fanciful romantic intentions, but soon discovers he has a dark rival for Christine's affections. You watch Raoul take a journey from the romantic rooftop under the stars to the bowels of the earth where a noose wraps around his neck. His life hangs in the balance, but he is set free and leaves somewhat changed by the end of the show. He and Christine float off in the gondola and marry; but in this version, it’s after Christine has a moonless night with the Phantom first that leaves her with a son.

It’s now 10 years later. He’s no longer a young man filled with whimsical romantic ideas. Raoul has grown older and changed. He’s irritable, short-tempered, has a gambling habit, and his mistress is alcohol. What happened to Raoul? He was suppose to live happily ever after when he got the girl....right?

Raoul is a man struggling with the past. He thought his revival was dead, but unfortunately, the Phantom is still haunting him and his wife, as he prophetically spoke in the original play. Why? Because the music is still playing folks! It's the one thing that reminds Raoul of the Phantom. Music is an integral part of what makes Christine. She wants to sing music – Raoul hates her music and says it “hurts his head.” (Still singing songs in your head, is he?) Christine wishes to sing – he wishes to clip her wings. He want's to squash what she loves. Why? Well, the answer is obvious - because it reminds them both of him.

Raoul is married to Christine, but he’s no fool. He’s lived for the past 10 years with the realization he cannot give her everything she needs. He only owns half her heart, and no doubt his bruised male ego tells him he’s only half a man. Christine lives with him, but raises a son that is not theirs. It’s a sad affair of two people together in a half-hearted marriage. Christine finds solace for her emptiness in her son. Raoul on the other hand finds solace by turning to other things – the thrill of gambling and the bottle of alcohol that numbs the pain.

When things couldn't be worse, he's lured to Coney Island and discovers the Phantom is still alive. Once again, he faces his enemy for the affections of his wife. Drunk and reflecting, he wonders why she loves him when all he’s given her is sorrow in his attempt to kill the memories of the past. He admits that a different kind of ugliness resides with him – not the outward like the Phantom possesses but the inward. He talks of wearing his own mask – his outward handsome exterior that hides the shame and despair of his own heart. He faces his own demons in a drunken stupor.

Of course, there is more than one demon in Raoul's life, and he arrives to tempt Raoul at his weakest point. They make a bet – two men making a wager to win the heart of one woman. So in a last ditch effort to keep his wife, Raoul swears repentance of his old ways, if she’ll just leave and not sing. One must ask though, were his motivations pure or was he truly sorry for how he treated Christine?

We all know lady luck wasn’t with him on that bet. Christine sings, and he loses everything. He pens a departing letter filled with regrets for being unable to give her what she really needed and leaves her to the Angel of Music to give her what he could not. He is sorrowful, but it's too late. They are no longer the same people. Time, circumstances, and choices have changed them both, and they have drifted apart.

When you take the time to look at each of the characters in LND, you’ll see the theme of regret played in all of them in one degree or the other – the Phantom, Christine, Meg, Madame Giry, and Raoul. I heard it stated long before its release, that LND is a story of regret and truly that theme is prominent.

In conclusion, what can we take away from examining Raoul's journey? Do you relate to Raoul’s pain or not? Do you still see him as just one sour apple of a character? Have you ever drifted apart from a spouse? Have you ever made a choice you regretted? Have you ever looked back on your life and had regrets for how it turned out? Was there a time you sought solace elsewhere in someone or something to kill the pain inside? I think the majority of humanity has dealt with regret. It's how we process it that determines whether we turn into that sour apple or sweet as apple pie.

Raoul is merely human. To compensate for his brokenness, he portrays a rough exterior to mask the pain of a man who couldn't be everything to the woman he loved.

Sincerely,

The Phantom’s Student

NOTE: Bravo, by the way, to Joseph Millson, who played the part of Raoul de Chagny in Love Never Dies. He took a controversial role and did a brilliant job portraying the pain of one man who lost everything, giving the audience the capacity to feel sympathy for him rather than loathing. Also, I find it quite interesting if you read about Gaston Leroux's life, that he had a gambling problem and a mistress. The guy was quite colorful in his own life, who squandered and drank away his own inheritance. The similarities are a bit stark, to say the least.

Meg Giry in LND

"The pursuit of approval usually ends in disaster."
(Chris Morris)

Meg Giry, is the little ballerina from the Opera Populaire. We remember her as the one who held the mask of the Phantom when the curtain came down at the end of the original production. If you’ve read my posts about Meg beforehand, you already know that Leroux and Webber portray her differently.

Since we’re looking at Meg from Love Never Dies, let’s focus on this version and see what’s happened the past 10 years to so drastically change this woman. In order to understand the current Meg, we need to take another quick look at the original Meg.

What do we know about her as a person? Well, the most obvious is that she is the daughter of Madame Giry. She is in the ballet corps of the Opera Populaire; and in Webber’s version, her mother is the ballet mistress, who by all accounts is a bit rigid and stern. Her mother demands to know, “Meg Giry. Are you a dancer? Then come and practice.” Little Meg always does what mother says. Perhaps it’s that black cane she keeps pounding on the floor.

There is, however, one glaring gap in Meg’s life that is never revealed in Webber's version and that is one of a father figure. We are given no indications who her father is, whether he’s still alive or dead. In fact, we don’t even know if Meg is a legitimate child born in wedlock either – an interesting thought to consider, is it not?

From the point of her holding the mask at the end of the original Phantom of the Opera, 10 long years have passed. She has continued to do as her mother asked. Meg has followed the Phantom to New York, and for 10 years she has supported him along side her mother. Why? Is it because her mother required it of her? She states in Love Never Dies that she “did as mother said.” Does her motivation go beyond that though?

In my original post about Meg, I call her the woman of possibilities. Even then, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that this man who her mother served faithfully for years hadn’t produced in Meg some type of deep emotion. What kind of emotions are they though - romantic in nature or fatherly in nature?

In Love Never Dies, Meg does everything to get noticed by the Phantom. She has an insatiable desire to please him. She wants to hear the words that were spoken to Christine, “he is well pleased.” She wants to shine only for him – she wishes to sing only for him – and she wants him to know – know what? That she loves him? She even goes to the extent of giving herself in sexual favors in order to advance the Phantom’s career on Coney Island. (See footnote below.) She desperately wants his favor, but he never sees her sacrifice because he’s too busy with his own obsession, while Meg is obsessing over him.

When I look at Meg in the version of Love Never Dies, I see a woman who is desperate for approval. She’s been raised by a stern mother, who no doubt pressured her into being the best. Perhaps she never received enough approval from Madame Giry in her early years. Even now in Love Never Dies, she’s always asking her mother “how was I?” after a performance. She’s a person with a constant need for affirmation, and it’s that flaw in her personality that creates the Meg in Love Never Dies.

So what pushes poor Meg over the edge anyway? The number Bathing Beauty is the place of no return for Meg. Her unveiling of naked flesh is an outward act of an inward cry. She is exposing herself to such an extent that she thinks the Phantom will finally see her. It's her sly way, perhaps, of upstaging Christine before her aria to show the Phantom she was somehow better. In any case, Meg takes extreme measures to make a point.

What happens, however, is the sad reality that the Phantom wasn’t there to see her desperate attempt for approval. Instead, he’s with Christine and that puts her over the edge. No longer is the desire for approval the motivation, it’s jealousy and despair that shoves Meg down the road to the pier with Gustav and gun in hand.

At the end, we see a Meg lose all control when she’s reminded by the Phantom that not everyone can be like Christine. The trigger is pulled, she screams she didn’t mean to do it, and her competition dies in the arms of the man she loves. During the ending scene, Meg gathers Christine up in her arms and holds her as the repentant little girl, no doubt looking for forgiveness because all she really wanted was just to be seen.

Do you still think she’s just a slut in the story or do you perhaps have an ounce of sympathy for her now? I will ask this question often as you read more posts ahead: Do people change in 10 years because of life circumstances and events? The answer, of course, is yes.

As you consider how much Meg Giry has changed from the Phantom of the Opera, perhaps you’ll see all those tendencies were really buried underneath all along. It was just a matter of circumstances, pressures, and her own desires for acceptance and approval that drove her over the edge of no return.

We all want approval from those we love – whether it’s from a parent, friend, boyfriend, or spouse. She’s like anybody else really crying on the inside – please see me and tell me you care! In reality, her cry isn't much different than the Phantom's in Leroux, "All I ever wanted was to be loved for myself."

Sincerely,
The Phantom’s Student

FOOTNOTE: I’ve read negative comments regarding Meg turning sexual favors in this version, but in reality during the late 19th century, especially in the world of Paris Opera, those that performed often did “service” patrons. The morals of the day were quite different. Most female performers were considered morally loose and akin to prostitutes. If we are to portray the actuality of the day, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that Meg was aware of that practice back in Paris and hence used it in her new role on Coney Island to further along the Phantom’s success. Whether it's right or wrong or you like it or not, it was merely a fact of life.

The Phantom in LND

“Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering..."

Preface

Let me start this post with a statement. I’m not here to debate the rights or wrongs of the story or to discuss how it could have been written differently. More than anyone, I’m quite aware of the intense opinions in the Phantom community regarding Love Never Dies. My purpose here is to reflect on the story, offer up thoughts, and give you a ride on the ferris wheel to enhance the view. Take from my articles whatever you wish, learn lessons if there are any, and find your own interpretation. If anything, I hope you'll enjoy the ride ahead free of charge.

The Phantom in Love Never Dies

The Phantom of the Opera is now Mr. Y. He’s a mystery to the normal crowd. No longer the Opera Ghost, but a Myster-Y, who no one has seen according to the reporters that greet the de Chagny’s at the dock. So who is this man? Well, to look at the present Mr. Y, one must refer back to the Phantom who haunted the Opera Populaire.

I find it very interesting how easily fans accept the Phantom in the first version as a psychopathic murderer who kills without thought, obsesses over a woman, kidnaps her, keeps her in bondage, and blackmails her by threatening to kill Raoul. We easily forgave his transgressions in that version, didn't we? We cheered when Christine showed him the ounce of compassion he so desperately needed and appeared redeemed by love or so we thought. If you haven’t read my earlier posts about Erik (His Humanity), Opera Ghost (His Persona), and Phantom (The Spectral Shade), I encourage you to do so in order to remind yourself of the original man behind the mask as you compare the new one now living in New York.

Ten years have past. As most of you realize by now, the story in Webber’s musical continued through the song Beneath the Moonless Sky. Christine returns, finds the Phantom, and is sorrowful over her choice. As some of you cringe over the storyline and as some of you have accepted, Christine and the Phantom finally cross that "Point of No Return" they so passionately sung the day before laced with desire and seduction. It was definitely a moment of no "thought of right or wrong," as Christine spoke before, and a child is conceived. As the song further reveals, the Phantom leaves the next morning ashamed of what he has done (or is, as one of the recent comments interprets below) before Christine awakens to swear her love and desire to remain with him.

He runs away to New York, returns to his roots doing freak shows. Finally he builds a life at Coney Island, and we see him 10 years later bemoaning his useless existence without Christine. He’s depressed, wishes to die, and has no reason to live. He’s made a new likeness of Christine to replace the one in the lair – the obsession continues. Unable to let go of the past, he’s stuck in ancient history but refuses to admit he’s got a problem. He’s blind to the pain of those around him, self-centered, angry, and a brooding man hell-bent on hearing Christine sing one more time.

The great manipulator is at work again and woos Christine to New York by offering an enormous amount of money to get what he latter terms “as mine.” The master hasn’t changed much. He’s still short-tempered and insanely driven over his music that now frustrates him because Christine isn’t there to sing his creations. His hands still have the tendency to wrap around the throats of others and threaten strangulation throughout the story. Old habits are hard to break.

The Phantom you’ve grown to love is now a menacing broken-hearted shell of a man carrying an unhealthy obsession over Christine Daae once again. Sigh. What’s wrong with this guy? Didn’t he learn a thing in the lair? How come he hasn’t grown and changed? Why can’t he let the past die and move on? So much for redemption at the kiss of Christine’s lips and the culmination of their passions making them one. And to top it off, he really has a warped sense of “beauty” in his new residence to say the least. Where has it all gone wrong? What must the dude learn to grow into normalcy?

A few key things happen in the story that are turning points to move the Phantom along on the journey he must take. When Christine and the Phantom reunite for the first time, her answer is perhaps not the one he wishes to hear. She declares there is “no now” for either of them and that they must live with their choices. Perhaps at that point he would have accepted it, until another turning point – he discovers that Gustav is his son. The child, however, cries “horrible” when he sees his father’s face, and once again the Phantom is broken as he realizes not even his own flesh and blood can give him an ounce of compassion.

Like most emotional moments in our lives, he's faced with choices. He decides that he will give anything to his son and at the same time, he relentlessly pursues Christine by making a diabolical bet playing on Raoul’s weaknesses. Poor Christine hasn’t a clue either. It’s that obsessive love returned - what he cannot have willingly, he will take by other means.

What is it going to take to catapult this man into maturity? Perhaps, he just needs a little more time and the right event to move him along to that end. Let's face it, some of us are a bit more dense when it comes to learning. Is it the pain of our past that shackles us to old behaviors? Does the Phantom after his long existence of pain and rejection deserve just a little more time to put the pieces together? It appears he's going to have to walk through the fire in order to be purified and refined. That's the tragedy of it all, isn't it, that human misery is what often brings us to lasting change.

After all his trickery to gain Christine, she sings for him and Raoul leaves losing the bet. The Phantom knows what has happened and slyly stands quiet as she reads Raoul’s departing note – showing no remorse and keeping secret the reason why Raoul has gone. He’s won the hand.

Well, as you all know, poor Christine is shot by Meg. The Phantom caresses her in his arms and their last kiss happens as life drains from her body. All his desires and obsession have just died in his arms. The woman he has loved his entire life is gone and now all that is left is one thing – a son.

Where does he go from here? A boy once terrified of his father, looks once again upon that face he cried earlier as "horrible" and now shows unconditional love and acceptance. He embraces the beauty underneath – his father. It takes a while before the Phantom is able to embrace his son in return, but finally he does and the curtain comes down.

The story has ended. It’s a tragedy indeed that Christine is gone. The two men who fought over her their entire lives have both left empty handed. Did either of them really deserve her?

What now? What do you think happens to the Phantom beyond this point? His obsession lies dead a few feet away. His son has his arms wrapped tightly around his body. Does the man have the capacity to be a father? After all, the Phantom had no father figure and was rejected by his mother. Will being a parent finally teach him sacrificial love? Instead of Christine, perhaps it's really a child of 10 that will finally reach the heart of this broken man bringing the final redemption.

Interesting to note the name Gustav means “the staff of gods.” Could it be that Gustav is the staff that will lead our dear Phantom to learn the true meaning of sacrificial love? If you've never been a parent, I can tell you it's a role where sacrifice and love consumes your life and never dies!

So how’s the view from your seat on the ferris wheel? Do you see anything different now? Formed any new opinions? Has the Phantom really changed in Love Never Dies from the original or is a still a man brought to a point of redemption but by a child this time? Sometimes experience isn't enough to change us - a mere kiss doesn't do the trick - but learning to live and love in action is what brings lasting change.

My prodding has begun, and I hope you'll see the beauty underneath.

Sincerely,
The Phantom’s Student