Who Are You People?

As most of you know by the stats on this blog (unaltered by the way and I don't count myself), I've just rolled over to 67,000. I have a couple trackers on all of my websites and blogs, because I love stats! I'm a stat junkie. Mostly though, I love analyzing where people come from, what they do when they land on my site, how they found me, where they are going, and how long they stick around. Just about every website/blog these days have trackers. It helps with marketing and keeps you informed with your success in getting yourself out there.

This week I thought I'd check out the keywords. Keywords are the search terms people put in when looking for a website. It's where they want to land with relevant information about the subject. I must admit, this past week the search terms have been amusing. They were posted on my Facebook page, and a few commented it was probably due to Halloween. So what are those keywords this week coming from all over the world? Brace yourselves: Christine's hair and Christine's makeup.

Since this blog went up in January of 2008 and I began tracking stats in May of 2008 (gosh, can't believe it's almost three years), I have learned a phenomenal lesson: The interest in the Phantom of the Opera is universal. As of this post, people from 116 countries have landed here. Some visitors are from the most unlikely locations, such as: Swaziland, Mongolia, Cambodia, Iran, and Mauritius (I had to look that one up!). What are the top 10 locations worldwide?

• United States (All 52 states/regions have been here. California and New York seem to have the most phantom search-frenzy phans. Since I don't wish to look like a "moron" for not knowing how many states there are, Google analytic reports breaks this information down by state and other US regional information. Total tally is 52.)
• United Kingdom (336 cities)
• Canada (325 cities in all provinces)
• Malaysia
• Poland
• Philippines
• Australia
• Germany
• Spain
• Argentina

What post do visitors read the most when they land here on this site? Here are the top ten posts, which indicate to me what interests the Phantom community the most:

• Erik, His Humanity
• Christine
• Masquerade
• The Rose
• The Chandelier
• The Ring
• The Mask
• Box 5
• Red Death
• Music Box

Since May of this year, however, those stats have moved enormously to two posts that have the most hits: The Many Faces of Erik and Love Never Dies Review.

What are people searching for? Here are the top ten search terms since 2008 (excluding the obvious - The Phantom of the Opera words themselves):

• Little Lotte Poem
• Phantom of the Opera Symbolism
• Christine Daae's Hair (What is it with that woman's hair????)
• Chandelier
• Christine Daae's Makeup (I wonder if that's the stage or movie version they're looking for)
• Meg Giry
• Lot 666
• Masquerade
• Red Death
• Ring

Do people come and bounce off? Of course they do. Every site has a bounce rate. What is a bounce - it's when someone lands on your site, takes a quick second look, and leaves. Some bounce, some stay for a few minutes, some come back repeatedly, some stay for hours. One funny thing though about browser location is an awful lot of people surf the web from company locations. There have been multiple hits from universities, banks, various businesses, and even the armed forces. Google drives the most traffic.

All these interesting statistics tell me that The Phantom of the Opera has an unprecedented worldwide popularity. I sense though that the stage and movie versions are far more popular than the original work, just by the interesting keywords and posts that bring the most traffic. My gut feeling is that those versions tend to touch people in the current world in which we live and relate. It's that need for love and acceptance, despite our deformities whether they be physical or emotional, that will continue to drive people to type in keywords and end up at Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera.

Apparently, the Phantom of the Opera knows no boundaries. It does not discriminate against race, age or nationality. It crosses the boundaries of countries and language barriers. It touches everyone with its different formats. But because of its diversity, it presents an overwhelming challenge to keep the peace among us. I reiterate again, that we need to respect each other in our personal preferences from Leroux to the controversial Love Never Dies, because the story does not belong to one person, one fan, one group, one musician, one writer, or one critic. It belongs to us all, 116 countries worldwide, to enjoy and love from generation to generation - including amateurs and PhD's.

After this blog goes to second edition in eBook, I doubt very much I will dissect the story anymore. It's time to move on. The blog will continue to be here, but will soon be available to download for a small fee to your phones, computers, and Kindles, etc., so you don't have to spend hours digging through posts.

Will I continue to write? Of course, I will! No doubt it will turn more into news and my two-cent opinions that will cause the Phantom community to embrace me or hang me (that's the way of the lair, you know).

In any event, that is who you are! You're a worldwide community of people in love with the masked man with half a face and Christine's hair and makeup routine. In spite of the latter oddity of your fixation with Christine's appearance for some reason, I still love you all!

The Phantom's Student aka Vicki

Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera - Second Edition Coming!

At the present time, I am working on the second edition of Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera. The first edition, published in May of 2009, is sadly outdated. Since that time, I've added quite a few more posts that need to be added to bring it up to date.

I have decided, after much thought, that I will not do a second edition in print. It's my preference to put the blog into eBook format that will be available on every format from Kindle to iPhones. This book is my best selling out of the three I've released, and many have requested its release in electronic format too. My plan is to offer the eBook format for $6.00, which will be a substantial discount from the $17.00 book version. I will probably pull it from the market in hard copy, since I don't think it would be fair to continue to offer the shorter version for $11 more.

Don't have a Kindle? Well, it's easy enough because you don't need to purchase one at all in order to read the Kindle version. Amazon offers free apps for download. You can even add the Kindle app to your Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, and Android to read books.

If you prefer to read any other eBook format, you can download for free Adobe Reader on your computer and devices as well by visiting Adobe Digital Editions.

Hopefully, the eBook version of Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera will be available by December 31, 2010. The blog, of course, will always be here because of the worldwide hits it continues to get. I'm constantly amazed that 112 countries have landed on this site, which continues to speak of the worldwide interest in The Phantom of the Opera that never ends. However, digging through 115 plus posts is becoming tedious for visitors who are new. Also, the blog is pushing 67,000 hits, and I have more subscribers than I ever had. It seems each time the news prints anything about the sequel or the original, Google searches go wild on Phantom matters, which drives traffic to this site.

Also, I'd like to comment on two reviews for my blog book that were recently posted on Amazon. I'm sad to say that they appear to be attempts to discredit the book by ignorantly posting comments that I have never read Gaston Leroux and that the book was written by an "amateur for amateurs." It's apparent to me that the reviewers never read the book, because I not only quote Leroux throughout, but feature Leroux's work to shed light upon Webber's. Apparently, there is another agenda behind the reviews.

Frankly, I cannot say that it bothers me to the extent in which it was intended, mainly because my email box is filled with wonderful comments for taking a different look at this timeless story. I have never once professed to be an expert on the matter and never will. The story speaks to us differently, and my posts, as you know, have only been to spur further thought on the part of my readers.

What offends me the most is that you, my audience, have been called "amateurs" because you happen to like the Webber version on stage or in film. It's sad indeed when fans of the story that we all love are ridiculed because of the version they happen to enjoy the most - whether it's the original or the controversial sequel. It undermines the message and fuels even further the division among the Phantom community, which deeply grieves my heart.

I will keep you advised when the eBook is due for release. In closing, I want to thank every one of you that have faithfully followed this blog since its inception in January of 2008 and for your continued support of an "amateur" who finds lessons hidden between the characters, emotions, and symbols for everyone to enjoy.

I remain your obedient servant,

The Phantom's Student aka Vicki

Morality in The Phantom of the Opera

NOTICE: This post may not be appropriate for under aged readers.

I've been doing research lately on the life of Gaston Leroux, who is responsible for all this Phantom Obsession Compulsive Disorder in the world (my new coined phrase of POCD).

Leroux was quite the colorful man, who led a rather wild life. Various biographies are filled with all sorts of interesting tidbits. He inherited a million francs upon his father's death, and afterward acquired a taste for alcohol and gambling, whereby he pilfered his fortune away in casinos. After much of it was gone, he turned to work as a theater critic and reporter and eventually became a full-time journalist in order to make a living.

As far as his personal love life, he married his first wife and soon afterward was involved in an affair with another woman who became his mistress. He sired two children with her out of wedlock; and then finally when his first wife agreed to grant him a divorce years later, he married his lover. He struggled with a gambling problem throughout his lifetime and died with very little money in spite of his success. Another interesting and detailed biography states that, "Leroux also had a darker side, a fixation on the grimmer sides of life and death, and on horror and fantasy, as well as aspects of the macabre."

I'm not sure if I hear many gasps over that revelation of Leroux's lifestyle, but it's an important introduction to this post on morality in The Phantom of the Opera. What we've glorified in the story of redemption of the Opera Ghost, was written by a man who clearly wasn't a saint. This post is not to judge his morality by any means, except to say that much of how he lived in the late 19th century and early 20th century in France, was frankly just a way of life.

If you look closely at the original, you'll see the subject of morality and the Parisian lifestyle sprinkled throughout the story. Unless you're familiar with the times and practices, some of the innuendos may not be that noticeable to you. The reality of how things really were in Parisian society among the Opera patrons, ballerinas, and divas, is frankly "R-rated." It's not the "PG" romance we've come to idolize.

Those cute little ladies in the tutus known as the corps de ballet or ballet rats, were young girls who trained and performed as ballerinas. Most of them came from poor working-class families. Degas, a French artist of that time period, painted many pictures of the ballerinas who danced upon the stage. The article Degas and His Dancers discusses how getting backstage was a privilege paid for by wealthy male subscription holders, called abonnés, who often flirted with the dancers. At the time period The Phantom of the Opera was set, ballerinas were considered to be the "echelon of prostitution." Prostitution in France was legal, and married men often had mistresses and enjoyed sexual pleasures away from their marriage beds.

If you read Leroux closely early in the story, it's mentioned that Comte Philippe de Chagny would not have taken his brother behind the scenes of the Opera, but Raoul had asked him insistently to do so. Philippe knew morality back stage was loose. It mentions later that he had planned, when Raoul returned from the Navy, to eventually introduce him to the life behind the curtains. When Raoul goes backstage to check on Christine's welfare after she faints, Philippe is surprised that Raoul already knows the way to her dressing room. In this scene and in many others the "subscribers" are crowding around the ballerinas.

The story goes on to express Philippe's displeasure over Raoul wishing to marry Christine. After all, those in her profession were of lower class. They were fine for flirtation and sexual pleasures, but not meant for marriage. It would have been scandalous for Raoul to marry beneath his status, but as you know he defied his elder brother in the matter and it led to much contention between the two of them.

Gaston Leroux writes that Philippe de Chagny had an "understanding" with Sorelli, the prima ballerina. Philippe spent his time back stage as quite the bachelor himself, and it's obvious by Leroux's inference that Sorelli was Philippe's mistress. In fact, he says in defense of the Comte's actions, "But it could hardly be reckoned as a crime for this nobleman, a bachelor, with plenty of leisure, especially since his sisters were settled, to come and spend an hour or two after dinner in the company of a dancer."

What about the divas? That's another interesting study in itself too, where you will find famous divas of the past who were wealthy courtesans of aristocrats during their careers. I think this possibility played upon Raoul's fears regarding Christine. At one point he questions Madame Valerius on whether Christine is, "still a good girl" after he learns of her going away with her mysterious genius. It's apparent the question of Christine's morality came quickly to Raoul's mind based on her behavior, and he still wasn't convinced after Madame Valerius said she was still a good girl. "He walked home to his brother's house in a pitiful state. He could have struck himself, banged his head against the walls! To think that he had believed in her innocence, in her purity!"

It's almost comical how upset Raoul becomes, as he pours his heart out to his brother who further tells him Christine had been spotted the night before in a carriage with another man, and Raoul believes it to be her lover. To bury his pain, Leroux writes, "Raoul dressed in frantic haste, prepared to forget his distress by flinging himself, as people say, into "the vortex of pleasure." I think we all know what pleasures are alluded to here, however, poor Raoul never makes it that far.

Of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber's original stage version of The Phantom of the Opera strips all the nasty reality away, as we see portrayed a more innocent version of its characters and time. We love the cute Meg Giry and ballerinas in their tutus flitting about the stage, the innocent and young Christine, and handsome Raoul. The only sexual reference made is the "pleasures of the flesh" the Phantom has been denied in life, even though there is a rather passionate scene in the lair during The Music of the Night as he entices Christine into his world and the Point of No Return.

Then in stark contrast, we come to the sequel, Love Never Dies, which strips away the fantasy and portrays a more accurate version of morality of its day, with fallen characters who drink, gamble, and have sex out of wedlock that results in an illegitimate child. It's the unpleasant storyline some fans dislike, and then others are not so appalled because they understand that humanity is often filled with broken and imperfect humans who make mistakes.

When we study life during the late 19th Century in Paris, where the story is set, it helps us part the curtain between reality and romantic fantasy. Even Gaston Leroux, the very author himself, struggled with his own vices of drinking, gambling, illicit affairs, and illegitimate children. In the day and age when The Phantom of the Opera was first released in France, the public readers no doubt understood his innuendos regarding morality between its pages.

In closing, I can't help but ask myself one question in light of Leroux's own lifestyle. Would he relate to the recent adaptation of the story or would he be offended? It's an honest question to ponder, but one I think most would rather not think about in light of the similarities.

Regards,

The Phantom's Student

Master Class in Los Angeles

Many..MANY years ago I had the pleasure of working with an actor over the course of a full summer of rep. We did four shows in rep at an outdoor theatre in Kentucky. (Talk about paying your dues). Those long weeks hold some of the best memories of my life. Great people, many of whom are still dear friends to this day. And this specific actor is one of them.

His approach to the craft of acting was immediately intriguing to me. I began to dissect (or try to dissect) his method. We would have long discussions about Brando, Olivier and Gielgud and found that we held many of the same actors in high regard.

I also found out that he was something of a playwright (so much so that many of his plays have subsequently been produced around the country in cities and states such as NYC, Chicago, Florida and Los Angeles to name a few).

He had a long standing and very successful acting studio in Chicago and has just recently moved to Los Angeles to open up his studio there. So...with that here's the LA Master Class.

It's a 2 day - 8 hour Master Class that Clif Morts will be leading in Los Angeles. The class size is extremely limited as Clif works diligently one on one and this ensures individual attention.