I just want to plug Daae Days, since it's been Sierra (my favorite ALW Christine, doing these videos) who cheered me up during this kind of emotional week. What with one of my favorite tea cups breaking, and Alan Rickman passing away, and having a scare that I wouldn't get to see Greg Proops while he was in town, I needed something to generate more positivity, so I've been watching segments from this series in my down time.



I had never actually taken the time to learn much about her as a person - she's always just been Christine to me. I had no idea she was so funny! Like I watched these wishing that I could be her friend. She even reminded me of a friend I already have, who's just as much of a goofball. I thought it was sweet she used "angel cards", although I probably wouldn't find much use for them myself. I'm getting a sense that she's the touchy feely, yoga, newage, healing crystals, etc. etc. type, but the doses I got of it in the videos didn't bother me.

Reece Holland was saying in his AIW podcast interview that Phantom was "really serious, heavy theatre" in comparison, but it looks like they spend plenty of time messin' around on Broadway. It warms my heart seeing Christines and Phantoms having such a good off-stage relationship, like Sierra and Norm Lewis did. I know Sierra and Ramin Karimloo is everyone's OTP, but whatever, I enjoy Norm and his giggling and immature fart jokes. xDDD In the end of the last video of the series, they pretend to belt Whitney Houston while he's getting his makeup done and she sits in his lap and holds up his mask. lollll

Oh, SPEAKING OF WHICH. Just as a side note. I also watched a full bootleg performance with Norm as the Phantom, because he was pretty hot in the preview, and it was... quite an experience. Nevermind that he's the first black Phantom on Broadway (and 2nd black Phantom ever), he's got other things distinguishable about him. He's a baritone when the role of the Phantom was written for a tenor. His timing with his lines is also different from other Phantoms; he was quick to react and just as bombastic as John Owen Jones. A lot of them pause after Christine screams that she's deceived him during the final lair scene, then slowly hiss "you tryyyy... my..... patienccee..." But Norm, as soon as she finishes her sentence, he just shot out of the chair, jumped right over her and yelled "YOU TRY MY PATIENCE!!!!!!!"

Also, I saw him do something I have never... ever... ever... seen any ALW Phantom do. And although I can't decide if I like it or not, it was very Leroux. When he wrapped the punjab around Raoul's neck...



HE DID THIS HILARIOUS, GLEEFUL DANCE ABOUT IT. pfffffffffffff

It was one of those few moments during his performance that I thought "ahh, maybe he has read the book..."

Speaking of Leroux-faithfulness, I found out recently that there are others who regard my favorite ALW Phantom, Ethan Freeman, as the most Leroux of all, which tickled me, because I do think he deserves that title. ♥ And yet I still have the hots for him? It's a strange world we live in, folks. I'll post more about him later.

-J

P.S. Writing is going okay. I stopped with CH6 until I can figure out what to do with it, but wrote a lot of chapter 8 and am just stitching it together at this point. I considered making a major change to it today, though, and also had this epiphany about how to handle an issue that happens later. I'm thinking I will have to stop writing and do a little more plotting and rearranging first.

Well, hello everybody!

Wow, how did two weeks pass? You know, it's very weird... I've kept thinking that I'm making good progress, but actually I've just been making tiny *squeezes index and thumb together* progress. I have only added scenes or elaborated on ch6-8, which already had material. Why, last night I spent three HOURS in the bathtub, writing by candlelight, but all I got done was a page.

I think I have gotten even slower. o_o

In my defense, I have also taken up some of my free nights working on paintings. I did two paintings of scenes that happen at the same location in dramatically different circumstances:

Chapter 7 of rewrite, their first physical meeting:


Chapter 48 of first draft, when shit's about to go down:


It's funny, because I can't seem to paint at all if I don't have a very particular thing I'm dying to get out of my head. These came about because of a fire under my ass, and now I'm kind of missing what fun I had painting. I'm waiting for a new vision to pop up now.

But anyway, yes, yes, the writing HAS been happening! And the inspiration has been happening! I have been all over youtube doing phantom-surfing again. I found some beautiful sounding Dutch Christines. I discovered Norm Lewis. ♥o♥ A Phantom "whose balls have dropped" as the first commenter on that video has put it.

I also found a series from 2014 called "Daae Days", which has my favorite ALW Christine, Sierra Boggess, showing what it's like to work on Phantom. She's so cute, toooo!! In one of them, she had a chat with a bunch of past or current Christines. In my favorite one, she went to wake up Jeremy Hays (Raoul) wearing the full Red Death costume, with Norm just giggling it up the whole time. The Phantom and Christine pulling pranks on Raoul! She walked in on Carlotta warming up and twirking upside down, went out to eat with Liz Robertson (Madame Giry for 25th anniversary), and then wraps it up during intermission for the show, when she's all beautifully dressed up for Masquerade, and goes "welp, I gotta go to a party."

So anyway, I'm just charmed at the moment. Thinking about the good things that exist. Not wanting anything else but some time to write. I bought wine! And I discovering how strangely inspiring it is to write in the bathroom with candles (as I said above, even if it was just a page.)

The only thing that's been bothering me is that I'm so concerned about chapter 6 building up to their first physical meeting, and him really seeming to come into this Phantom persona, that I can't seem to make much progress on it. I've come up with ideas for things to happen, but it feels like I'm just stringing them together and still not building up the gravity and intrigue. If anyone can talk to me about this, I would love that. Chapter 7 is done, but I can't share it without chapter 6! And who knows, the way that chapter 6 might come about in its final form, it may change something in chapter 7! Since I was so blocked last night, I started doing more parts for chapter 8, too, which is more than half done. So I'm stuck keeping all this material to myself! ughhhhhhhhhh

-J