BiBiuksha

Act 1 cont.

Il Muto

Raoul sounding real sassy when he says he will be sitting in box 5

Meg's scream was visceral like damn girl

Raoul repeatedly calling out to Christine as more things go wrong with il muto

The ballerinas kept pausing their dancing to say "it's him!" and were all very scared and jumpy

After Buquet reveal, Raoul actually comes to Christine on stage and says "christine come with me"

All I Ask of You (let's goooooooooo!!!!!!!)

Raoul was very worried on the roof, genuinely looked scared when Christine said she had been to the phantom's lair

and when Christine started drifting away to sing about her soul soaring and all that, Raoul tried to grab her and keep her with him :")

I always notice lyrical differences in different poto productions, and this one had Christine singing "all I ask is every waking moment"

Throughout the song Raoul kisses her hands and holds them to his cheeks, like nuzzling their clasped hands it made me deeply unwell

Steve Barton Raoul is like. He looks at Christine and she is Everything. she is kind and beautiful and patient and he is awed to be in the same room as her, he can hardly believe she would even look at him and the fact she lets him hold her and touch her? he is in blissful disbelief every time. like this Raoul truly is like "if you only love me then I don't care about anything else. your evil sewer boyfriend could kill me but at least I was loved by you. that is worth everything"

yes i watched this song twice of course i did and i cried both times. this is a Raoul that i believe would give his life for Christine purely because he thinks she deserves to live more than him. honestly he would kill himself if she told him to- which obviously she would never but i feel he would offer

after the song and when they are kissing, Raoul kept laughing in disbelief, just deliriously happy, and he says "no" when Christine says she must return

Reprise!

ok sad man time

Phantom was whining audibly when he heard Raoul and Christine singing and that's the only note I took because I have priorities

now at this point in watching, I had been replaying a lot of the scenes and I was getting tired, so i have less involved notes for act 2

ACT 2!!

Masquerade

Raoul and Christine's argument was the first time Raoul was like genuinely angry with Christine (very different vibe from raouls that act very dismissive towards Christine on the roof)

It looked like Mme. Giry tried to talk to Raoul, but he ran away to find Christine on the dance floor

phantom/red death gestured Christine over to him

Notes 2

Raoul didn't even sing the "they can't make you" line he just straight up shouted- good for him

and then he went and got super excited about his stupid plan

Christine was very vacant-stare-big-eyes for this scene, which yes seems to be a recurring choice for sarah brightman with this character, but I think it played very well specifically in this scene. like Christine is so overwhelmed by the outward demands being made of her that she is retreating into her mind, but her mind is so haunted by the phantom that she still cannot feel safe

Raoul was worried and sad about asking Christine to be a part of his plan, looked like he was on the verge of tears

Wishing

I made another note about Christine's spacieness- I really felt the "calm and dreamy cast of mind" when watching her

She clutched at her red scarf for most of wishing :'(

also only one "help me say goodbye" at the end of the song

I only have 3 notes for wandering child:

no trio- >:(

far-reaching- boooo

nice harmonies tho

Point of No Return

Christine maybe recognized his voice immediately, at least she seemed very wary

She looked scared when he grabbed the apple, and I would say she was certain it was him by the time he handed her the goblet

She was kind of trying to run away, but became enthralled by his voice

On the bench she closed her eyes and caressed her neck then her face, then his hand joined hers to travel down her chest

While the Phantom was on the bench alone, his hands were rubbing his inner thighs, looked a lot like masturbating

When Christine went behind him to clasp hands, he very much clutched her hands desperately

He also appeared to be dragging her hand down towards his pelvis (here I wrote a note that just says “boner?” lol)

safe to say this was a very sexual ponr

When she removed his hood, she stopped singing though the Phantom finished his note (could we make this into a commentary on heterosexual sex and the emphasis placed on men’s orgasms over women’s? perhaps in a different post)

AIAOY Reprise

Phantom was very desperate, gasping and pleading with Christine

Interestingly the mask and wig were removed separately, though hard to say if this was a stylistic choice or simply on stage costume malfunction

ok alright here’s the Big Finale

Meg really wanted to go with Raoul to save Christine (again shoutout megstine nation let’s goooo)

Christine was actively weeping on the boat, and when they enter again for the lair she is running away from the Phantom

Christine and Raoul kissed through the portcullis when he arrived (aaaaaaaaaaa)

Raoul had some very desperate “I love her”s and really shouted the “let me see her”- the energy I need in every final lair actually!

He also let out a panicked yell when he got caught in the noose

Christine basically sobbed out the “gave my mind blindly” line, and in response the Phantom did this weird growl/clicking noise in his throat

Phantom was full body shaking after he said “make your choice” and the shaking increased during the kiss

Christine was the one to end the kiss, Phantom seemed too shocked to even consider ending it

Raoul yeeted that noose away after he was freed

Raoul and Christine sprinted off stage together- notable mostly because many newer productions have Christine being dragged off or reluctant to leave

During ring return, Phantom’s voice cracked when he said her name and his hand was shaking badly- he was also just weeping and repeatedly saying that he loved her oof

There was a good view of the boat behind the portcullis so got to see Raoul lean down towards Christine as he sang the line “say the word and I will follow you” while he gently cupped her face/neck

At that same moment, on Raoul’s “you” the Phantom screamed/cried “I LOVE YOU” into the veil that he was holding close to his face and clutching like a security blanket- haha yay pain and suffering!

and that’s all I wrote! If you read all of this I hope it made sense and gave you an idea of the recording, or at least the acting choices that I found significant in the recording. If you ever have the opportunity to go to NYC I highly recommend carving out some time to do this, it was super easy to get a temporary library card and make an appointment and the video itself is excellent.