r/box5

Hey everyone,

I’m writing this post because I’m incredibly frustrated, a bit sad, and I really need to vent to people who understand this specific pain.

Recently, I found a Phantom of the Opera fanfiction on AO3 called "Maestro". You can find it here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24672796/chapters/59622451?view_adult=true

I think it is absolutely amazing. The writing, the story, the characters... I got completely obsessed with it, but then I hit a wall. It is not finished.

It feels like it was very close to the ending, but the last update was around the end of 2021. And the worst part? The author’s account is deleted.

If I knew it was abandoned and the author disappeared, I swear I would have never started reading it! Now I’m just stuck with this amazing story and no ending, and it’s driving me crazy. I already tried to search for the author's old username on Twitter, Tumblr, and other socials to see if they moved somewhere else or maybe turned the story into an original book, but I found absolutely nothing.

So, I’m asking here because this community is great:

• Did anyone read "Maestro" when it was updating?

• Do you know who the author was or if they have a new username now?

• Did anyone have contact with them back then?

I know it’s a long shot, but if anyone knows anything, I would love to find a way to contact them. Even if they just tell me the ending in bullet points, I just need closure!

And if nobody knows anything... well, at least I shared my frustration with people who love Phantom as much as I do.

Thanks for reading my rant!

Dear Box 5 community,

I just wanted to say thank you for being the most pleasant and cozy little corner of the Phandom on the internet. I've been a Phan since 1991, and I have learned so much from this community about the different performers, tours, little-known stories, and so much more. Not to mention y'all have the best Phan-fiction recommendations. It's so nice to experience real people who are so knowledgeable and kind to each other and who don't gatekeep or brag. It's such a difference from the performative and oversaturated version of the Phandom that exists on other platforms like Instagram. I don't spend much time on there, but my algorithm recently discovered that I like Phantom, so it's been nonstop Phantom "influencers" (yuck), and I just can't with the repetitive and disingenuous posts. The authors with published Phantom books are just as bad. 

I do, however, love all the different cast members around the world doing fun skits in character, especially the Carlottas. 💖

All that to say, thanks for being friendly, genuine people and my favorite subreddit. I love sharing this interest (obsession) with y'all. 🖤🌹

Now, don't get it twisted. I love Hadley, and I think in the right circumstances he could've made a great Raoul. But among the core cast, he was (I believe) the only one who had no prior experience with performing the show.

And given the productions very limited schedule, it seems like he didn't have much time to develop his version of the character. Now, with the other actors this is fine, as they had already played their roles several times on stage, but as mentioned, Hadley had never performed in the show before, and if I'm not misremembering, his only experience with these characters up to that point had been LND, which, if you're playing Raoul in POTO is probably the last place you should look to for inspiration.

Now I think he did the best with what he was given, but his take on the character does end up feeling slightly schizophrenic; with him switching between the friendly boyscout aristocrat we all know and tolerate, and the more sinister version seen in LND, which makes for a Raoul who comes off like a hapless doofus at best and a spineless creep at worst, which isn't helped by the stage directions where he seems to be constantly man-handling Christine at every turn.

Which brings me back to that question. Why was he cast given his lack of experience and the less than ideal circumstances for a newcomer?

Did someone put in a good word for him? Was Cameron Mackintosh, in his infinite wisdom like "He did a good job with Les Mis; a show which he had been doing in the West End for years up to that point. He'll do a great job with this show he's never even performed in."? Help me out here.

I genuinely feel bad for him. He's a talented guy put in less than ideal circumstances for a performer and then copped the blame for things that were very much out of his control.

Greetings again, been a while!

Basically the title cause i cannot stop thinking abiut him 🥲 Looking for ALWverse phics, can be romantic/Erikstine, or otherwise, where Erik is characterised like Hugh Panaro's portrayal!

Even if his name is not directly mentioned, I'd assume he'd be something like a mix of Kay/ALW, and an Erik with a more playful and sarcastic personality.

Been pretty hard to look up something like this especially on FF sadly.

Any fans from the Netherlands here?

I'm a member of "front row" myself and I can't wait until it's here and get the news that I can order tickets!

Hi!!

I apologize for the inappropriate and rather off-topic post. I know a lot of subreddits HATE more personal posts like these. I tried Tumblr (But most users there don't really like their POTO blogs to be messed with by people trying to find mutuals).

Are there any people, places, or communities open to a buddy system? I saw multiple posts suggesting some and some people even befriending others in this subreddit, but those posts are about 4+ years old.

Again, sorry if this is inappropriate, and feel free to take it down if need be! :-)

We can all agree, Love Never Dies is not an amazing show, but I personally love the soundtrack. Obviously, Til' I Hear You Sing is incredible. I also LOVE Once Upon Another Time and many others, but I really wanna hear what people think about the soundtrack? Especially opinions on the title song? Honestly every time I hear Love Never Dies I sob. And I mean sob. Like as soon as I hear the music I hit a depressive state but I just think it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. The music is so beautiful. Just wanted to know people's thoughts??

Something I’ve been pondering lately and thought the fandom might like to contribute to…

I’ve been really curious about what the ages of cast members playing the main trio tend to be (but mostly Christine because I think it would be stricter for her). For instance, Christine’s playing age is generally listed quite specifically as early-mid twenties, but I imagine actresses in mid twenties-early thirties might be considered to have better suited vocal prowess for the role at times, especially with classical training. Though I feel I’ve noticed lots of recent Christine’s debuting tend to look very young and have quite soubrette sounding voices and I wonder if it’s coincidental or indicative of a larger trend in casting. Perhaps it depends on the production?

The most recent production in Australia also cast a very young Phantom (22 I believe), which is quite different. Amy Manford alongside him would be in her 30s now, I’d assume, but would convincingly portray the role. I would be really interested in knowing if this informed the characters dynamics within their performances.

Ali Ewoldt was also in her 30s when she debuted, or so I’m told, but could convincingly pull off the playing age, imo. It’s kind of interesting, if anyone knows a little more about this?

Is the current tour still using the “spectacular” re-staging with the circular rotating stage, or have they gone back to a boat upon a lake? Is the current Phantom still playing him as physically abusing Christine, choking her and tossing her around? Are the current Christine and Raul still trying to do weird Swedish accents?

Since Goldstar went away, buying tickets isn’t cheap, even for a Wednesday matinee. I do not want to pay over $200 to see that previous touring production, I didn’t care for it. I’m thinking of taking my friend for her birthday who has never seen the show live, but if that’s still the production I’d rather just get us a bottle and watch the 25th anniversary film, have some legal weed and watch Love Never Dies next.

Ok so I'm sitting here, watching phantom for a final (analyzing rigging, you get to pick the show, so ofc I pick phantom).

I have both RAH downloaded and this hand taped like vhs recording of what's labelled as 'the phantom of the opera original Broadway performance' and I haven't watched it all the way through, mind you, I'm like right past Carlotta's furious exit due to the backdrop, but I'm struck by the laughter in the house.

In RAH it's very serious, with the line delivery, and the audience basically doesn't laugh until piangi says 'amateurs'

But in this VHS recording, they laugh at like each line from' these things do happen' until her exit, and it's pretty boisterous.

I think that's super interesting, how it was seen as so much more comedic back then. Now, I saw it live in Chicago, and I don't remember if there was laughter at that part then, I was like fully locked in this is my dream state.

Anyways, thoughts?

The Adapted Score.

Not necessarily the singing which is hit-or-miss, but I would argue that the arrangement and orchestration outdoes the original musical.

I love the way in which it naturally weaves musical ideas like the Ghost and Possession motifs into the instrumental score, particularly during the Graveyard fight and the Chandelier crash. And I even enjoy the musical foreshadowing to Love Never Dies with early versions of "Beneath a Moonless Sky" and "The Coney Island Waltz" Being heard in the background in some scenes.

And the orchestration is fantastic. The original show had to work with a 27 piece orchestra, and while it does sound incredible, expanding the orchestration to a full 100 piece orchestra was an ingenious choice, and it gives the score even greater depth and texture, and allows for Lord Andy's iconic score to shine even brighter than it did before. My favourite moment where the orchestra really gets to flex is when Christine enters the graveyard and we get a truly sweeping statement of the Phantom's motif that absolutely brings the house down.

If there's one good thing that came out of ALW retaining so much control over the movie, it's this.

The first time I saw Phantom on tour, I was listening for the orchestra as the bows started, and I was disappointed that they didn't have bows/exit music.

But when the curtain fell the second time, then the orchestra started up again.

This is hard to gauge since I've only seen a few shows live, but I thought it was standard to have combined bows/exit music -- the orchestra plays continuously during the bows, and it's timed so that there's a short playout after the curtain falls.

Was this setup (exit music, but no bows music) more standard for older '80s musicals? Or do some musicals just want the audience's applause to be the only accompaniment for the bows?

Presuming that Rachel Ziegler is probably Christine.

According to Variety, Tom Francis is one of the actors whose just auditioned to be the next Bond. if he’s already getting into those rooms already then there’s no doubt he’s going to be getting in some serious screen work soon. He’s already worked with some big names on the screen.

And I just watched Apex that Taron costars In with Charlize Theron and was really impressed. He plays /unhinged villain very well. You can combine that with his charisma and leading man elements in other roles he definitely could portray all the facets of Erik. He is an impressive actor and unafraid to transform himself for a role Kingdman to Eddie the eagle plus we all know he can sing.,

Also despite how young he looks he is 36 even if a movie gets started at the earliest next year he’ll probably be closer to 38/late 30s when it releases which is clearly the age range Andrew Lloyd Webber wants considering he said publicly his choice was Jonathan Bailey who is also the same age range.

I also think that Taaron and Tom would play well of each other as rivals

what do you think?