making my own post instead of derailing blah blah blah BUT
LOOK UP YOUR LOCAL THEATER
if you're interested in things like opera, orchestra, theatre, google "theatres in (your city)" and go from there. you absolutely don't have to go to the fanciest place where celebrities perform Shakespeare in real 1500s outfits, I promise you there's affordable options to watch art live. go to museums, go to art performances, go to the fucking ballet! experience things! couple weeks ago I literally got two tickets to a modernist orchestra concert by less than what I would spend on a single McDonald's menu, and less than half a single movie ticket
I promise you that you will find the fine arts way more relatable and understandable than you were led to believe they are, and that you don't need to be wearing fancy outfits, and the staffers and cast members are always more welcoming than you think, there's no secret hidden social rules, you are just supposed to get there early and turn off your phone and be respectful and quiet during the performances, just like going to the movies
and these places need our patronage to stay affordable, to be able to spread culture further, to be able to teach their craft and pass it forward to new generations of artists and staffers and technicians. you don't have to watch a play a week or go to the orchestra monthly, but consider pirating the latest blockbuster movie that you would maybe want to see and going to the theatre instead
Opera Garnier where Phantom is based off of in Gaston Leroux's book. The chandelier did fall in the late 1800’s. Other accounts state it was one of the counter weights and not the chandelier. There’s many variations of Erik’s origin but Christine was based off a Swedish singer of the same 1st name.
I wish more people talked about opera. like why aren't there more books and tv shows and movies about opera. opera is so fucking cool and it IS actually for everyone. thinking of opera as some elitist rich people ritual makes the problem worse and you miss out on so many opportunities to feel and experience art!!
the most frequent comment I hear is about the language barrier and not understanding what's going on, which I sooo get, but there is so much more to opera than the words and to think otherwise is to ignore how much other work goes into telling a story. in every direction there are people who have dedicated their lives to their craft. musicians and singers who have spent decades learning their instrument, designers and technicians who are creating the space, composers, conductors, stage managers, librarians. there is so much story that can be told through vocalization, instrumentation, setting, costume, lighting... and every performance is a showing of someone's life work. it's beautiful.
and yeah, the storylines are crazy and there's tropes out the wazoo but hey