#now if Emilie Kouatchou gets to be the last Broadway Christine then i will die HAPPILY. i will just. i can die now. i will be happy.

[youremyonlyhope]

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IS FINALLY CLOSING ON BROADWAY.

THANK YOU THEATRE GODS.

#not tagging this but i know if you search phantom it will show up so this is more just a testament to search tags not general #i for one try to ignore the fact that tumblr changed its search function to have the option to search tags and general posts. #but i am making sure to NOT purposefully put this in the phantom tag since i'm not that mean when it comes to phantom #but i can't help that tumblr's search function is stupid so if this shows up because it has the words phantom then i'm sorry #once again for the record i DID NOT put hate in the tag. if you think you're in the phantom tag and you see this post then know that #you are not in the phantom tag you are in the phantom search bar and you need to relearn how to use tumblr's updated stupidity #ANYWAY. GUYS. I'VE BEEN SCREAMING FOR YEARS THAT PHANTOM NEEDED TO HAVE CLOSED ALREADY AND IT IS FINALLY CLOSING #finally. FINALLY. the pandemic has claimed a show that truly deserved to close. #this show should have closed in 2015 when they put that literal child molester onstage as the phantom #who was only spared being a registered sex offender because the judge didn't want to 'ruin his career' #hey dude. don't assault at 15 year old if you don't want to ruin your own career. god. 7+ years of anger bubbling up right. #this show should have closed so long ago. if not in 2015 then LONG before then but 2015 should have been the moment. #that STUPID casting decision should have been the reason it closed i am so mad it took this long. #the show should have closed after Norm played the Phantom because it didn't do anything good again until Emilie #now if Emilie Kouatchou gets to be the last Broadway Christine then i will die HAPPILY. i will just. i can die now. i will be happy. #because not only would phantom be FINALLY closed but then that means Playbill Vault will always show Emilie in closing cast #i hope she stays through the end of the run though i will not be seeing the show before it closes unless it's for free #PHANTOM'S CLOSING ON BROADWAY YOU GUYS!!! THIS IS A JOYOUS DAY! #my anon is off so don't even try to come at me #also shoutout to Thelma Pollard who is amazing i hope she gets a good retirement package from ALW like she DESERVES #i feel bad for cast and crew who are losing jobs but the show itself? nah. glad it's gone.

[melancholyymusings]

I'm not even going to lie. I feel like crying. I absolutely adore Phantom of the Opera and this past Christmas was my first time ever making the trek to New York and seeing it live on Broadway, at the Majestic Theater. I had the time of my life and almost burst into tears when Emilie Kouatchou waltzed onto the stage and opened her mouth to sing. It was my first time seeing anything on a Broadway stage; my first time seeing my favorite musical live on stage. And seeing a beautiful brown girl play the leading role of Christine Daae was magic on earth.

My history with Phantom of the Opera is long yet distant. I was first introduced to Phantom of the Opera when I was 15. There was a girl in my digital media class who loved POTO, and when I say loved, I mean obsessed. However, this was also the time when the Twilight craze was at its peak and I erroneously believed that POTO was another vampire story. And when my classmate told me that the phantom basically kidnaps Christine, I wrote it off as a scary movie (I was an extreme scaredy cat back then) and continued to observe the fandom from afar. Always curious, but never having the guts to watch it for myself.

Fast forward to now being an adult and I finally, FINALLY, sat myself down and watched the 2004 Phantom of the Opera film and it was instant love. Instant obsession. Listening to and singing the songs day in and day out. Buying multiple copies of the book and reading it from cover to cover. Buying multiple copies of the movie. Buying the 25th anniversary stage play at Albert Hall. And then finally, traveling to New York and seeing it on Broadway myself. I was so overcome with emotion that I was finally there, seeing something I loved so much, with a brown girl that looked like me on the stage, it brought tears to my eyes.

I loved Phantom of the Opera instantaneously and passionately, and now it feels like it's all being ripped away from me just as quickly as I began to love it. I'm sure that sounds dramatic but it's true. People roll their eyes at the hold POTO has on it's fanbase, but there is a reason that it was on Broadway for 35 years and has productions in multiple different countries.

For me, Phantom of the Opera gave me something to cling onto when it felt like society and the world around me was trying to take everything away. Between disgusting politics surrounding everything, heightened racism all over the news, my own family drama that I had no control over, and my lack of having a job at the time and a lack of life direction, I was heading for a very dark place. POTO was a light in that darkness. An anchor, if you will.

I am going to do my best to get to New York to see it one last time before the final curtain, fingers crossed that I do. I will love Phantom of the Opera forever and I am so happy, so privileged, so grateful that I've been able to see it in my lifetime, and it will always remain a beautiful memory in my mind.

So, although I will have to say goodbye soon to the greatest musical to ever bless my ears, and one of the most romantic stories of love and obsession ever told, I want to say thank you. Thank you to Andrew Lloyd Webber and everyone who has ever been a part of POTO. Thank you for the film. Thank you for giving me something to hold onto when the world around me felt like it was crumbling. Thank you for giving me a reason to sing like nobody's watching. And thank you for giving me a piece of happiness that I can take with me forever. It is a memory that will never ever fade away.

Even though I am sad that POTO is ending, I am so, so happy that it happened in the first place.

May our love never die 🥀

#POTO #poto broadway #phantom of the opera #broadway #playbill #christine daae #the phantom of the opera #gaston leroux #andrew lloyd webber #emilie kouatchou #sierra boggess #my love letter to the phantom of the opera