My nerdiness levels have sunk to a new low
I haven't posted a strange dream in a while, mostly because I find myself having trouble remembering. It doesn't help, of course, that it's been ages since I've woken up and didn't bother to write anything down since now (since I hear writing stuff down helps you remember).
But here is a strange dream for you. In involves the filming of another Phantom of the Opera movie, as apparently the 2004 one wasn't good enough.
I don't know how familiar any of you are with the whole Phantom story, but I will try to explain for those of you who aren't. Suffice to say that in 2004, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical was made into a movie directed by Joel Schumacher.
Apparently they were making a new one, and the rehearsal (I don't recall seeing cameras) was in my grandparents' house. This is fairly typical for my dreams, with the setting usually being in my house or a relative, or some combination of the two. But back to the dream -- in the movie, I was playing Christine (one of the three main characters, a soprano who works at the Opera Populaire and is initially enthralled with the Phantom, who she believes to be the Angel of Music). Now apparently Christine is a difficult role to sing (like most other Webber works, or so I've heard) and so why I was singing it is beyond even me.
In the dream I was wearing a blonde wig, so I guess even my dreams are canon (in the 1910 novel, Christine was described as having blonde hair and blue eyes; in the musical she is depicted with curly brown hair because Sarah Brightman, the original Broadway Christine, had curly brown hair).
As for the Phantom, he was apparently being played by John Owen Jones -- Hugh Panaro had been cast before, but dropped out or was otherwise removed from the movie, as I explained to my mother. (Both John Owen Jones and Hugh Panaro have played the Phantom on Broadway, but I have never seen either one perform). But there wasn't much more to explain, as I had to go and rehearse.
John Owen Jones and I were rehearsing Point of No Return (one of the songs in the second act), with me strugging a little with it. I mention to him that I'm not too good with singing (an understatement). John Owen Jones gives me a bit of critique right about there, and I just absorb it, trying to take his words into account. It is there we're all given a bit of a break; John Owen Jones goes to take a quick nap on the couch, still dressed in full costume.
I go upstairs (ground level; it's a finished basement) for a moment to grab something to eat when I notice the back door is unlocked. I start to wrry because anyone could get in, and before I can go and lock it, someone does come in, a man in a brown uniform that I've never seen before. I panic and try and shoo him out of there, but he simply goes downstairs, wakes up John Owen Jones, and removes him from the 'set'.
I go downstairs again to be greeted by the woman playing Carlotta (Christine's principal rival, career-wise) and another man, possibly the one playing Raoul (Christine's lover). I have to explain that he was removed from the film -- not dropped out; no, he was forcibly removed from the film, the second Phantom to have that happen. (Remember at the beginning I explained to my mother Hugh Panaro had the same thing happen).
There might have been something else in between this and the previous scene, but I can't remember it -- we were back in the basement, ready to rehearse. We were practicing a dance, but since our Phantom was gone, we had to use Carlotta as replacement, for some reason. I note that the woman playing Carlotta is really friggin' tall, as I reach just to her shoulder; I'd say around 5' 11". We try and dance, but are eventually given a short break by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is apparently also directing the film.
I ask him why John Owen Jones was removed from the film. I can't remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of "Didn't you see how he was talking? I'm not going to have that on set". Sir Andy was probably talking about the critique I'd been given during the Point of No Return rehearsal -- but unlike Sir Andy, I hadn't been offended.
Touchy guy, I guess. :P I guess the lesson here is don't ever go against Andrew Lloyd Webber, or you will be forcibly removed from the scene by a man in a brown suit.
And, while I spent all this time narrating a bizarre Phantom dream...here's some real news for any of you that care: Andrew Lloyd Webber's writing a (musical) sequel to Phantom of the Opera, called The Phantom of Manhattan, based on a book by Frederick Forsyth. According to other Phantom fans, the book is horrible, though I haven't read it myself. I'll probably have to read it, though I probably won't ever get to see the musical on stage.
Also I read somewhere else that his six-month old kitten climbed into the frame of his computerized grand piano (I've never heard of such a thing, but what do I know) and somehow deleted all the music he'd written so far. While I'm sure it sucks to have all your music erased, if it's [the book] as bad as people say, maybe it's for the best...?
But here is a strange dream for you. In involves the filming of another Phantom of the Opera movie, as apparently the 2004 one wasn't good enough.
I don't know how familiar any of you are with the whole Phantom story, but I will try to explain for those of you who aren't. Suffice to say that in 2004, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical was made into a movie directed by Joel Schumacher.
Apparently they were making a new one, and the rehearsal (I don't recall seeing cameras) was in my grandparents' house. This is fairly typical for my dreams, with the setting usually being in my house or a relative, or some combination of the two. But back to the dream -- in the movie, I was playing Christine (one of the three main characters, a soprano who works at the Opera Populaire and is initially enthralled with the Phantom, who she believes to be the Angel of Music). Now apparently Christine is a difficult role to sing (like most other Webber works, or so I've heard) and so why I was singing it is beyond even me.
In the dream I was wearing a blonde wig, so I guess even my dreams are canon (in the 1910 novel, Christine was described as having blonde hair and blue eyes; in the musical she is depicted with curly brown hair because Sarah Brightman, the original Broadway Christine, had curly brown hair).
As for the Phantom, he was apparently being played by John Owen Jones -- Hugh Panaro had been cast before, but dropped out or was otherwise removed from the movie, as I explained to my mother. (Both John Owen Jones and Hugh Panaro have played the Phantom on Broadway, but I have never seen either one perform). But there wasn't much more to explain, as I had to go and rehearse.
John Owen Jones and I were rehearsing Point of No Return (one of the songs in the second act), with me strugging a little with it. I mention to him that I'm not too good with singing (an understatement). John Owen Jones gives me a bit of critique right about there, and I just absorb it, trying to take his words into account. It is there we're all given a bit of a break; John Owen Jones goes to take a quick nap on the couch, still dressed in full costume.
I go upstairs (ground level; it's a finished basement) for a moment to grab something to eat when I notice the back door is unlocked. I start to wrry because anyone could get in, and before I can go and lock it, someone does come in, a man in a brown uniform that I've never seen before. I panic and try and shoo him out of there, but he simply goes downstairs, wakes up John Owen Jones, and removes him from the 'set'.
I go downstairs again to be greeted by the woman playing Carlotta (Christine's principal rival, career-wise) and another man, possibly the one playing Raoul (Christine's lover). I have to explain that he was removed from the film -- not dropped out; no, he was forcibly removed from the film, the second Phantom to have that happen. (Remember at the beginning I explained to my mother Hugh Panaro had the same thing happen).
There might have been something else in between this and the previous scene, but I can't remember it -- we were back in the basement, ready to rehearse. We were practicing a dance, but since our Phantom was gone, we had to use Carlotta as replacement, for some reason. I note that the woman playing Carlotta is really friggin' tall, as I reach just to her shoulder; I'd say around 5' 11". We try and dance, but are eventually given a short break by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is apparently also directing the film.
I ask him why John Owen Jones was removed from the film. I can't remember his exact words, but he said something along the lines of "Didn't you see how he was talking? I'm not going to have that on set". Sir Andy was probably talking about the critique I'd been given during the Point of No Return rehearsal -- but unlike Sir Andy, I hadn't been offended.
Touchy guy, I guess. :P I guess the lesson here is don't ever go against Andrew Lloyd Webber, or you will be forcibly removed from the scene by a man in a brown suit.
And, while I spent all this time narrating a bizarre Phantom dream...here's some real news for any of you that care: Andrew Lloyd Webber's writing a (musical) sequel to Phantom of the Opera, called The Phantom of Manhattan, based on a book by Frederick Forsyth. According to other Phantom fans, the book is horrible, though I haven't read it myself. I'll probably have to read it, though I probably won't ever get to see the musical on stage.
Also I read somewhere else that his six-month old kitten climbed into the frame of his computerized grand piano (I've never heard of such a thing, but what do I know) and somehow deleted all the music he'd written so far. While I'm sure it sucks to have all your music erased, if it's [the book] as bad as people say, maybe it's for the best...?