Fondest Greetings - Introduce Yourself Here!

Cape Twirl of Doom wrote:

Blaidd_Drwg wrote:
Bahahaha! Too funny. Clearly we both have excellent taste. I'm sure it would be so much easier on other people here to use "Bad Wolf" instead, but let's face it, "Blaidd Drwg" is so much cooler!

Indeed! You're an Eleven fan? I think he's absolutely brilliant. I'm partial to Tennant myself, but they all have a special place in my heart.

The Welsh language is so cool. I took a week long tour around Wales last year so I learned a few phrases and how to pronounce the language. (And visited the Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff while I was there!)

I like Eleven, but Tennant is my Doctor. I think he was just perfect in the role. And I loved how he was such a super fan of the show as well, he always seemed so giddy just talking about it on the chat shows. I just saw that quote somewhere and thought it was funny, it's a play on the Spinal Tap line.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, Tennant is mine as well. The fact that he had wanted to do the show his whole life really does show in every episode. Plus, he was my exposure to the show. I saw the Unicorn and the Wasp and then Silence in the Library on the SciFi channel before anything else. Once I got Netflix I watched from the new first season up to the fifth season. Anyway.... Apart from Doctor Who, David Tennant as an actor is just phenomenal as well.

That's awesome! I'm so excited to go to Wales this spring myself. I agree, the Welsh languages is really cool. I love the way it sounds...the way it rolls off the tongue.

Oh? Where in Wales are you going? I liked Hay-on-Wye, famous for it's secondhand books, and Aberystwyth was a cool seaside town. Snowdonia & the towns around there are really beautiful.

Definitely want to see Snowdonia. I have a couple books on European travel and both of them recommend that particular place. Aside from that and Cardiff, I'm really not quite sure. I don't think I've done enough research on Wales yet, but I'm probably going to add Aberystwyth and Hay-on-Wye just on that brief recommendation you gave! This is my first time overseas so I want to make it count completely. Still have a lot of prep to do though. We have five months to plan, but I'm sure five months is going to come before we know it.

Greetings. I find myself writing this brief introduction after recently being referred to this site by a friend and classmate whom you all know here as Madame Giry. To her belongs any thanks or blame for my arrival. I am glad to have heard of the site and to have the chance to participate on the board.

My background in the topic that brings us together comes from a long interest in history and music. I first read Leroux's work in the mid-1990s and saw the ALW Phantom in Toronto around the same time. I've otherwise seen the ALW version in Pittsburgh and New York (in the late 1990s) and also saw the Y-K version in Pittsburgh (1998). In my last years of high school, it was a regular topic of interest shared with a close friend, one who likewise introduced me to Susan Kay's novel, attended several of the shows I listed above with me, and in general perpetuated my interest in this fine story. Those were the days of the Phantom Nexus site and my first opportunity to share that interest with others online. I was fortunate in college to participate in master classes with Cris Groenendaal which was great, and that was the last significant Phantom-related milestone until I met one of your long-time colleagues here.

As I mentioned, Madame Giry and I are classmates and perhaps during our very first conversation we discussed our mutual interest in this story and its various iterations on the stage and screen. I'm glad to still recall my interest in the Phantom of the Opera and to again share it with others. I look forward to participating on the board.

Hello! I've been lurking but finally decided to stop being a creeper and post something. I spent a while in the Phantom fandom around...um...1997 to 2000, maybe? I was very small and can't remember a lot of it, just enough to be thankful that red text on black background isn't as common as it was in the late 90s. I can't really remember my old usernames from way back when, but I have probably run into at least a few of the old-timers in other places. ~Because of reasons~ my interest in Phantom was sort of quiet for the past ten years or so, but it's nice to remember everything. I hope to see the show again soon in New York (for the first time in...six or seven years?) and get my hands on some of the Leroux translations I haven't gotten around to picking up. Meanwhile, I live in New England and work as a violinist, and also love Doctor Who, which I thought I'd mention because of some replies earlier in the thread.

Greetings Harker, greetings exopotamie. Welcome back to the phandom! I hope you both enjoy your stay here

TAFKaR

My dear Mr. Harker,

It is good to see that you have opted to join us here. I do hope that you will enjoy your stay and derive great enjoyment, both from revisiting your memories of past Phantom experiences and from reading about the various and sundry adventures of our board residents.

And yes, to all my fellow board members, I claim full responsibility for Mr. Harker's joining our ranks, and hope he makes the best of it (despite our antics... )

~Madame~

Welcome to both Jonathan Harker and exopotamie!

Hullo everyone!
I have been a phan since I saw Scott Davies live way back in year 2000, so naturally I have been reading this forum for quite a while - though it did take me some time to finally register I am likely to stay a lurker, but since I am now a registered used I thought I'd say 'hi' from Russia.
Not much to tell about me really. I do wish my English was better - French doubly so - and I am sorry in advance if I am hard to read.
Phantom-wise, I am more of a book fan than anything else; my favourite film version is the Chaney version save for the finale and the mini-series with Charles Dance, although I wish Kopit kept the complexity of Erik's character. My favourite ALW Phantom is (still) Scott Davies. Oh yes, and I am pro-LND (saw it twice actually) but it's a totally unexplainable and irrational love
My friends and I are currently working on a chronology of events in the book. If we do eventually get it finished (for it seems to really be taking forever) I will definitely share.
Well, I think that's it for now. Thank you for your time

Welcome to Deserted Phans, tromp-la-mort. I hope you enjoy it here

I've tried my hand at a chronology of the book's events, too. Got pretty far with it, to the point of confirming - in my mind at least - that the story could not have taken place specifically in 1881. We should compare notes sometime!

R.

Thank you very much, Raphael!
Yes, 1881 seems unlikely if we keep in mind the repertoir of Opera Garnier and the historical chandelier chrash; what we are trying to do however is at least trace the intervals between the events, and those seem to be puzzling too (the chronology in the Persian's story is the most confusing part).

*nervous wave into the far reaches of the internet* Hi guys! and hello to everyone. I'm afraid I've been a long time Phantom fandom lurker, really - got into ALW's Phantom aged fifteen, was disappointed by the movie, and lusted after the costumes for 7-8 years straight without doing anything about it. But I starting volunteering at my local theatre's costume hire to get experience in sewing and I've just nervously finished making my very first dressing gown! I know the lovely Anea from her scrumptious FB costume page, where I'm Helen the very, very newbie costumer. Pleasure to be here amongst such lovely people! It's almost worth joining the forum just for the fantastic homepage banner ^^

AmelieMontmartre wrote:*nervous wave into the far reaches of the internet* Hi guys! and hello to everyone. I'm afraid I've been a long time Phantom fandom lurker, really - got into ALW's Phantom aged fifteen, was disappointed by the movie, and lusted after the costumes for 7-8 years straight without doing anything about it. But I starting volunteering at my local theatre's costume hire to get experience in sewing and I've just nervously finished making my very first dressing gown! I know the lovely Anea from her scrumptious FB costume page, where I'm Helen the very, very newbie costumer. Pleasure to be here amongst such lovely people! It's almost worth joining the forum just for the fantastic homepage banner ^^

Waves a cheerful hello!! And I agree about the banner.

Welcome, Helen! Glad you could join our "sad culture."

~LCD

Bonjour phellow Phans!

I recently joined this awesome phorum.

Briefly, about myself:
- I've been a full-fledged Phan since 1997, and after a long period of inactivity in the Phandom, I have now returned.
- I've seen ALW's POTO at least 30 times (which I know is like a drop in the bucket compared to the number of times others have seen the show).
- My fave Phantoms are Michael Crawford, James Romick, Ramin Karimloo and Rene Simard.
- My fave Christines are Dale Kristien and Sierra Boggess.

Also, I'm currently searching for, what I guess would be considered rare, photos of Rene Simard as the Phantom from the past Toronto production. So if any pics of Rene's Phantom could be shared, that would be great!

Lastly, I just want to say that I'd totally LOVE to one day see a French-language production of ALW's POTO...I'm guessing either in Belgium or in Quebec, Canada.

Anyway, Vive Le Fantome!

Hello everyone. I didn't want to start my own thread when we had this one where all could introduce themselves.

I've been a Phan since I was in elementary school when my music teacher would have us students listen to POTO for recreation. My interest in POTO was revived in 2004 during all the hype for the movie.

I used to frequent the old PFN but then left after I decided I was ashamed of how I acted online. Of course...I had a different alias, one I now feel was very immature. The new one I'm using isn't very creative either. lol.

It's nice to meet you all.

Welcome NightRachel (if I haven't done so already), and welcome to you too Sapphire!

R.

Thanks, Raphael! (And yeah, you did, but a 2nd welcome is never a bad thing).

Yeah, since I met many of you guys at PLV closing I figured I should stop lurking. I was briefly a member of phansonline, but mostly lurked there too. Most people who know of me already have done so through facebook or deviantart. I'm the one who does badly scribbled comics of Phantom Phlubs and has recently started printing phantom shirts. I also do Phantom makeup. Obviously.

So yeah, backstory I guess. I'm a relative newbie to most phans. I only became one in late 06/ early 07. My first show was Vegas with Brent Barrett. Unfortunately I don't remember the Christine. The story of my crazy fast-paced phan initiation has been told a few times here and there, but I'll save it for another time. I'm sure there is a more appropriate thread for that.

Anywho, I don't expect to post that much. Forums aren't really my thing. I'll probably haunt the art board mostly, but who knows. Tempt me with a good topic/convo and I might just put in my 2 cents.

Happy to see you step out of the shadows, PhantomOfTheSalle! Or shall I call you POTS?

Hey STUD, what do you think?

R.

A few instructions just before rehearsals start...

Only kidding. R. I like it , but forgive me if I say I am still a bit partial to mine

lol I see POTS and am tempted to add a Mrs. to the front of it...

better not XD

let's go with Salle

*waves* Hello, my name's Leffie! I'm new here, as you can see! I wanted to find an active Phantom forum that wasn't POTO.com (not because it's not a good site, but because it's HUGE and one can easily get lost there) and was a general forum for POTO discussion. So, here I am! :3

I've been a phan for over two years now, since I saw the stage show when the US tour ended. Since then I've also seen it on Broadway with Hugh Panaro in the role, though TMG is still my favorite ALW phantom. ;D I've seen every movie version that I can get my hands on (Erik: Portrait of a Living Corpse is the only one I've yet to see, which means YES I've seen Angel of Music >>). I'm not really a purist, but I do like the book the best, though my favorite movie versions are Chaney, Englund, and Lom. I'm also a Sherlock Holmes fan, as sometimes that seems relevant to some people. *shrugs*

I also run my own Phantom related site, a roleplay forum called Phantom Manor! I wonder if some of my members are on here... *surveys the area* We shall see...!

Nice to meet you all! :3

EDIT: I should also probably mention, I'm a HUGE Love Never Dies phan... >> I know some people don't like it, but I do, especially the London version. :3

Hi Leffie and welcome to Deserted Phans! We're happy to have you here.

R.

Hello again from this erstwhile and once-upon-a-time rabid phan.

I recognize a lot of usernames, but I've been out of the phandom for the last... eight years almost? Yeesh.

[Edited]

Hi Caitlin (FdeLOpera)! I remember you. Welcome back to the Phandom!

I too was active in the Phandom in the late '90s...I went by the name Nightingale, but now you can call me NightRachel (or just Rachel). And like you, I was also absent from the Phandom for quite a few yrs, but I came back into it last year around this time (thanks to the London POTO 25th RAH performance on DVD/Blu-ray), and so I joined this really great forum.
Wow -- those names of Phans you mentioned: Christine Daae, Karin Willison, Carrie Hernandez, and Nicola Waters. I remember them all! In fact, I was in direct contact with both Christine and Carrie for awhile back then...but I haven't heard from, or about, any of them in *years*. I too am curious to know what became of them, and if they're still involved with Phantom at all anymore. I envy you that you got to attend the 10th anniversary of POTO! I had heard all about it back then but I was in college at the time and couldn't attend the festivities/performance. But now I've been lucky enough to have attended the 25th anniversary gala performance of POTO on Broadway just last month, and it was awesome!

Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this forum and post as often as you can.

Hi Rachel! It's good to meet you again!

NightRachel wrote:I too was active in the Phandom in the late '90s...I went by the name Nightingale, but now you can call me NightRachel (or just Rachel).

I remember you, too! So good to know someone who was a part of the Mailing List. That list was truly a magical place.

NightRachel wrote:Wow -- those names of Phans you mentioned: Christine Daae, Karin Willison, Carrie Hernandez, and Nicola Waters. I remember them all! In fact, I was in direct contact with both Christine and Carrie for awhile back then...but I haven't heard from, or about, any of them in *years*. I too am curious to know what became of them, and if they're still involved with Phantom at all anymore.

I think that Christine Daae is still involved in some capacity with POTO.com, though I could be wrong. I am sorry to have lost touch with Carrie, especially since she is the one who inspired me to start translating Le Fantôme when she wrote a side-by-side comparison of the Little Lotte passage in the de Mattos, Bair, and Wolf translations. And Nicola had some of the best PotO one-liners I have ever read. One of my PotO friends and I compiled a list of Nicola's best quotes, and were going to have them printed up on tee-shirts. Alas, we never did, and I have no idea where that list is.

NightRachel wrote:I've been lucky enough to have attended the 25th anniversary gala performance of POTO on Broadway just last month, and it was awesome!

That is wonderful!!! I wish I could have gone. I've watched clips of it on YouTube, and it looks like it was a fantastic performance (especially the curtain call, where Sierra Boggess was serenaded by four Phantoms, past and present). I like Sierra in the role -- I think she brings depth and nuance to Christine.

Anyway, thanks again for your message! It's great to be back in the phandom.

Yeah, I too wish I hadn't lost touch with Carrie Hernandez...her work in the Phandom was awesome! I actually have a copy somewhere of that side-by-side "Little Lotte" translation comparison she wrote up...and I have all 5 issues of her POTO Magazine. Last year I went through and re-read all 5 issues, and it brought back a lot of memories of the "good old days" of the Phandom (back when the Internet was still pretty "new"). Carrie's POTO website and the Phantom Nexus were the *best* -- I miss them!

Yeah, it's great that there's video footage online from the POTO Broadway 25th gala for those who couldn't be there. I thought the performance itself was very good, and of course the curtain call/finale was the icing on the Phantom cake!
Have you watched the DVD of the London 25th? I too really like Sierra's Christine (for the reasons you mentioned).

BTW, if you'd like to chat off-forum, feel free to email me.

angelofmusic4evr wrote:Hello again from this erstwhile and once-upon-a-time rabid phan.

I recognize a lot of usernames, but I've been out of the phandom for the last... eight years almost? Yeesh.

angelofmusic4evr. Now THERE'S a blast from the past! Nice to have you back

And welcome to you as well, FdeLOpera! It's nice to have fans from back in the day find their way here!

R.

NightRachel, for security purposes, take care about posting your email address since this is a public forum. You can use the private message system if you want to give that sort of info out to specific members.