Erik

[Thalia]

Oh, I mean the ones that are supposed to be so uplifting. I don't feel uplifted during Music of the Night (well, in a weird sort of way I do, but it's kind of melancholy for me), and the other songs are supposed to be more intense. All I Ask of You and Masquerade are two songs that are supposed to make you so very glad, and Phantom can just swoop in and alter their meaning and break my heart. 3

[Gemma]

I actually feel pretty uplifted during Music of the Night (it must be in the movement of the melody), but when it's turned around at the final lair into his ultimate song of heartbreak and sorrow...if for any reason I haven't cried yet up to that point, that part tears my heart out and shreds it to pieces. I've been known to throw things across the rooms (harmless things like pillows, but still!) just to relieve all the anguish.

[Anna]

I have yet to see Ramin's Stranger Than You Dream it!! Why did he allow her to remove his mask?

[Lois]

Hello, does anyone know any good books on the Phantom?

[Lois]

Anne wrote: "Is he fictional???Leroux' book makes you wonder. and other things I have read, like the finding of a deformed skeleton under the Garnier, also makes one wonder???"

Knowing this is a really good comeback when people know about my obsession and say Calm down it's fiction!!!

[Lois]

Thalia wrote: "Seriously, right? He can take any song that was once happy and twist it all around for me. All I Ask of You is one of them. The way he sings Masquerade at the end is the other. It just...it kills m..."

Have you seen No one would listen? It makes me cry! :'(

[Thalia]

Lois, yes! Ahhswvntrjberh5k it's so beautiful. ;-;

[Lois]

I know, I showed my friend and brother and they laughed and I got so mad... They should have put it in the movie and I bet loads of people would understand Erik more. But then again without it, it easily shows the ones of us who love him anyway! OMG I love him :'(

[Gemma]

Oh, not No One Would Listen! It tears my heart out every time! Even more so than Learn to Be Lonely!

[Lois]

Gemma Irene wrote: "Oh, not No One Would Listen! It tears my heart out every time! Even more so than Learn to Be Lonely!"

I know... Why didn't they put it the movie??? It reveals so much and Is so beautiful xx :'(

[Anne]

I think the betting on whether it should have been in would be 99% yes, 1% no. I have yet to hear a no, but just in case-LOL. It is a beautiful song, and at least we have it to enjoy. ALW could have deleted it.

[Lois]

Thalia wrote: "I always just call him Phantom. "Erik" sounds like too normal a name for the person he is, so I can't bring myself to use it. XD I apologize for that in advance.

The first time I saw Phantom was o..."

I always talk to my English teacher about Phantom (She is the only one who cares about it) and she says exactly the same about his name. Personally I think it suits him but it is indeed just an opinion ;)

[Lois]

I actually don't mind Erik's face on the movie. My friends do and it scares my brother but I honestly don't mind it! No lies here...

[Thalia]

I'm actually glad No One Would Listen wasn't in the actual movie. The part of my brain that demands accuracy would have been too unhappy with that big of a deviation from the original play. I love hearing it as a deleted scene and knowing where it would have taken place, but I love the movie as-is. <3

When I first saw the movie, and they played that little part of "Learn to be Lonely" when Phantom and Christine are looking at each other on the steps of the Masquerade, at first I was like, "It's so pretty, but totally wasn't there in the stage version!"

[Lois]

Thalia wrote: "I'm actually glad No One Would Listen wasn't in the actual movie. The part of my brain that demands accuracy would have been too unhappy with that big of a deviation from the original play. I love ..."

I liked the Why so silent scene in the movie! It was awesome... But one reason why they probably couldn't use it was because Erik called Piangi fat basicly and not all the actors who play Piangi are fat... Although they could just change it slightly...

[Allison]

Wow, I never even realized before that they play Learn To Be Lonely during that scene in Masquerade..how did I not catch that?!

[Lois]

Thalia wrote: "I'm actually glad No One Would Listen wasn't in the actual movie. The part of my brain that demands accuracy would have been too unhappy with that big of a deviation from the original play. I love ..."

I thought they played No one would listen in tht scene! Are learn to be lonely and no one would listen the same tune?????

[Gemma]

They're the same, Lois. I might be wrong, but after they scrapped the idea of No One Would Listen, they rewrote the lyrics and came up with Learn To Be Lonely. :)

[Anne]

Nowl is veautiful, LTBL was awful. She can't sing, at least not the kind of singing in POTO, so he would have been better off to put NOWL in for the reading of the credits.

[Thalia]

Yeah; I knew Learn to Be Lonely long before I knew about the No One Would Listen deleted scene, so I always refer to that music in the Masquerade scene as Learn to be Lonely, hahah. (:

I think Minnie Driver actually did a beautiful job for the song, Anne. LTBL wasn't supposed to be part of the Phantom soundtrack, as in, in the musical, but rather a more modern, sadder song that still applied to Phantom. Driver is actually incredibly talented--she can sing like Carlotta and then produce a sound as lovely as that for LTBL?

[Gemma]

Actually, I think Minnie was dubbed for Carlotta...I remember mention somewhere that she was the only one not doing her own singing. I do love her voice, but in a setting such as Phantom, it doesn't fit very well.

[Thalia]

Oh really? When I watched the interviews on the DVD nobody mentioned it, and she acted very much like she did all her own singing. Maybe it was just for the notes that were in the stratosphere?

I think it worked as a credit song, though. I couldn't imagine it actually being a Phantom song and not getting to see the setting and character singing it. I don't know, it made it easier for me that way.

[Anne]

Minnie did not sing for Carlotta. That was the only dubbed voice, and was done by Opera singer Margaret Priese.

[Lois]

Gemma Irene wrote: "They're the same, Lois. I might be wrong, but after they scrapped the idea of No One Would Listen, they rewrote the lyrics and came up with Learn To Be Lonely. :)"

Ah okay!

[Lois]

Anne wrote: "Nowl is veautiful, LTBL was awful. She can't sing, at least not the kind of singing in POTO, so he would have been better off to put NOWL in for the reading of the credits."

I agree, I listened to LTBL and was dissapointed cos No one would listen meant a lot to me when I heard it.

[Lois]

Anne wrote: "Is he fictional???Leroux' book makes you wonder. and other things I have read, like the finding of a deformed skeleton under the Garnier, also makes one wonder???"

When I visited the Opera house the touur guide said it was unknown if he existed but it is true that threatening voices were heard from box 5!

[Lois]

I was lucky enough last week to visit paris and I nagged my parents to take me to the garnier! It was beautiful. I made friends with the tour guide and I asked him which was box 5. SO the tour guide said so why does she want to know which box 5 is? This chinese dude goes Was it the emperors box? Imma like noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Most regretably we couldn't go in box 5 or see the underground lake :'( But outside box 5 in french on a gold plate it say Box of the Phantom of the Opera. I will try and post a photo! It was amazing!!!!

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Oh you lucky girl you!!If you can Lois..upload to the photo section any pictures you have or you can start a thread with "Garnier-Pictures" :)

[Lois]

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Oh you lucky girl you!!If you can Lois..upload to the photo section any pictures you have or you can start a thread with "Garnier-Pictures" :)"

I uploaded two of box five now and I will see if I can upload some more! I feel so lucky because as well as that I am going to see Phantom at the theatre on Thursday and I am going to a workshop at the theatre. I actually cannot believe it! If we can take pictures at the workshop I will :Dx

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Sounds good thanks Lois:)

[Lois]

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Sounds good thanks Lois:)"

no problameo!

[Anne]

Where did you upload them, Lois? I've been looking in the photo's here and they are not there.

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Anne wrote: "Where did you upload them, Lois? I've been looking in the photo's here and they are not there."

They are in the group photo's Anne Page 2

[Anne]

Thank you Sandi-stupid me did not think about a page 2-LOL

[Lois]

Anne wrote: "Thank you Sandi-stupid me did not think about a page 2-LOL"

ahaaa :)x

[Erie]

he's a very troubled man, with a heart that no-one can understand, believe me i've experienced this, i'm a fan i should know him

[Anne]

I think that's what makes us all love him. Whether Handsome Gerard Butler or ugly early Erik, we always seem to have sympathy for him.

[Olivia]

I've always liked Erik. He just wants to be loved. I think that Erik should have in the end gotten Christine. Thats my opinion. Erik did bad things but in the end he loved Christine, bur she didnt love him.

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Erik remains my favorite:)

[Gemma]

Olivia wrote: "I've always liked Erik. He just wants to be loved. I think that Erik should have in the end gotten Christine. Thats my opinion. Erik did bad things but in the end he loved Christine, bur she didnt ..."

You know, I'm not sure Erik should have gotten Christine, at least not right away. He was obsessed with her to the point he kidnapped her to the cellars (twice!) and threatened to kill Raoul if she didn't choose to stay in the lair. Not quite the start to a healthy relationship! LOL

He never understood what it really meant to love someone, having been unloved his entire life, and I think he needed that moment of sacrifice in the lair--Christine sacrificing herself out of love for Raoul, and Erik sacrificing his own happiness for her. It wasn't until that moment he knew what love was, and it's a necessary part of the story. It sucks, but it's necessary.

[Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~*]

Gemma Irene wrote: "Olivia wrote: "I've always liked Erik. He just wants to be loved. I think that Erik should have in the end gotten Christine. Thats my opinion. Erik did bad things but in the end he loved Christine,..."

Good points there Gemma,and even though we want a HEA for Erik, I think you are right that it was how it needed to end.

[Anne]

Sandi *~The Pirate Wench~* wrote: "Gemma Irene wrote: "Olivia wrote: "I've always liked Erik. He just wants to be loved. I think that Erik should have in the end gotten Christine. Thats my opinion. Erik did bad things but in the end..."

I have never felt that Christine was right for Erik. When he learned to sacrifice and let her go to her real love, Raoul, he matured enough to learn to deal with his own passions. I gave him a more mature(24 years) woman in my book.

[Emma]

I know sometimes he may have been evil. When I got back from vacation, I was telling my friends about how I saw the musical on Broadway. One friend was like, "I hate that movie!!!!!" The other friend was like, "Why should the girl have ended up with the guy? He's a murderer!" But I believe that Christine could have helped him...

[Wendy]

Hi all,
it has been a long time since anyone posted a comment on this thread, but I just happened to read through everyone's comments. It is obvious that the character of Erik the Phantom has the power to inspire true passion. I am one of those who feels that he and Christine would not be a good match - she is not the right woman for him. In my own book, a retelling of POTO from someone else's point of view, I gave him a different love interest. He needs someone who can appreciate the complexity of his character. But he is still Erik, able to be scary when he wants to be. I wrote it because of my own deep desire to give him his own happy ending. I think he deserves it!