My First Phantom...

Today we had a sing through of act one of Phantom.  Listening to all that beautiful music again made me remember seeing Phantom for the first time.  It was the year 2000 and I LOVED it.  It was hands down the best musical I saw on Broadway during my visit.  We sat in the 7th row and I could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics!

Here are some of my memories from the show...
*When Carlotta started singing "Think of Me" I was confused, I thought - no way, she doesn't look like Christine at all!
*Piagini struggling and failing to get on top of the giant elephant...hysterical.
*Candles...lots of them...with REAL flames and appearing as if from no where.
*Utter awe and astonishment at the Phantom appearing on top of the proscenium facade at the end of act one.
*I had no idea the stage was part puppets and not all actors during Masquerade.
*Tears streaming down my face at the end of the show, all the while thinking how sad it was because the Phantom just really loved her.

It makes me want to see the show again!  Hopefully all these fabulous memories and more will be formed in my upcoming production.  I can't wait to start staging.

Image from broadwayworld.com