Hey, everybody, gather 'round: I learned new information today!

Thanks to the Joyce Agency that currently tours the show, I was contacted with a bunch of new information about the Phantom of the Opera musical by Ivan Jacobs, which I reviewed a while back. It was one of my more frustrating reviews, since I didn't have any information on the show other than the cast recording and spent most of my time wondering what was going on, so it's great to find out a little bit more about what was going on in there. In no particular order (also, spoilers, y'all!):

1) The baritone singing the part of Didot in the opening scene appears to be Chester Ludgin, a famous opera singer.
2) Raoul does not actually mysteriously vanish after his fight with Christine at the masquerade; he just doesn't have any more big numbers, so I couldn't tell if he was still there from the recording.
3) Erik totally does not die at the end.
4) In fact, he does not die so much that Christine chooses to stay with him instead of leaving with Raoul. Quite different from the more gloomy ending I had reconstructed!
5) There is real cover art and now you can see it.

I'll add more information if and when I find some, but until then, join me in being enlightened. In addition, if anybody wants to see some excerpts from the show (which I know you are all dying to do since it's so hard to get hold of, right?), you can check out this quick montage of several songs, including the hilarious "Break a Leg". I'd embed, but I figure you guys will want the opportunity to see this video in its natural habitat.

Back to reading... which I will finish someday, honest. Not even the holidays can stop me.

Guys! Guys! In the spirit of the recently-past Halloween festivities, I tried to review a creepy game and somehow managed to do it all wrong. Nevertheless, I still have a review of it, because that's how I roll.

This also seemed like a good time to move games to their own section on the site; there are only three right now, but there are a lot more in the future of reviewing, so they've got their own little playground.

Onward!

Look out, film world - I'm on a reviewing rampage. Can't keep even your most critically panned and elusively obscure movies out of my hands, nosirree!

Man, Halloween is really a good time of year for Phantom-related goodies. I'm thinking about taking my reviews out of order just to look at something more awesomely Halloweeny and fun while the season is upon me.

Holy smokes, a wild review has appeared! The Phantom Project now has 40% more fierce guitar riffs than it did before.

Thanks to awesome internet collaborators, I now have a copy of the second Robert Englund Phantom horror film, just in time to enjoy it for Halloween. Stay tuned to hear about me whimpering like a little girl and making John sleep with the lights on.

I was alerted today by a studious reader that Herbert Lom, the fantastic actor best known to most of us as Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movies but most famous in Phantom circles as the ill-fated and tragic Professor Petrie from the 1962 Hammer horror film adaptation of the story, died yesterday of natural causes.

Whether you were a fan of the 60's adaptation or not, you have to admit that the man deserves acting props. We'll pour one out tonight for Mr. Lom, and rewatch his exploits in honor of his contributions to the ever-changing craziness of the Phantom story.

Okay, after internet research has gotten me exactly nothing on this, I come to you, other readers.

I read (and reviewed) T.A. Chappel's Mask in the Corridor a little while ago, and in the author's note at the end she mentions that she's working on a sequel entitled A Century Away. That was in 2006, and in 2007 a book called A Century Away by Chappel did indeed appear on the scene.

I haven't bought a copy yet, though, because I can't for the life of me tell if it's actually a new book or just a re-issue of Mask in the Corridor. The two books appear to have almost identical summaries about Jillian and her archaeological travails, so I'm stuck trying to figure out if Chappel's assertion that it's a sequel was still true a year later or if something happened in the interim that instead turned it into a mere new edition of the first book. I haven't been able to find any previews of it on the web, but Google Books seems to think that A Century Away is about 50 pages longer than its predecessor... but since it's from a different self-publisher (PublishAmerica instead of Mask's Authorhouse) and she could have changed the formatting, that doesn't really give me much evidence.

I suppose the smart thing to do is just to buy a copy and hope for the best, but I'm not made of pennies over here. Anybody out there already own this book who could shed some light on the situation?

Holy smokes, I have been gone longer than ever before. I'm sorry for the long radio silence - apparently getting married involves a lot of time and effort that I was not previously aware of. Since I don't have to do it again, however, I'm pretty confident in saying that that, at least, isn't going to get in the way again!

I wish I had something awesome to tell you about on my first day back, but instead I just have a review of a sadly terrible book. Oh, well - we'll keep our chins up for the next time!

I have been gone for possibly centuries. I have a good excuse: I was busy getting married. See? (John doesn't know he's being featured on the internet today, but I figure his hat was too awesomely nineteenth-century to be denied.)

But you guys aren't here to hear about that, you're here to see hilarious Phantom shenanigans, so I am totally on the ball to deliver! I caught these local sketch comedians in my hometown recently and about died. They told me later that they considered it a homage to the Phantom Project's worst Hall of Fame entrants.

Thanks for the tip from Mon Frere on Vimeo.

A thing of beauty.

The end of the month? Not without a little review, it isn't! Take that, time!

June this year is the month of big old life upheavals, but I hope to be able to get at least a review or two out to you, wonderful internets. After all, if you weren't there to understand my bad Phantom lit pain, who would be?

Okay, kids - it's review time again! The month sabbatical was a combination of life pressures (apparently planning a wedding is hard, or something) and this book being a real clunker to get through. The next one looks like smoother sailing, so hopefully it won't be so long until we have another nugget of Phantom joy to examine.

Wow, did that book ever bring out the swearing sailor in me. Whew.

Ahoy, it's a new review! This is another adult film. It has a lot of boobs, like, jumping out at your face. You've all been warned.

I don't think I should do two adult film reviews in such quick succession anymore. It makes me want to fire everyone in the world.

This latest review so fried my brain that I forgot to even note here that I finished it last night. Feast on the splendiferous glory of a failing grade, and pardon me while I take a day or two to recover.

Because I'm not feeling like the next one is going to make me feel better. Porn industry, why do you keep abusing this story?

Backfired, but here's a pretend review anyway.

On to try yet again! I'm pretty sure the next one will be a success, and I think it's reasonable to assume it will not involve eyeballs or erotic dancing, so it'll probably be a nice change of pace.

Oh, lord. If you've been waiting for me to review something bad again, wait no longer. I need to go huff some Brannagh or something until I feel better about film as an industry.

I knew the road would be rough when I took this turnpike to Self-Published Junction, but man, I could have used more mental suspension.

Reviewing has occurred, and it's surprisingly awesome. If there's one thing I love, it's being surprised by awesome.

I'm not sure the next thing on my list is going to surprise me with awesome, but I bet it'll find some way to surprise me, so I'll take it.

It's not quite review time, but since this keeps turning up in all my feeds, I figured you fine people couldn't help but enjoy a look-see if you haven't seen it yet.

Exciting, right? It's a fun effort, though I want to shake him until his pretty white teeth rattle out every time he feels the need to "rock up" the Phantom, and I'm not a big fan of his weird tempo shifts in the final lair scene. But hey, I can't sing in two different registers, so a toast to him.

Back to the horrors of ancient Persia!

I come bearing a review of marked confusion. And I come bearing it before the end of the month, so take that, naysayers.

Oh, lord, if Love Never Dies really gets optioned for film, I'm going to have to read a lot faster.

A new year, and we're kicking it off on the right foot with a new review, which will continue to elevate the quality of this site--

Okay, no, sadly this book was both unrelated AND horribly, brain-meltingly bad. Sorry, everybody. We'll make 2012 the year of moving right along.