Theatre: Phantom of the Opera 2026

 

Phantom of the Opera 2026 North American Tour

I bought tickets for me and my best friend to see this show as soon as it was announced in spring 2025 and I had a phone in my hand. That was a good decision. 

I love Phantom of the Opera. It is my favorite musical. My faulty memory says this is might be the third or fourth time I’ve seen it live on stage and I’ve only seen it at The Pantages. 

In this fantastic production the entire cast gave amazing performances. The Phantom was played by Isaiah Bailey who has a great voice and brought every ounce of emotion out of his role. Christine Daae was played by Jordan Lee Gilbert who sang the role beautifully. Even Raoul, played by Daniel Lopez, was notable and great. 

After seeing the stage production multiple times and three versions of the story on screen, I really took some time to question the story, notably who took advantage of whom. My bestie thinks Christine is the user, taking advantage of the Phantom’s guidance and tutoring, then when she gets successful, she leaves him in the dust for the handsome vicomte. But as I see it, the Phantom tricked her, taking advantage of Christine’s grief from the loss of her father and loneliness, he comes to her as a musically saavy ghost voice tutor. After her talents are discovered everything converges: She suddenly finds herself a star, the Phantom reveals himself as flesh and blood and the person who’s also been terrorizing everyone in the theater where she works. While riding that emotional roller coaster,  a man from her past shows up and showers her with affection and rich attention: Why not fall for this guy?

All Christine has known is being “guided” by one person or another. It doesn’t seem like she’s had to decide too much for herself so ghosting the non-ghost Phantom and choosing the rich guy Raoul makes perfect sense, especially considering the choices women had in that time period. But she’s a compassionate person, and although he misrepresented himself, in the end, she’s grateful to the Phantom for his guidance. Once you have that, everything else makes sense. 

Theatre: The Piano Lesson

A Noise Within
I remember seeing The Piano Lesson as a Saturday afternoon TV movie during my childhood. I usually didn’t watch Saturday TV after it switched from cartoon to live-action, but this must have snagged my attention or maybe I tuned in at an especially engaging point. I remember there was something paranormal in the movie and that in at least one scene the piano was possessed. I don’t think I ever saw the movie again. 

Fast forward to the present: I’ve been following the August Wilson Cycle that A Noise Within has been producing and this year’s selection was The Piano Lesson!
The first half was great. ANW always has amazingly complex and authentic set deign. The actors, some familiar from the previous August Wilson plays, some not, were excellent and so comfortable in their characters, I felt like I knew them. And though it followed Wilson’s standard trope - a Black man rushing his way to prosperity only to blame something or someone for standing in his way - The rest of the story was quite interesting and intriguing. I couldn’t wait for the Piano possession!
Act 2 was such a disappointment! It was like the actors were rushing through (Which might have been the case. During the intermission, we overheard a stage hand saying they were running behind). Only some of the same intensity and depth of the characters came through. Then, in the end when the house shakes and the piano is supposed to become possessed by the ancestors or Mr. Sutter’s ghost, it was so anti-climactic. They could have done a better job of bringing that to life without much special effects expense. They didn’t even flicker the lights, which is ghost-on-stage 101! If I could do this over, I’d have another actor playing the ghost showing up in deep background at key points throughout the play. For the climax scene, I would have had the lights flicker and shake, the piano playing by itself, and the ghost flash their way through the scene.
Then it ended and all was well. Hmph.
I still love ANW as a venue and Greg Daniels’ productions of August Wilson plays. But I recognize that this particular night wasn’t anybody’s peak performance.

Off Beat Romance Double Feature

I managed to pick two quirky, romantic comedies that are really fun and worth watching multiple times. I highly recommend these for a fun Hulu + chill night.

Dinner in America (2020)
Hulu
An awesome movie about a low-level criminal punk rocker stumbles upon a punk groupie of whom not much has been expected. Shenanigans and punk music ensue. Overall a fun and well-made movie. Nothing extraneous perfect acting, good writing.

Palm Springs (2020)
Hulu
This is a sort-of-sci-fi romantic comedy about a time loop starring Andy Samberg. Kind of like Groundhog Day but in Palm Springs. I really liked it. Light and fun, good comedic banter, fun side characters.

Black History Month 2025 Shorts Series

I celebrated Black History Month this year by being a couch potato. Also, since none of the Oscar nominated shorts were available online, I decided to make my own shorts series. Want to hear about it? Here it goes…

Shaka Inkosi YamaKhosi (2021) 15 mins Netflix

This is an animated short about Shaka Zulu. It was okay. 

Cops & Robbers (2020) 7 mins Netflix 

Partially animated by different animation teams. That’s was the most interesting thing about this film, which is a poem about police brutality. 

Heart Shot (2022) 19 min Netflix 

Excellent short film about a mysterious bad girl. The action was surprisingly good.

The Weathering (2023) 20 min Netflix 
A black woman deals with the pain and prejudice of the maternal health system. Another well done short.

Makayla’s Voice A letter to the world (2024) 24 min Netflix
A really beautiful documentary short about a non-verbal (but learning) autistic girl who learns to communicate using a letter board and has a lot to say.

Sad Day (2020) 8min Hulu
A Crouching tigger inspired ramen shop dream. Music by FKA twigs. Very fun to watch!

Starkeisha (2022) 33 min Hulu
A sci/fi fantasy about code switching and self-acceptance. A bit too long, too much flashiness that gets in the way of the story, but worth seeing. Reminded me of Lovecraft Country episode 7, I Am, about Hippolyta’s adventures through different dimensions.

Part 2 2024 Holiday Movie Marathon: Snow and Inns and Planes, Oh My!

Photo by Clement Lepetit

Back for more of my 2024 Holiday Movie Marathon?! Thanks for reading on. If you're just tuning in, you might want to go to the first post to learn about the theme, tropes and rating system.

Dashing Home for Christmas (2020) 🎄🎄🎄
“Hopefully this is the last little hiccup in our trip. I think we’ve hit the misfortune limit.“
A career-focused woman is determined to spend Christmas with her family although everything that could possibly go wrong actually does. Along the way she runs into a fellow traveler who seems like her opposite, but it turns out they make a good team when they bring their skills together.
This is supposed to be a meet-awkward, road trip, holiday romance. The female lead is supposed to be a work-focused, cold-hearted and particular, but she doesn’t quite come off that bad. The male lead is supposed to be sloppy and a real nice guy. The actor pulls it off.
The production value was B-level and the acting was okay. The story wasn’t that original sticking to standard tropes, but something about the story made it endearing. I had other movies with similar storylines on my watch list that I avoided because I didn’t want a repeat.

• Tropes: Opposites attract • Shared goal: Get to the final destination, a place where we can spend Christmas with people we love • On the road • Stranded
• How’d you watch it? UPtv via Amazon Prime
• Fit the theme? Yep.

Snowed-Inn Christmas (2017) 🎄🎄🎄
Two magazines staff writers are sent on assignment to write the article that will save one of their jobs. One of them is a precise planner that plays it safe, the other, a sloppy, last minute adventurer. On the way, they find themselves stranded and snowed in a small town, Santa Claus, Indiana. They decide to try to save the B&B where they’re staying. Sub-plot: The older couple who run Winter’s Inn very closely resemble Santa and Mrs. Claus: Are they the real ones?
Real snow! No romantic chemistry between the two leads. The story is entertaining, but very trope-y. The male lead is played by frequent cheesy romance player, Andrew W. Walker, who I watched in Dashing Through the Snow (2018 marathon) and most likely in other cheesy romances.

• Tropes: Stranded together • Enemies to lovers • Opposites attract • Shared goal: save the inn
• How’d you watch it? Amazon Prime
• Fits the theme? For sure. They’re travel writers who get stranded while traveling.

A Merry Scottish Christmas (2023) 🎄🎄🎄
An American son and daughter visit their mom in Scotland only to learn that she’s inherited a title and estate. She wants them to take over. Will they leave their lives in the US to become the Duke and/or Duchess of the estate?
There are quite a few holes in the plot, but otherwise this was a nice gentle family drama with a cheesy, quick fall-in-romance story. I was a bit disturbed by how hard the male romantic lead was selling the female lead on staying in Scotland.

The son-brother is played by Scott Wolf best known for Party of Five and the daughter-female-romantic-lead is played by Lacey Chabert, a HolRom queen who you might have seen in Hot Frosty (I haven't seen it, yet). 

• Tropes: Shared goal: save the estate • Destination movie • Location gap • Career vs. Love 
• How’d you watch it? Hallmark via Netflix
• Fits the theme… sure. Yeah. Barely. The brother and sister fly to Scotland and the original intention was that they were tourists, but then they inherit.