My Enigmatic Love Affair with The Phantom of The Opera: From Broadway to Fantasia

Welcome to my 3D review of The Phantom of The Opera!

It’s 3D not because you have to wear funny glasses to read it (but go ahead and put them on if you wish. I promise not to laugh. Too much. )

It’s 3D because I will be taking into 3 different dimensions:
• The Phantom of The Opera, the film, show, and work of art
• The BDSM undertones of the story (and there are many)
• My own personal connection to The Phantom,
which has spanned over a decade.

Time:
Modern Day, a few days back, Montreal.

The scene was the magnificent setting of Place des Arts. In a special partnership between The Fantasia International Film Festival & the Cinémathèque québecoise, a special pristine print of Rupert Julian’s The Phantom of the Opera (1925/29), was shown & accompanied by a 30 person orchestra directed by Gabriel Thibaudeau. Gabriel Thibaudeau, composer, conductor, and pianist for the Cinémathèque québécoise, created a glorious, thunderously compelling musical accompaniment to this beautiful classic silent film.

I had won two tickets to see this special version of The Phantom of The Opera and I was accompanied by my friend, the lovely LustyLuscious. I was very happy to have such good company for this Fantasia event and happy to have a fellow kinkster share my Phantom experience, for the first time. Particularly since my own journey with The Phantom over the years has been a solitary one. More about that later.

The fantastic music Thibaudeau created turned this cinematic event into an unforgettable night. The crowd jumped to their feet in unending applause for his wonderful achievement, and I was among the packed crowd of thrilled Fantasia movie goers. He captured the signature organ accent for the movie, along with a host of perfectly suited musical accents to accentuate the silent film’s dramatic moments.

As for the film itself, the highlight of the film was the creative genius of Lon Chaney’s acting. Yes, he did not disappoint with one of his very original & creative monstrous physical disguises as The Phantom, but his acting also featured such a heart-breaking humanity from a monster who loved and craved love so very much.

Mary Philbin, played a wonderfully over the top portrayal of The Phantom’s muse, Christine Daae. To my eyes, she physically resembled Celine Dion a little, and I could picture her thumping her chest in true Celine fashion as well. lol

Like most classic silent films, the film had many comic highlights. Such as the lurking, looming fez-wearing Inspector Ledoux, of the Paris Secret Police. Aren’t the Secret Police supposed to be, well secret and hide in the shadows? If you want to blend into the shadows, maybe you shouldn’t wear a fez so that you stick out from the crowd.

And a particularly hilarious moment was when Ledoux led Christine’s lover, the Vicomte de Chagny into the secret tunnels of the opera house, to save Christine from the Phantom’s grasp. Ledoux told Chagny they must hold a hand above their heads to ward against the Phantom’s noose, as he was wont to strangle those who opposed him. So the two of them crept along with a hand above their heads, which looked so much like the classic Bollywood “screwing in the lighbulb” move. Rather appropriate since The Phantom’s rope strangling was declared to be Indian. “Beware The Punjab Lasso!” we were told. I got a furious attack of the giggles suddenly, when I picture the silent film turning into a Bollywood spectacle all of a sudden. Too funny.

Altogether, this cinematic Phantom event was a triumphant success, for the whole Fantasia crowd, and for me, on a personal level.

For me, this was the second time I saw The Phantom immortalized on the big screen.

Fact is, I am quite a Phantom fan, and I have followed The Phantom of The Opera for a long, long time.

Time:
Flash-back to the end of 1997, Montreal.

After years of BDSM fantasizing, in 1997 I finally found someone to play with in real-time and real life. My Master. My very own Phantom.

One day, I was told to find and study the soundtrack to Webber’s Phantom of The Opera. Just the music. I was told to pay particular attention to the words of the songs, and the message of the music itself, and in particular told to study The Music of the Night. This soundtrack to the Broadway version was then used in my training and my lessons, as a submissive. I became my Master’s muse and his discovery. He discovered that I had a talent, not for singing like, Christine Daae, but for writing. My Master was the one who first encouraged me to write in the BDSM vein. For him, I composed stories and poetry. And I kept a journal for my journey with him, for his amusement and entertainment. My very first BDSM blog!

When I went to choose a soundtrack to Webber’s Phantom of The Opera to use, I did some research before I chose a version. I picked the version that was most acclaimed by critics, and what was the best one to my ear. It featured Michael Crawford and a very young Sarah Brightman. To my ear, Michael Crawford’s rendition of The Phantom was the most talented. His voice, when speaking or singing as The Phantom, was a gloriously full-bodied elegant and seductive one. I loved listening to him.


And as for Sarah Brightman, well…I felt a connection to her in so many ways. First of all, she was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s muse and discovery. He created The Phantom as a vehicle to feature her vocal talent. She was a young ingénue, who played a young ingénue. You can see so many parallels in the relationship between Andrew Lloyd Webber & Sarah Brightman, and The Phantom with Christine Daae.

And my own relationship with my Master mirrored that Creator/muse relationship pattern as well.


Time:
Flash-forward to some time after, the venue is New York and Broadway.

One day, I found myself in a weekend away in New York, with friends. Webber’s Phantom of The Opera was at the end of its run and I was bound & determined to see this story live, that had meant so much to me on my BDSM journey.

One of my friends & I had the incredible luck to nab 2 most excellent and reasonably priced tickets to this immortal Broadway classic. The only problem was that the seats were miles apart, with the whole theatre between us. But we agreed and went to the show.

In a sea of strangers in New York, I was bowled over by the gorgeous storm of The Phantom brought to life on the Broadway stage. And as I watched, I was bowled over by an unexpected storm of emotions that the show brought out of me. I sat there with tears tracking down my face as I thought of my own Phantom and wished with all my heart I could share this moment with him. I was incredibly happy and sad at the same time. It was an unforgettable moment in my life and BDSM journey.


Time:
Flash-forward to 2004, Montreal.

Time for me to finally see The Phantom on the big screen. I eagerly attended a showing of The Phantom of The Opera featuring the talents of Gerard Butler. The critics were not kind. They blasted Butler for his less than stellar singing talent. But I thought that was highly unfair. Of course one knew he was no Michael Crawford. But he did a very good job of acting as The Phantom, illustrating the Phantom’s heartbreak quite well. And well the added bonus was that Gerard Butler is a gorgeous man. So he played quite a Sexy Beast, I thought. I was content with my Phantom film fix.

The Phantom & The BDSM

Phantom of The Opera is indeed a twist on the classic Beauty and The Beast scenario. Alas, the beauty does not choose beast in the end, but chooses her other lover. Of course I always wished the beauty would choose the poor, yearning beast.

You can see so many BDSM elements in the story line. We have the Master and the one who serves his will. The Phantom is the Master of his domain, the Paris Opera House. Those who oppose him are swiftly punished. We even have dungeons at the bottom of the Opera House, and a torture room, in the room of mirrors that we see in the Lon Chaney silent film version. I couldn’t help but notice all the rope lying around in this movie version as well. And there are lots & lots of role-playing in the story, since the story features actors and acting of roles.

For myself, there is even an Angel in the story. The Angel of Music. See Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version. And my Master is the first one to call me Angel. You can read about the roots of my name here.

As for my Master being my Phantom. Ah well. You will find very true traces of my Master in this blog. So he is a Phantom here as well, of sorts.


And all that is about why I love and will always love The Phantom of The Opera.

Kinky kisses,
Angel :)

Montreal's Alternative Lifestyles Community Centre Brings Kink On Campus For World AIDS Week

It was the perfect audience for a frank discussion: young, open-minded, sexually aware & interested in practicing & promoting safe sex.

The discussion? The McGill University Global AIDS Coalition's panel on “Positive Pleasures: the Stigma of Sex Work and HIV/AIDS.”

This year from November 15 to 18, McGill Global AIDS Coalition will be collaborating with other initiatives like CANFAR and Médecins Sans Frontières to conduct World AIDS Week on the McGill University campus. World AIDS Week is a series of events designed to educate the community about issues relating to HIV, global health, and human rights as well as raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Add our kinky community’s very own Contessa Alura & her ground-breaking Alternative Lifestyles Community Centre (ALCCVA) and there you have it – a winning mix to get the message out about alternative lifestyles.

Other panel speakers were McGill University’s Dr. Pierre-Paul Tellier, and Dr. Diane Meaghan, an author of books on the international sex trade.

Dr. Tellier, McGill University's Director of Student Health Services, spoke about the questioning gay and lesbian youth he sees in his practice that are all too often forced to turn to what he called “survival sex”, sex that such youth are forced to turn to survive when they end up on the street. He advocated for very early on sex education in our schools, where children would be taught to see the body as a positive thing, something to be proud of.

Dr. Diane Meaghan spoke of a host of very grim statistics around the world of sex trade workers, who in her words are “criminalized and stigmatized” and who are seriously at risk for HIV infections.

Center stage in both placement and also with the young crowd’s attention, Contessa Alura stood up to talk straight talk (so to speak hehe) about BDSM, what it means, about her experiences as a Pro Domme, and also about her ground-breaking ALCCVA organization, which she hopes will be a resource for a vast range of people from alternative lifestyles, from swingers to kinksters and more.

Here is a little blurb about the ALCCVA:

“The ALCCVA is a free and open space where like minded individuals can meet, share, learn, build and create meaningful relationships, discover, and seek information without fear, judgment, or discrimination.”

All this and more made for a very stimulation discussion and certainly raised a few questions in my mind.

Yes, your kinky intrepid & enquiring reporter (known as yours truly) noticed a few blank spaces that needed some filling.

So I mentioned the “b” word. You’re thinking beyaatch, right? lol
In this case the “b” word was bisexual.

As someone who identifies as being bisexual, I was struck by how this important segment in the sex trade and youth was simply not mentioned at all in this public discussion.

Ah there definitely was a reason for this, I soon found out.

Dr. Tellier admitted that bisexual youth were often left out and felt discriminated by both the gay/lesbian and straight communities and were marginalized.

Dr. Meaghan claimed that not many of the sex trade population identify as truly being bisexual. I really question this personally, as I know so many people in our local kinky community, and pro dommes included, DO identify as bisexual. When I chatted with the lovely Contessa Alura after the discussion was over, she told me she was glad that I brought up the bisexual question, during the Q & A part of the evening. She definitely had her own opinions on that.

I was happy to learn that the ALCCVA has a new & freshly growing group for bisexuals. Definitely something I’ll be checking out. We need more voices for our bisexual community in Montreal, that’s for sure.

Something else I brought up during the Q & A session was the tracking & statistics concerning Pro Dommes and the prevalence of HIV infections within that community.

The Contessa advised the crowd that sadly there is a great lack of tracking with this important question. In a perfect world, yes it would be great to have Pro Dommes studied seriously, with their need for protection and proper BDSM safe practices being promoted and encouraged.

As Contessa Alura said, Pro Dommes are starting younger and younger. As I looked at the young crowd around me, I thought about all the youngsters out there paying their way through university with Pro Domme sessions. This was the perfect young crowd to speak to, to reach that segment, I thought.

Contessa Alura mentioned something that I truly hope comes to pass one day. Just as the LGBTQ community is becoming more & more part of the mainstream and not as alternative as it once was, perhaps one day BDSM will also become part of the main and viewed as healthy and “normal”.

That would make for a Brave New World, indeed.

Kinky food for thought,
Angel