#Final Lair

[wheel-of-fish]

Phantoms who return the embrace, part 2 (part 1 here)

Sandor Sasvari & Andrea Maho | Budapest 2003

Josh Piterman & Kelly Mathieson | London 2019

Josh Robson & Georgina Hopson | Sydney Harbour 2022

Tim Howar & Harriet Jones | Thessaloniki 2023

James Gant & Holly-Anne Hull | London 2023

Kevin Greenlaw & Emma Kajander | Helsinki 2024

Nadim Naaman & Georgia Wilkinson | Lisbon 2024

Jon Robyns & Lily Kerhoas | London 2024

[xphanlocked]

ᴛʜᴇ ғɪɴᴀʟ ᴛʜʀᴇsʜᴏʟᴅ

[litloverscorsetlaces]

Phantom hands during the kiss gifset. Left to right:

Tim Martin Gleason & Rebecca Pitcher - US Tour '05

Davis Gaines & Marie Danvers - Los Angeles '98

Ian Jon Bourg & Rebecca Pitcher - US Tour '99

Ben Crawford & Emilie Kouatchou - Broadway '22

David Shannon & Gina Beck - West End '10

Cris Groenendaal & Rebecca Luker - Broadway '89

Earl Carpenter & Katie Knight-Adams - West End '06

Josh Piterman & Kelly Mathieson - West End '19

Side note: I so love Cris Groenendaal and Ian Jon Bourg's final lair kisses despite the old boot quality. And placing Carpenter and Piterman next to each other makes me realize how reminiscent Piterman was of Carpenter.

[janginzm]

SECOND EDITION I never knew how Jonathan sang in the past World Tour until I listened to some audios yesterday and found HOW HE HAS PROGRESSED!!! Here's the audio of his performance during the ongoing world tour, clearly he has a better control of his voice, which is thicker (I don't know the term to describe it properly) and less modern as many people may described. He's more tender or maybe I could say more seductive, and I would fall for that.

And our new Christine Grace Roberts , Ah How I adore her voice!!! You would regret it forever if you not listen 😝

AND PLEASE DO NOT POST THIS AUDIO OUTSIDE OF TUMBLR THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

FIRST EDITION

I just wonna write something about Jonathan Roxmouth, especially about his wonderful performance in the ongoing tour in China. What’s most amazing about him is that he changes his way of performing every night! Yes! Every Night. I saw three performances so far, and none of them were totally the same.

I particularly want to share details on 11.3’s evening, when Jonathan was so possessive of Christine. He constantly showed intimate gesture towards her, whispering in her ear, touching her face with fingers during motn. The chemistry between them is perfect.

And I absolutely LOVE how he handle the ‘you try my patience’ line in the final lair that night, probably the best I’ve ever heard. He shouted out the words right after Christine’s ‘I gave my mind blindly’ and Here’s the audio. I’m all blown up.🔥🔥🔥

[rose-margaritas]

Love how I haven’t posted any PotO-related art on my main blog in ages, and the first thing I post after the long break is ✨angst✨

[earlseyebrows]

Anyone want some Earl Carpenter in Sunset Blvd art next?

[unusualmuffin-art]

My biggest hyperfixation in my whole life

[markbbrooklyn]

FULL FINAL LAIR, BUT WHERE WAS THE LASSO?

Jon, Lily, Joe - Phantom proves Raoul has a magnetic personality!

(from YouTube)

[biceratops7]

Unpopular (?) (actually idk the popularity level) opinion:

I greatly prefer the POTO productions that replace Christine’s second kiss with a hug.

Cause what really does the Phantom in isn’t that a beautiful girl is willing to kiss him, it’s that no one has ever recognized that he’s a person and has the same needs, aspirations, desires, etc, as everyone else. It gets across that he’s unaccustomed to and amazed by ANY affection, not just romantic.

I don’t really see this interpretation much anywhere but I think the fact she’s doing this for Raoul’s sake is actually part of his change of heart. First of all, I’m certain by that point he was convinced that Christine was going to say no and save herself instead, but she doesn’t. She’s not only willing to sacrifice herself to save Raoul, an incredible act of love and selflessness, but she recognizes the horrors the Phantom had to experience to become so cruel and chooses to give herself up for his sake too. Instead of simply agreeing to stay with him with as much coldness as she can muster.

He has every reason to believe the only reason empathy exists is because there are people who just haven’t learned they must be selfish to survive. But Christine still did what she did after clearly losing her innocence. Even though she’s grown to understand the cruelty of the world and is now capable of true malice, greed, and hate, she chooses not to use them despite having every right to. She’s no longer naive, and she is still kind. That’s something the Phantom didn’t think was possible until now.

[operafantomet]

Auction Scene / Old Raoul / Christine as a memory / End scene

Florin Ristei, Bucharest 2015 (auction scene)

Nadim Naaman, Thessaloniki 2023 (auction scene)

Carl Lindquist, Oslo 2019 (auction scene or Final Lair)

Nadim Naaman, Thessaloniki 2023 (auction scene)

Astrid Giske, Oslo 2019 (Masquerade)

Astrid Giske, Oslo 2019 (Final Lair)

Astrid Giske, Oslo 2019 (Final Lair)

Dougie Carter and Bridget Costello, Sofia 2024 (Final Lair)

(Directed by Stephen Barlow, design by Andrew Riley)

[wheel-of-fish]

Could you gif the attack kiss from last night? It was definitely something 😳😆

Sure!

[kimwexlers-brownhair]

Y'all ruined the Final Lair by obsessing over how the Christine and Phantom performers deliver the lines "tears of hate" and "You try my patience, make your choice," because the actors must have caught on and now I can't find a recording in the last ten years where they don't go over the top to make their deliveries grandiose, and they just end up chewing the scenery to bits. "Tears of haaaAaaAAaaaaaaaaaaate"!!, "You...try....myyyyyy...patIENCE! [pause pause pause ten minute pause] Maaaaake...yooooooooooour.... choooiiiiCCCCCEEEE!!!!!"

Believe it or not, even in a Gothic melodrama, less can sometimes be more!

[litloverscorsetlaces]

An Essay on Why David Shannon and Gina Beck Are My Favorite Final Lair Coupling

They are just absolutely brilliant together. And I think it's a combination of bouncing off each other's spontaneous reactions well, but also having a plan and complete synergy in how they understand their characters and the arc of the scene. It all works together to secure the Phantom's transformation and redemption while also leaving the audience feeling like Christine made the right decision, which is such a hard line to walk in the final lair.

I think Gina's Christine genuinely loves Erik in this one, but there was absolutely no way she was going to stay with him after everything he'd done. The decision is questionable for other Christines, but her particular take on the character just wasn't going to allow for that, especially given his Phantom's more aggressive approach to the final lair.

And unlike other interpretations of this scene, both she and David/the Phantom know that and it plays out in their body language post-kiss. Up to that point, David had literally been grabbing Christine at will and throwing her all over the place, all while desperately denying that his actions were dooming their relationship. And now she comes back to return the ring and he literally can't make himself touch her because he knows he's pissed away every claim to that kind of intimacy with her. There's no verbal or physical bid for her to stay; that unfulfilled caress says "I recognize what I've done and that I have no right to ask you to be with me, so I'm letting you go." And even worse is the fact that David also plays Erik with chronic pain, so we can hardly tell if the face twitch/wince he does is literal or figurative (let's just say it's both).

GIVE THEM A DAMN OSCAR, IDC.

[night-unfurls-its-splendour]

Guys. Never forget Phantoms who touch Christine's hair

Tomas Ambt Kofod (w. Sybille Glosted) || Copenhagen, 2019

Ethan Freeman (w. Anne Görner) || Essen, 2006

Anthony Crivello (w. Kristi Holden) || Las Vegas, 2008

Tim Martin Gleason (w. Susan Owen) || Broadway, 2005

[o-fantome]

the world needs to see this i won’t stop sharing it everywhere

[rose-margaritas]

Really wasn’t sure about posting this drawing since it actually creeps me out for some reason…