Beth Winter

Between August 16 and September 2, I was working every day. I just had my first free weekend and, predictably, spent it sleeping off the stress.

Today, I was on the road for 12 hours, due to a meeting in another city.

Tomorrow evening, I fly to Prague. Three days' training, then Saturday-Monday for sightseeing.

I'm taking the computer, but I might not be around much. I'll be trying to rest, because the alternative is passing out with exhaustion at some point next week.

But! I managed a pathetic two responses to the crossover meme:

( Buffy and Phantom )

( Star Wars and Tanz der Vampire )

Git in my icon = still a git. Still making me cry with Gethsemane. Still the Best Herbert And Phantom Ever.

dunkle_feuer, slashydutchie - he had Phantom photos from the Benefiz-Gala in his slideshow while he sang Phantom :D Of course, that came after the slideshow of baby photos during I am what I am, so I may have been slightly horizontal.

And there may be mp3 spam at some point, because his Bring Him Home defies gravity, and his The Song That Goes Like This keeps getting better and better.

It's now been a round four years (and three days) since the first time I was at a concert of his, barely knowing the name of this scraggly eighteen-year-old boy who got a part that should be a bit part and stole the show. Within the next four years, I fully expect to be in a West End theatre listening to him do at least Raoul, and quite probably understudy Phantom.

Phantom of the Opera season opener was on Saturday. The Phantom has clearly been working out, which means he's now of the proper Phantom shape, but leaves his trousers hanging like sacks over his legs :> The Amazing Vampire Raoul got carnations with a card with vampire fangs drawn on it, which he promptly displayed to the rest of the cast. Ooops. Should have drawn a smaller card ;)

I'm also trying very, very hard to kickstart my x2009 story. I hope this meme helps me get my creativity on, if I have any takers *bats eyelashes*

The Hypothetical AU Meme: Take any one of the fandoms you know I write in (or think I should), and give me a type of AU (space opera AU, pirate AU, superhero AU, Ancient Rome, etc). I will then explain what story from your chosen fandom I would write for your chosen type of AU.

I went to see Phantom of the Opera again on Tuesday. What can I say? It's the only decent show in town :P Thankfully I don't have any more tickets until July 19th, and in the meantime I'll have Beauty and the Beast in Gdynia and too much Tanz and Elisabeth in Budapest. And this time around, I got to see the one Christine I had not seen yet.

( Phantom of the Opera in Warsaw, take 4 - Christine the Vampire Slayer )

Let's just say I love getting packages from Japan ;)( Recent acquisitions of the DVD kind: Dracula in Graz, Takarazuka Elisabeth shinjin-koen )

On Wednesday, I found myself in the possession of someone else's media passes to Phantom. It would have been somewhat foolish not to go, even though it was Damian on again as Erik. Mind you, the rest of the cast was entirely different - I think only Madame Giry was the same one I saw the first time.

( Huh. They got better. )

I have my next set of tickets for the 23rd. Don't know if I'll go yet, waiting for the cast to come up. Wanna 'nother Phantom.

Ohdear. They'll be playing Elisabeth in Berlin from April onwards, so I kind of think I'll be there with bells on sometime in May :> Depending on the cast, I guess - my favourite would be Jan Ammann for Death and Jakub Wocial for Rudolf and second Death, but generally, I like most of the possibles. Except Haldor Laegreid.

So that'll be thrice I'll be seeing Elisabeth next year - got two sets of tickets for Budapest already. (And possible plans for... more far-off regions in the autumn, but those are nowhere near being finalised.) And Tanz der Vampire at least once, Budapest again.

Phantom of the Opera in Warsaw, I'm sorry to say, fizzled out completely. My firm favourites were cut down - one for being unable to attend an audition, fair enough, but the other for "lack of acting ability". Which he does have, on top of an operatic baritone that leaves everyone in the dust.

On the other hand, that does leave him free for Beauty and the Beast in Gdynia (also in the spring), which has the potential for being gorgeous if they finally get their act together - they're a decent theatre, but no magic to it so far. I hope it'll end up being something interesting.

And on top of it all I should probably finally drag my carcass to London for Phantom, Les Mis and anything else that happens to be on. And I still haven't seen some of my must-see people live - currently Stanley Burleson tops that list, followed closely by Pia Douwes and Ethan Freeman.

Say what you want about this hobby, you're never out of places to travel to.

The final part of the Songs in My Head series, which comprises Singing Songs in My Head and A Cry To Heaven, and should definitely be read in order. Disclaimers in the first chapter.

There are also two optional outtakes from this series - a mood-setting drabble called Hide Your Face and a slash detour Wine and Song. Neither is necessary to understand this story, and in fact I think you can read it both the gen and slash ways with equal validity.

As usual, everything is fyrie's fault.



ONLY THE MUSIC

( Six months later, they reach an equilibrium )

*flops* I wrote most of these twice, because my scratchbook file got corrupted.


For shineko: Pirates of the Caribbean, 100 words

( Guidance )

For ciciaye: Angel the Series, 100 words

( Vanity Varnish )


For elefwin: Star Wars, 130 words

( Silent )



For fyrie: Phantom of the Opera, 114 words, same universe as Singing Songs In My Head

( Hide Your Face )


For kyrre: Batman Begins, 125 words

( Communicativa )

For alice_montrose: Roses for Lucifer, 160 words

( Practical Applications )

Bonus question: Can someone give me an Elisabeth idea, preferably something featuring Sisi herself with a side of Death? She wants fic, I'm fresh out of bunnies.

This was written for fyrie, and because I have a strange combination of Phantom characters in my head at the moment - Erik from the Polish small-stage production and the original London Raoul. Erik in particular is a strange bird, mostly because the actor doesn't think twice about singing Raoul songs - or hell, Christine ones - during his recitals, while in the mask. A Phantom singing Twisted Every Way made an indelible impression on me.

Warnings: Heavy angst. And Erik is even more melodramatic than certain vampires.
Rating: PG

Summary: When it's over, Erik finds a place to think, but he's not expecting visitors.


SINGING SONGS IN MY HEAD

( What I once used to dream, I now dread )

Tanz der Vampire might be on hiatus, and I really need to go buy tickets for the shows in May, but that doesn't mean I'm not keeping on top of things.

The second-cast Krolock (due to whom I've already had to return two sets of tickets, since he's not who I want to see onstage!) was supposed to be now in Cats, but instead broke his leg badly while showing off for a few fans. Six weeks of having it in a cast, then physiotherapy - I'm feeling bad for him, but on the other hand, no more trying to peddle off tickets just because of argh, wrong Krolock :>

On the TdV fan forum, not only did I learn the name of the dancer who plays Krolock's shirtless dream-avatar, but also that he's commonly known as "the half-naked beefcake". Which is, you know, an accurate description. (This is also the guy who has sex on stage with both Sarah and Alfred's dream-avatars, and shares a lovely long kiss with Alfred's avatar...)

Also, Kuba Wocial finally has a proper site. And he'll be putting on the abridged Phantom Of The Opera again, and I'll be there in a flash. Also, there's a music section with samples of his voice - go listen to Music of the Night and you'll know why I want to send him flowers :D