Well, the weeks are winding down and I'm losing all motivation to study or do work. Especially when it seems that we are in a winter that stretches for ages (a la Game of Thrones, maybe?). I'm starting to get nervous/excited for my future, especially since I have an interview for the EPIK program in Korea next week. I've also happened upon some other backup opportunities, should that one fail. Hopefully I'll still be able to go live and work abroad. Time will tell.
Anywhooo, I wanted to talk about last weekend, as it was a really special day for me. I had gone to visit Cesca and see her new apartment, but Saturday was a very important day. You see, March 23rd is my Phanniversary. Well, it's OUR Phanniversary, meaning it's the first time my mom, sister and I saw the show. Waaaay back in good old 2003. Which was for my 12th birthday. Which means it was my 10 YEAR PHANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!
This is abnormally exciting to me, because that's a pretty long time to be in love with something. What's also funny is that I didn't even want to go to the show in the first place. We had gone to see Jesus Christ Superstar with our youth group, and I had seen an advert for Phantom in the playbill. I think I pointed it out to my mother and said something like "we should see this" without actually meaning this, because most 12 year olds didn't know much about Phantom, only that it was really popular and famour. I don't actually think I was serious.
So a little while later, I'm watching TV and mom waltzes into the room, informing Cesca and me that we have tickets to the show for after our birthday, as a birthday gift and partially Christmas too cause they were expensive. We were not amused.In fact, March 23rd came, and I was so annoyed that I had to go because I thought it would be a waste of a day. What a fool I was.
My mom was also visiting that weekend (we had to help cesca set up her new furniture) and said that she didn't want it to be her fault that I'd become so obsessed. Cesca replied that of course it was her fault, we were 12 and weren't making conscious decisions about shows to see at Sheas in Buffalo!
Gotta agree with Cesca on that point. But seriously, if my mom hadn't gotten tickets to the show, I don't know if I ever would have gotten into Phantom like I did. I can't even tell you the specifics about the show (besides the cast, I obviously know that) because it is so far removed from my memory, and I've seen it so many more times, that it's hard to tell what I remember and what I think I can remember. I know for a fact I had to lean forward in my seat to see the catwalks above the stage, but most other things, I can't recall. For the life of me, though, I cannot find the ad in the JCS playbill that led me to point it out to my mother. It vanished, fell out or I imagined it. How bizarre is that? The ad that started it all, and I can't even find where I saw it!
Cesca and I got to see the 25th Anniversary show this year, and that was as good a phanniversary present as anything could have been. Winning those tickets was amazing. We didn't do anything crazy. We watched a couple of my favorite bootlegs (analyzing them, of course, for quality of picture, performance, clarity, etc) and toasted to our phanaticism. Spending my Phanniversary with someone who loves the show almost as much as I do was the perfect way to celebrate.
Now, 10 years, a tattoo, backstage tour, a birthday card from a star, 17 live performances and at least as many bootlegs later, I can say that I will always remember and celebrate my first time.
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