Since January 26, 1988, The Phantom of the Opera has been showing at the Majestic Theatre on W 44th Street in New York City. Since then, the show has managed to become the longest running show on Broadway. Just this past week, Phantom was able to celebrate it’s 30th birthday on Broadway. Festivities of the week included, becoming an official holiday in New York City, having a special light and music show on the Empire State Building, and a special gala performance. While Phantom was celebrating their own milestone, I happened to have been celebrating a milestone of my own. On January 27, 2018, I saw The Phantom of the Opera for the 10th time. Oh yes, I have seen The Phantom of the Opera 10 times. I know that might not be the biggest number, but it was an accomplishment for me. With that being said, let’s take a trip down memory lane.
1. May 11, 2007
Aah, me at the ripe age of 7 and about to turn 8.I had just had my first communion, so naturally my parents were like “Hey! Let’s do something special.” So we do the normal boujie thing and hopped in a limo and headed to Phantom. At this point in life, I was terrified of the show, and everything about it. The Christine at the time was Jennifer Hope Wills, but I do not remember much about this performance. I just remember still being terrified after this performance.
2. July 3, 2014
Now we jump seven years forward, to my 15th birthday. At this point in my life, I was beginning my obsession with Phantom. I had watched the 25th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall performance several times, and practically had the soundtrack on repeat. When I found out that Sierra Boggess was going to be playing Christine on Broadway, I flipped. I begged my parents to get me tickets, and soon enough, I was watching Sierra Boggess play Christine Daaé right before my eyes.
3. May 28, 2016
Two years later, and I don’t remember much about this performance. I just remember that it was kind of a random, hey let’s go see a show and my smart ass suggested Phantom again. So we went. Julia Udine was the Christine for this performance, and I thoroughly enjoyed her.
4. December 26, 2016
This is where things start getting a bit congested. And yes, this is the day after Christmas. Yes, I do celebrate Christmas, and very much so. However, this did not stop me from seeing Phantom again for my fourth time. This was my first encounter with the ultra talented Ali Ewoldt. SHOUTOUT TO THE FIRST ASIAN-AMERICAN CHRISTINE, YOU GO GIRL!
5. February 23, 2017
Welcome to the halfway point, y’all. Ali Ewoldt and I reunited for this one. If you don’t have a Valentine’s Date, you can always go see Phantom for the fifth time. But yeah, there was nothing else really different about this one. There was nothing else really special or different about this one. Of course, I loved it.
6. March 11, 2017
Less than a month later, and shis is where the lottery started coming in. Oh my. I entered the lottery almost everyday for a while at that point, and I was sitting at my cousin’s baby shower when I got the email that I had won. Of course, I naturally flipped out, got in the car and left with no regrets. This was also my first meeting with Kaley Ann Voorhees, a whole queen of her own. This lottery win did not stop me for entering the lottery, so here we continue.
7. April 13, 2017
Just over a month later, and I was already back at Phantom with another lottery win. Kaley Ann Voorhees SLAYED as Christine this performance, and I was still eager to go back another time.
8. August 10, 2017
One of my best friends had bought us tickets to Phantom for my 18th birthday, and I was totally stoked. I was able to experience Rachel Eskenazi-Gold for the first time, who was an absolute pleasure. It was a great way to close the summer out, and little did I know that I would be back very, very soon.
9. October 30, 2017
A Halloween Eve treat to me!!! Fresh into my first semester of college, a boy needed to treat himself to another showing of Phantom. My girl Ali Ewoldt and I came back together for the third time for this performance, and she totally killed it as Christine. Coming out of this performance, I knew that my next show, my tenth, would have to be special.
10. January 27, 2018
And we did it. Eleven years later, I had finally reached 10 shows. It was the day after the 30th anniversary of Phantom on Broadway, and I was SO EXCITED to be in the audience of the show. I had balloons and everything. Kaley Ann Voorhees was the Christine for this show, and she was absolutely STUNNING. GORGEOUS. AMAZING. BEAUTIFUL. WOW. To be honest, it was the perfect show for my 10th time.
