The Musical Ending!

Our vacation will be over soon; Payam* has already left and Leva and Vahid are leaving the East Coast to get back to the golden state tomorrow.** Besides our frequent visits to the New York City, we went to Washington DC and Philadelphia. In our city tours while trying to stick mostly to arts, we often ate the street food, which suited both our pocket and taste.

We spent the evening in Broadway last night; we saw the Phantom of the Opera. It filled our eyes and ears with its glorious set and music. The Phantom of the Opera in Majestic Theater is in its seventeenth year. I read Susan Kay’s novel, Phantom (1990 - translated to Farsi by Maliheh Mohammadi in 1998). Kay’s novel is based on Gaston Leroux novel of 1910. I should say that I like Kay's novel more than Gaston Leroux’s book. In Kay’s Phantom we follow Erik’s life in memories of different characters and we go as back as his birth. I like this collective style in which a specific event, Erik’s life here, is told from various points of view. But this was not the narrative style in last night’s musical; The Phantom of the Opera was based on the straight style of Gaston Leroux, starting in the Opera House enchanted by the ghost and ending by the phantom's disappearance.

Speaking of Broadway musicals in April I went to see another Tony Award-winning musical, Spring Awakening. A sophisticated rock musical, Spring Awakening, is composed by Ducan Sheik and written by Steven Sater. The story is based on Frank Wedekind’s play about a group of teenagers and their attempt in breaking the limits of their sexual freedom.

The 1925 poster for The Phantom of The Opera

* I wish Payam had stayed for a couple of more days, so we could see the Phantom together.

** I've already started missing them!