Long time lurker, first time goer! I bought tickets for pulse 4 and flew out this weekend with my husband as an early birthday present to myself. Day of, Friday, the box office called to see if we were willing to bump to pulse 6 - trying to be accommodating, I agreed (and it was the gift that kept on giving)!

I had jokingly told my husband that I wanted to be touched - by whom, I didn’t really care, but it ended up being basically everyone important! Sorry for the brain dump!

Starting in the opening masquerade scene, Carlotta took my hand to tell me I looked beautiful, and then Piangi asked to dance with me and brought me to do the masquerade dance with everyone! Then I was handed flowers to throw at Christine by one of the managers which was super cute, and Raoul put his hand on my back as he walked by. After the title song, I was placed in a seat at the front and Ryan’s Phantom held my shoulder after he started MOTN (he also grabbed a man and startled him right after that). I also blew some kisses at young Erik and we almost made contact but I’m not sure if that was allowed? Ryan also came up to my husband and I right before the bed scene and the eye contact was scary intense. The next few scenes were a blur but I did luck out enough to be placed near the front because of coincidental timing and being five feet tall so I was very grateful - the few times I was on the edge or in the back was rough! 

In the Prima Donna scene, Carlotta and I were reunited after she slapped my husband and pushed him to the side. She gave me her spritzer to hold, rested her hand on my head, and pet my hair, which meant that I was in the position for Ryan to replace her spritzer with his. More touching! And to wrap things up, I saw Piangi again during the transition to Don Juan and we complimented each other and blew more kisses!

I’ve loved Phantom since I was 13, so to experience it in such a wonderfully immersive and interactive experience for my 30th birthday was a dream come true. Addie was a gorgeous Christine, Ryan was an incredible Erik, and the ensemble was top tier! I will say I don’t love the dynamic pushing the Love Never Dies narrative, but the new staging and Ryan did make me sympathize with Erik a lot more than I did in previous iterations. All in all, 10/10 and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. 

Moved to pulse 6 and what a pre-birthday present it was!