Oh wait, I still am one. I wish I could say I've gotten less nerdy now that I'm a pseudo-grownup. Oh, how I wish I could say that...
Want to know the nerdiest thing I've ever done? Well, prepare for a less-than-exciting story about the time I went full 'fangirl mode' and did something I'm not really that proud of but also don't regret... because it was kind of awesome.
So, I'm sure you all know 'The Phantom of the Opera' - the book/movie/musical/musical-movie/hidden-object-game etc. Well, apparently I'm a Phantom fangirl. A phangirl, if you will. And yes, I know what a cheesy pun that is but I'm writing this after work so give me a break! Anyway, 'Phantom of the Opera' is one of my favorite... things of all time. I remember being a little kid and listening to the recorded soundtrack of the musical on my parents' cassette player (CD's weren't a thing back then... yes, I'm old) and loving it. I remember watching different POTO movies, starting from the original one with Lon Chaney. Bear in mind that this was the 90s... in post-Soviet Estonia so watching things online or downloading them wasn't a thing. I had to make do with what was shown on the TV - on the only three TV-channels we had - so I managed to maybe see a Phantom-movie every two years or so. But when I did I was glued to the TV... Fun fact for you guys: most of the movies based on 'Phantom of the Opera' are absolute rubbish. Still, I watched them because they were about the Phantom... I had a dream: I dreamed that one day I would see the musical live, on Broadway with world-class actors playing the parts... but that seemed like an improbable dream.
Fast forward several years. The movie based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical came out and I loved it, despite it's many flaws. At least it was flashy and took me back to my childhood. By that time I'd already read the book, seen several movies and played the game based on the book. Yes, there's a hidden object game based on the Phantom. I also owned a two disc copy of the original soundtrack and had memorized almost all the lines of most of the songs. I wasn't obsessed with the Phantom but I was pretty interested in everything and anything Phantom-related. My dream of seeing the musical on Broadway still seemed like a far-off dream but I'd come to accept that it probably wouldn't happen. After all, New York was far-far away and I wasn't crazy enough to travel there just for a musical. Or so I thought...
To be honest, it wasn't easy getting my parents to agree to it. The tickets weren't all that cheap and I also needed a plane ticket to London and back and a place to stay. I was a student and I hadn't found a job yet, meaning I was completely reliant on my parents. I remember doing a fair bit of begging and pouting and promised to forfeit my Christmas present if they'd just give me that one thing... And in the end they did. So yeah, I flew to London for three days for a musical. Yup, just one little musical that lasted about two hours. For that one thing I packed my bags and flew to another country... for three days... Pretty sure it was the nerdiest thing I've ever done.
The trip itself was pretty great actually. It was Spring so the weather was nice and since I had like two and a half days in the city I had the chance to look around and visit some of the most popular sights. I'd been to London before with my parents but I'd been a kid then and I barely remembered anything. So I spent most of my first day just walking around and getting acquainted with the city. I thought it would be a good idea to act like a sophisticated adults and visit some museums. I'm not usually into museums but then again, there are museums and then there's The British Museum. I thought I might make an exception this time, especially since admittance to the museum was free. I didn't regret my decision - the British Museum is an amazing place filled with all the things I find interesting: mummies and medieval torture devices. I spent a good two-three hours there just exploring and staring and dead bodies. Yup, no regrets there. What I did regret, however, was not taking a map.
See, I don't like looking like a tourist. I just... there's this weird sense of false shame I get when I stand on the street with a map in my hand, looking like I'd just stepped off a plane. That is why I didn't take a map with me when I left my hotel. I'd consulted the map beforehand and felt pretty sure I knew the way to the museum. And I did! I made it there in less than twenty minutes and I was incredibly proud of myself. I was sure getting back to the hotel would be even easier: I just needed to go back the same way I came. How hard could that be?
Very, very hard, is the correct answer. One would think that going back the exact same way I used to get there would be a piece of cake but nooooo, not for me. Half an hour after leaving the museum I was... somewhere... I was still pretty close to the city center and I was sure I wasn't too far from my hotel. It was just... I had no idea which way to go. Where had I gone wrong? How in the world could I get lost so easily? For the first ten or so minutes I had gone the same way I'd come from but now...
Now I was standing in the middle of the street, staring at a map on the side of a bus stop and trying to figure out which way was which. It didn't help that the map was covered in graffiti. I was pretty sure I needed to head left down the street that led me past a shady-looking pub and a furniture store... Pretty sure... Except that ten minutes later when I was consulting another bus-stop map I felt like I'd gone to the exact opposite direction of where I was supposed to head. Oh well, I guess I needed to head back the way I came from. Because that had turned out so well the first time... At two separate occasions during my odyssey I ran into tourists who turned to me for directions.
'Excuse me! Do you know how to get to Trafalgar Square from here?' they would ask shoving a map into my face.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not a local so I really have no idea,' I apologized and kept walking. A smart person would have admitted they were lost. They would have asked to see the map to find their way back home. Yes, a smart person would definitely have done that... But I was far from a smart person.
Despite all odds I managed to find my way back to the street where my hotel was located. I then proceeded to walk to the exact opposite direction... until I realized I was going the wrong way and turned back in shame. When I finally reached my hotel room I was tired and slightly cranky but still pretty proud of the fact that I'd made it to the museum and back without using a map even once... except for those several times I tried to make sense of the graffiti-covered maps on the bus stop pavilions... But it didn't matter! I'd walked back from the museum all on my own and I'd done it like a local... moron. Like a local moron with memory issues.
Oh, but how was the musical, I hear you ask. Was it worth it?
Well... yes and no. If I hadn't gone to see it, it would have haunted me for years to come. I'm happy that I saw it as it came out, on the big stage, with the original actors. It's a memory I'll treasure forever. The musical itself though... Well... It was there. It wasn't horrible but... It wasn't great either. I hated what they'd done to some of the characters - how they'd changed their personalities completely and turned a sweet little girl into a homicidal maniac, a romantic hero into a sleazebag with a gambling addiction and Christine into a... well, I'm not going to say it in fear of ruining the 'totally unexpected surprise plot-twist' for you guys (and yes, that was some heavy sarcasm... I'm still rolling my eyes). Still, there were some memorable arias and some good special effects so I wasn't too angry. Had it been a completely separate musical, not a sequel, it would have been decent. As a sequel however it failed to capture the essence and ideas of the original musical and thus was a mess. It ruined the bittersweet ending of the original musical and it almost felt like the author hadn't even seen the original... which is weird considering it was the same person. Honestly, there's POTO fanfiction better than the plot of 'Love Never Dies'. Yes, I've read POTO fanfiction. A lot of it. Shut up! I know I have a problem.
I could go on for a while, ranting about how the sequel-musical didn't do the original justice but this little story has gone on for long enough. I still don't regret the trip, or getting lost, or seeing a sub-par musical that left me a bit cold. At least my heart is at peace now and hey, it was still a pretty fun trip. Oh, and I did see the 'Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway eventually. Took me a few years but i found my way to New York. And that time I didn't get lost.
The trip itself was pretty great actually. It was Spring so the weather was nice and since I had like two and a half days in the city I had the chance to look around and visit some of the most popular sights. I'd been to London before with my parents but I'd been a kid then and I barely remembered anything. So I spent most of my first day just walking around and getting acquainted with the city. I thought it would be a good idea to act like a sophisticated adults and visit some museums. I'm not usually into museums but then again, there are museums and then there's The British Museum. I thought I might make an exception this time, especially since admittance to the museum was free. I didn't regret my decision - the British Museum is an amazing place filled with all the things I find interesting: mummies and medieval torture devices. I spent a good two-three hours there just exploring and staring and dead bodies. Yup, no regrets there. What I did regret, however, was not taking a map.
See, I don't like looking like a tourist. I just... there's this weird sense of false shame I get when I stand on the street with a map in my hand, looking like I'd just stepped off a plane. That is why I didn't take a map with me when I left my hotel. I'd consulted the map beforehand and felt pretty sure I knew the way to the museum. And I did! I made it there in less than twenty minutes and I was incredibly proud of myself. I was sure getting back to the hotel would be even easier: I just needed to go back the same way I came. How hard could that be?
Very, very hard, is the correct answer. One would think that going back the exact same way I used to get there would be a piece of cake but nooooo, not for me. Half an hour after leaving the museum I was... somewhere... I was still pretty close to the city center and I was sure I wasn't too far from my hotel. It was just... I had no idea which way to go. Where had I gone wrong? How in the world could I get lost so easily? For the first ten or so minutes I had gone the same way I'd come from but now...
Now I was standing in the middle of the street, staring at a map on the side of a bus stop and trying to figure out which way was which. It didn't help that the map was covered in graffiti. I was pretty sure I needed to head left down the street that led me past a shady-looking pub and a furniture store... Pretty sure... Except that ten minutes later when I was consulting another bus-stop map I felt like I'd gone to the exact opposite direction of where I was supposed to head. Oh well, I guess I needed to head back the way I came from. Because that had turned out so well the first time... At two separate occasions during my odyssey I ran into tourists who turned to me for directions.
'Excuse me! Do you know how to get to Trafalgar Square from here?' they would ask shoving a map into my face.
'Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not a local so I really have no idea,' I apologized and kept walking. A smart person would have admitted they were lost. They would have asked to see the map to find their way back home. Yes, a smart person would definitely have done that... But I was far from a smart person.
Despite all odds I managed to find my way back to the street where my hotel was located. I then proceeded to walk to the exact opposite direction... until I realized I was going the wrong way and turned back in shame. When I finally reached my hotel room I was tired and slightly cranky but still pretty proud of the fact that I'd made it to the museum and back without using a map even once... except for those several times I tried to make sense of the graffiti-covered maps on the bus stop pavilions... But it didn't matter! I'd walked back from the museum all on my own and I'd done it like a local... moron. Like a local moron with memory issues.
Oh, but how was the musical, I hear you ask. Was it worth it?
Well... yes and no. If I hadn't gone to see it, it would have haunted me for years to come. I'm happy that I saw it as it came out, on the big stage, with the original actors. It's a memory I'll treasure forever. The musical itself though... Well... It was there. It wasn't horrible but... It wasn't great either. I hated what they'd done to some of the characters - how they'd changed their personalities completely and turned a sweet little girl into a homicidal maniac, a romantic hero into a sleazebag with a gambling addiction and Christine into a... well, I'm not going to say it in fear of ruining the 'totally unexpected surprise plot-twist' for you guys (and yes, that was some heavy sarcasm... I'm still rolling my eyes). Still, there were some memorable arias and some good special effects so I wasn't too angry. Had it been a completely separate musical, not a sequel, it would have been decent. As a sequel however it failed to capture the essence and ideas of the original musical and thus was a mess. It ruined the bittersweet ending of the original musical and it almost felt like the author hadn't even seen the original... which is weird considering it was the same person. Honestly, there's POTO fanfiction better than the plot of 'Love Never Dies'. Yes, I've read POTO fanfiction. A lot of it. Shut up! I know I have a problem.I could go on for a while, ranting about how the sequel-musical didn't do the original justice but this little story has gone on for long enough. I still don't regret the trip, or getting lost, or seeing a sub-par musical that left me a bit cold. At least my heart is at peace now and hey, it was still a pretty fun trip. Oh, and I did see the 'Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway eventually. Took me a few years but i found my way to New York. And that time I didn't get lost.
