This No Good Deed Is AMAZING

Seriously, go watch it- I'll wait. Volume warning, it does get LOUD at times, especially at "my generous supply" and "FIYEROOOOO".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4AwhW4mG8I

So, are we in agreement that Saycon Sengbloh absolutely nails this song? She sounds beautiful and really gives it her all, doing some really great riffs without making it about the riffs and sounding great. Her gestures during the chanting really make it seem magical and alien, like she doesn't know what she's doing but is instinctively trying because she just wants to save Fiyero so badly. HER ACTING. I mean, just look at her entire demeanor and especially her eyes during "Was I really seeking good or just seeking attention?", she really brings the unhinged, desperate, and having a mental breakdown aspect to the forefront, and makes it really seem like Elphaba is thinking through the process of 'is doing good really worth it? I'll just give up because I've never actually done anything good or saved anyone, and it's not worth trying anymore'. And at the end, you can see glimpses of a Maleficent-esque 'I'm doing evil because it's fun' fighting with a deep loneliness and sadness that she was driven to this point.

Also, I can't pinpoint an exact reason why, but her wig just looks especially good in this video. 

I just love No Good Deed in general, because, for the first time, we as the audience aren't automatically siding with Elphaba and are instead almost seeing her through the eyes of the Ozians who fear her, and it's an absolute shock. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her anymore, not even us. The lighting and the mist make her seem unnatural, someone to be feared who isn't of this world, and the emphasis on her cape swooshing around just enhances the feel of her being more wicked than before. 

Please Remind Me

 To write some meta about how Glinda possibly sees herself as wicked, based on the lyrics of "No One Mourns the Wicked" and "I Couldn't Be Happier", possibly expanding upon the following points. 

"Goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely"- Glinda is, at this point, deeply lonely, having lost both Elphaba and FIyero, with no one else in the world who knows the truth of what happened.

"Woe to those who spurn what goodness they are shown."- Elphaba forgiving her for tricking her with the hat and the dance, them becoming friends but then Glinda rejecting Elphaba's offer to become "unlimited" together and help the Animals.

"There's a kind of a sort of cost / There's a couple of things get lost."- Glinda lost her friendship with Elphaba, and she has, to some extent, has sacrificed her morals as she goes along with the false narratives presented to the public by Morrible about Elphaba. 

"The wicked cry alone."- Glinda cannot even openly mourn her best friend in public, and is trying her best to keep it together and put on a facade for the Ozians, but I'd imagine once she's by herself she just. breaks down. and if anyone sees they interpret it as "Look how good Glinda is- she's even feeling sorry for the terrible Wicked Witch dying!". Glinda has become everything she's ever thought she wanted, but it's entirely a mask and leaves her feeling hollow as she tries to pick up the pieces Elphaba left behind.

Her entire line that she'll try to be Glinda the Good is Glinda acknowledging that she hasn't always been good, that she's messed up and become wicked by misleading the people into thinking they "know what goodness is" when they really know nothing at all about the situation. 

Oh, I also want to write a meta or fanfic about what might've happened if Elphaba took the Wizard's offer to "At long, long last receive your due long overdue / Elphaba, the most celebrated are the rehabilitated", but used the power to advance her own causes, scheming with Glinda behind the Wizard's back to help the Animals. And then Elphaba finds out her true parentage and things get even more complicated. It's just a fascinating what if to me, especially since Elphaba seems so entranced by the offer at the end of "Wonderful".

Phantom Thoughts pt. 41

{He dismissed the servants with a wave of the hand and the two Chagnys were left alone. But the men were not out of earshot before the count's valet heard Raoul say, distinctly and emphatically:

"I shall carry off Christine Daae to-night."

This phrase was afterward repeated to M. Faure, the examining-magistrate. But no one ever knew exactly what passed between the two brothers at this interview. The servants declared that this was not their first quarrel. Their voices penetrated the wall; and it was always an actress called Christine Daae that was in question.}

Whenever a story says 'something happened, but only the people who were there knew what was said', I get intrigued. I wonder what happened- was it just more of the same as we've seen before ("I'm in love with this opera singer and want to marry her!" "RAOUL NO." "RAOUL YES!"), or was this fight worse, and created a rift that they would never have the opportunity to mend? Have they ever had major fights before, or did this strain on their relationship start when Raoul encountered Christine again?

{"The latest news in the Faubourg is that there is a promise of marriage between Mlle. Christine Daae, the opera-singer, and M. le Vicomte Raoul de Chagny. If the gossips are to be credited, Count Philippe has sworn that, for the first time on record, the Chagnys shall not keep their promise. But, as love is all-powerful, at the Opera as—and even more than—elsewhere, we wonder how Count Philippe intends to prevent the viscount, his brother, from leading the new Margarita to the altar. The two brothers are said to adore each other; but the count is curiously mistaken if he imagines that brotherly love will triumph over love pure and simple."}

I would think Philippe could easily prevent Raoul from marrying Christine if he exercised the full extent of his power? IIRC, isn't Raoul not old enough to marry without familial consent first- he would've had to be in his mid 20s before he could do that? I would say the count is curiously mistaken, and based on how he's handled this situation, I doubt he's ever been in love before.

But awwww... they adore(d) each other! 

Oh. They adored each other, but their last conversations were arguments and they never got the chance to make up before... (I'm fuzzy on whether or not this works with the timeline and how Philippe died, but imagine an AU where Raoul and the Persian come across Philippe dying by the lake and they get the chance to have a final conversation. It's gut-wrenching regardless of whether Philippe changes his mind on his deathbed and says something like "Go, and be happy with her." or if his last words are disapproving on the matter, as he whispers so hoarsely and faintly that Raoul has to struggle to her him say "Above all else, Raoul, maintain the family honor.". Ow.)

{"You see, Raoul," said the count, "you are making us ridiculous! That little girl has turned your head with her ghost-stories."

The viscount had evidently repeated Christine's narrative to his brother, during the night. All that he now said was:

"Good-by, Philippe."}

And now I'm picturing Raoul earnestly pouring his heart out to his brother in a last ditch effort to make him understand, all the while Philippe just stands there and watches him coldly and wonders where he went wrong raising him, that he would make up such a story in an effort to justify his improper behavior. (Aaaand I'm making myself sad again.)

{Raoul, in fact, devoted the whole day to his preparations for the flight. The horses, the carriage, the coachman, the provisions, the luggage, the money required for the journey, the road to be taken (he had resolved not to go by train, so as to throw the ghost off the scent)}

Because ghosts obviously only travel by train, silly. XD

{At nine o'clock, a sort of traveling-barouche with the curtains of its windows close-down, took its place in the rank on the Rotunda side. It was drawn by two powerful horses driven by a coachman whose face was almost concealed in the long folds of a muffler.}

Any time care is taken to point out that someone is hiding their face, my Phantom senses start tingling... Which is probably why I'm prone to falling for red herrings like the rat catcher thing!

{In front of this traveling-carriage were three broughams, belonging respectively to Carlotta, who had suddenly returned to Paris, to Sorelli and, at the head of the rank, to Comte Philippe de Chagny.}

Long time, no see, Carlotta. In fact, it's been so long that I can't remember why, when, and to where you left. And Sorelli! Always good to hear about her.

{A shadow in a long black cloak and a soft black felt hat passed along the pavement between the Rotunda and the carriages, examined the barouche carefully, went up to the horses and the coachman and then moved away without saying a word, The magistrate afterward believed that this shadow was that of the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny; but I do not agree, seeing that that evening, as every evening, the Vicomte de Chagny was wearing a tall hat, which hat, besides, was subsequently found. I am more inclined to think that the shadow was that of the ghost, who knew all about the whole affair, as the reader will soon perceive.}

Detecting is always better when it involves hats. :D

{The regular frequenters of the Opera, who pretended to know the truth about the viscount's love-story, exchanged significant smiles at certain passages in Margarita's part; and they made a show of turning and looking at Philippe de Chagny's box when Christine sang:

"I wish I could but know who was he

That addressed me,

If he was noble, or, at least, what his name is."

The count sat with his chin on his hand and seemed to pay no attention to these manifestations. He kept his eyes fixed on the stage; but his thoughts appeared to be far away.}

They pretend to know, but they really have no idea what's going on in Raoul's life, don't they? It sounds almost like a parasocial relationship, in a way.

{Just then, Carlotta made her entrance in a box facing the stage, a sensational entrance. Poor Christine raised her eyes upon this fresh subject of excitement. She recognized her rival. She thought she saw a sneer on her lips. That saved her. She forgot everything, in order to triumph once more.}

At least wait for an intermission, Carlotta! In other news, Christine discovered how effective spite can be as a motivation.

{From that moment the prima donna sang with all her heart and soul. She tried to surpass all that she had done till then; and she succeeded. In the last act when she began the invocation to the angels, she made all the members of the audience feel as though they too had wings.

In the center of the amphitheater a man stood up and remained standing, facing the singer. It was Raoul.}

Aaaand he's wearing a "tall hat", so there's probably several people behind him that can't see- learn some theater etiquette, Raoul XD

In terms of standing up to interrupt a performance, this ranks far below that scene in Y&K Phantom where Cherik (Charles Dance as Erik, if you didn't already know) reveals himself to the audience so he can watch Christine perform that same scene in Faust, and she starts singing to him and he sings Faust's part back, and everyone completely ignores the guy playing Faust onstage to listen to this heavenly voice singing "Oui, c'est moi, je t'aime!" to Christine and it gets me right in the feels every time.

Is it ever explained why he's just standing up? I'm guessing it's because he wants to remind Christine that he's there, and to try to inspire her to have courage to finish this one last thing before they implement the plan to run away.

But, wow, I think this is the final scene in Faust, and that she's singing the "Anges purs, anges radieux" part, which, regardless of who's singing it, always gives me chills when I hear it, so if Christine is singing it with her amazing voice, then it must be an absolutely awe-inducing experience for the audience.

{And Christine, her arms outstretched, her throat filled with music, the glory of her hair falling over her bare shoulders, uttered the divine cry:

"My spirit longs with thee to rest!"}

I wonder what that costume's supposed to look like. Is it basically like the Y&K one, where she's in a simple long white sleeveless thing that looks like it's made out of a sheet, with possibly a cape over it? That doesn't really fit with the pictures I've seen of 1880s/1890s Marguerites, but then unless they show the actress at the spinning wheel, I can't tell if it's supposed to be her costume for just Acts 1 through 4 and she wears something different when she's in prison, or if she just wears the same dress throughout the whole show.

Why are the lyrics from the opera translated here, when Faust is a French opera? I get why earlier, so readers could understand 'oh, this line is talking about a noble lover, so people are wondering how Philippe would react to that', but here it just seems strange, especially since the translated version of the line seems rather... trite? and the rhyme with 'blessed' and 'rest' is kind of forced and doesn't quite fit. But IDK if I could have done better, especially since the first line I though of off the top of my head that conveys roughly the same meaning was "Angels, radiant and pure / Take me where my soul will soar", which is an even worse failed rhyme than de Mattos', and doesn't really take into account if it would work with the tune.

Messing around with it a bit more, just for fun. "Angels, radiant and pure / Bring me where God's love endures"? Or "Fly to where my hope's secure"? Really, it looks like the ideal translation, if you're going to translate it, is fdelopera's "Angels pure! Angels so bright! / Carry my soul to Heaven’s light". (Source: https://fdelopera.tumblr.com/post/135915142818/ahh-your-translation-of-the-french-leroux-text-is )