When did you first hear about Phantom?

[Countess Cain]

I'm talking about in general, by the way. Like, your first experience and all.

I first heard about it from a teacher, as far as the storyline goes and all. She even has a poster of the musical version up in her room. XD (She's a drama teacher.)

I had heard of the book/musical back when I was like, eight or so, though I didn't know much about it... Just the title, really.

I only got into it recently, when I saw the ALW movie. So, after I saw it, I read Leroux's book, Kay's, and joined a few forums and LJ communities. :T

How about you?

[vergulde_draak]

I sort of knew that Phantom of the Opera was a musical for sonething like forever, as in I can't remember when I heard about it. All I knew was that it was a musical about something.[I am stupid! hahaha!] So the first time I actually watched it was the movie. And it took me 4 months become a phan. Or rather realise that I was slowly slowy becoming one.

[Opera Ghost]

I first heard of it when I saw the trailer for the movie, last year. My sister said she wanted to see it, as did my mum. I looked it up on the net and fell in love with it. We went to see it and I fell in love with the film, but my mum and sis got bored. That's how I was introduced to Phantom.

[Wishing]

I was first introduced to the Phantom of the Opera when I was about 5 years old. My mom had seen the play, and bought the Michael Crawford CD. She let me listen to a few songs, and I've loved it ever since! I was so happy when I got to go last summer.

[angelofmusic]

I first heard of the Phantom of the Opera when my teacher was telling some of the students at my school how wonderful it is. She would go on and on telling us how great it was. So of course they anticipated going to see it. I didn't see it but I saw the movie and loved it. I hope to oneday see the real opera.

[Christine Daaé]

I knew since I was little that Phantom was a musical. I first heard "Music of the Night" when I was in the fifth grade, but I didn't know it was from Phantom. During freshman year I found the Leroux book in the school library, and for some reason I felt like it was calling me to it. Weird, huh? Anyway, I read the book and then had to listen to the original London cast recording. Then I fell in love completely, and am now a hopeless phan.

~ Zelda de le Fantôme

[IamErik771]

When I was about 8 or 9, I watched the 1943 film on TV, with Claude Rains as the Phantom. I don't really remember much of it, but it was my first encounter with POTO, other than the Lon Chaney postage stamps.

Fast-forward to March, 2004. My band class was preparing to go on a trip to New York and Washington, D.C. over spring break, and seeing POTO on Broadway was one of the planned activities. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go due to lack of money. :( By then, I still thought it was a simple monster movie, and wondered how on earth it could work as a musical. My band teacher then had the whole class listen to the OLC recordings while reading the libretto, and he showed us pictures from The Essential Phantom of the Opera, by George Perry. I was absolutely spellbound by the music, and suddenly regretted not getting to go more than anything in the world. To try to console myself, I bought the OLC CDs and the novel by Gaston Leroux, and also watched the silent film. I then found out that there was going to be a film based on the musical, and became eager to find message boards where I could talk about it with other Phans. That led me to PFN, and eventually brought me here. :D

[you_are_not_alone]

I first heard about the phantom after my father died. I was so upset i began to cry nd my grandpa sed christine before your dad died he told me that someone will alwayz b with you. And i said who? He said, "a voice that will guard you for the rest of your life"

[Why So Silent]

I first found out about the Phantom of the Opera when I visited New York (when I was 12??) and my Grandmother suggested we go see the Broadway musical...suffice to say we didn't...sadness, so the next time I heard about it was when my same Grandma told my mom and I to go see the movie. She said that the Phantom was hot so of course we went. :P

Why So Silent aka Kat

[Always_Erik_Fan]

I've heard about POTO all my life, because my mom constantly talks about how she and my uncle want to go see the musical together because no one else is interested enough, but my first experience was Christmas 2004 when I bought the book with a gift certificate I got, and then sometime in April I went and saw the movie and have been hooked ever since!!! (Am still hoping to see it on stage....)

[eternal_ec_phan]

I first heard of the Phantom of the Opera from my best friend Amanda aka Always_Erik_Fan. I wasn't sure I would like the movie all that much for I thought it was the opera type where you couldn't make out any of the words. Now I just think that movie is the best ever and want to read the book and see the plays.

[Maria]

Originally posted by Shadow
I found out about it because when i was younger my mom took me to see the play in Toronto, Canada and after that i saw it 4 more times and then the new movie twice! That's so cool,i am so envy you now but thanks for telling me about it.
I find it from Shadow/Jenny about that and then she rent the movie and we watched it and i really loved the movie and here and there we heard the disc she got in the play.

[The Khanum]

I first heard about it when I was about nine...first time I saw it on Broadway. ::Sighs wistfully at the memories::

~Erik is my Hero

[Masked Shadows]

I always have know about it but never knew the story til I first saw the movie. I grew up on the National Tour, 1991-1996. So I knew like everything technically about it but learned the story when the movie came out. That was the same time the new tour now was in town so I went and saw that too. Once with my BFF, row 5, GREAT seats. Then I say it from backstage with the stage manager.

[Reza Khan]

I was at a local 'beauty pageant' (strong quotes there...) and the emcee sang 'Music of the Night.' I thought the song was brilliant, so I researched it and found out where it was from, etc. I then discovered someone I knew had a PotO CD, so I slapped that onto my computer and let the obsession begin.

The aforementioned events occured approximately four years ago.

Elizabeth

[cinty]

I went to singing lessons years ago, where we learned "Music of the Night" and I loved it though I had no idea what it was from or what it was about. Then I saw the trailer last December, and heard Music of the Night and I was like "oh my gosh!" and of course it looked awesome so I had to see it. So I saw it on December 30th and it was instant obsession. :D

[Mysteria]

It was long time ago, I saw old movie about it.

[The_Persian]

When i was about 3 i had trouble going to sleep, and my mum found that playing me music tapes. One of these tapes was a collection of the quieter songs from POTO. As soon as i was old enough (about 6 or 7?) i started to listen to the whole CD, and then when i was 9 i saw it for the first time on teh stage in London.
I was hooked.

[Opera Ghost]

I've just recently converted a friend to Phantom-ness. She watched it over the weekend and thinks it's amazing! Good for her! I never thought she'd like it - she's not really a Phantom type.

First heard about Phantom when I heard the film was coming out.

[Luciana]

I got into it a few days before school ended, thanks to my dearest Matt. Of course, introducing me to PoTO is the ONLY favor he's ever done for me in that area, since I blame him for most of the embarassing stuff that happened to me once I got interested in it. At least I might have a halloween costume now (an abundence of them, actually).

[tatjoker]

I first really heard about POTO when I was in New York visiting a friend at a mall, and his sister came also to see the movie. I never really heard of it before that.

She said it was very good, and when the DVD came out I rented it to make sure I liked it before buying it, and fell in love with it. And here I am, just starting to read Leroux's novel too.

[operafreak84]

Wow, I've known about Phantom pretty much all my life. If I listed my very first experience, it would be when I was a toddler because MOTN was my lullaby. My mother was absolutely obsessed with it from the the time she first saw it back in '86 and was determined to make me the same way. She succeeded. I grew up listening to the OLC and first saw the stage show when I was about four. I've been fortunate enough to see it countless times since then in more than one country. It's my one great obsession.:D

[Angel_Of_Music0_G]

I fist heard about The Phantom from my mom.

[Black Ribbon]

Well, I had just lost my cd player, and I was like,"There's nothing good to listen to!" And my dad told me to shut up and to go look in his room for something. So I went into his room and started to browse his tapes, and one of them said,"The Phantom of the Opera." So I listened to it and I fell in love with it. (I was eight, so the movie didn't come out yet.) I bought the book (Lerox version). And then I saw the movie, so yeah.

[sunshine]

Well I was first introduced to POTO by my 4th grade teacher, I had alot of trouble in school and I was falling behind so she tutored me after school and she put the original POTO CD on and I found that it helped me concentrate better ( she is a POTO phan :D ) I found the Leroux book in 5th grade and I entered a contest and won tickets to see the broadway show and me and my best friend went and saw it ( he is a POTO phan too ) So ever since then I have been a huge Erik phan and I listen to the CD every day to help me study for exams in college :D

[Opera Artist]

The first time I heard about the POTO in my life was after my parents came back from the USA. My mom told me then she watched the stage show on Broadway (How I envy her today!!!!) At first, I didn't get very interested. I was like, 9 years old and the only thing I knew about Phantom was the Overture song. But, when I heard the news about the new POTO movie, I started to search everything about it and one thing lead me to another... I read Leroux's book, watched the 2004 movie (later a few other movie versions), bought the soundtrack, watched the play (YAY!)... and the result? Today I'm a POTO phan and proud of it! :)

[Lia Lecordier]

Well, I probably gained interest about two months ago. My mom was listening to the cd in the car one day and i got hooked. So I saw the movie, read the book, so on. I'm working on SK's book right now. I just started reading it. But, I hope to see some more shows soon.:)

[Ceridwen]

I heared about it a long time ago, when the musical was first playing in Holland. I thought it was around 1995 but it could also be the closing year...I so badly wanted to see it, but musicals are expensive and I was too young I guess. But every once in a while in all those years I remembered The Phantom and how much I regret it I didn't see the play. Then this movie came into theatres and for some stupid reason I didn't see it....:mask: I forgot about it again until the dvd release. Didn't had money, couldn't buy it. By now I have seen the movie at least 10 times, can't stop listening to the soundtrack, skip to my favorite parts every day because I can't sleep without at least seeing how Phantom takes Christine down to his lair, can't stop drawing phantom-related pictures and so I can go on forever it seems :D

Edited to add:
I even bought two copies of the dvd...One is the two-disc special edition (Dutch release, it has no 'Behind the Mask' docu) The other one is the German 3-disc special edition, it's beautiful, I couldn't resist when visiting Germany last weekend :tongue:

[zethanie]

I heard about it from my best friend outside of school. She has a lot of the cd's and we were both listening to it one night when our parents were downstairs. I don't have any of the cd's because I don't listen to music much so I usually listen to music when I'm over my friend's house, sometimes we'll watch the movie too.

[Miss Daae]

Hm...I found out about Phantom when I was like in 5th grade and I watched a Michael Crawford concert and he was like 'I never got to be Raoul and didn't get the girl' and then he sang All I Ask of You with some girl.

I really started loving Phantom was a little before the movie, I was totally hyped up, so yay for Phantom!

[AAW0487]

When I was younger my Grandmother decided to take me to the Opera House in town, but the play I saw of "Phantom of the Opera," the Phantom was shot and killed at the end. I couldn't stand the thought of the Phantom being dead. However, years later my brother went to New York and saw the play and told me that it had a better ending, and indeed it was much better than the one I had seen protrayed in town.

Then I saw it for myself in New York and then saw ALW's movie in 2004 and fell in love with it! I'm just soo glad the Phantom lives!
:cd9: :tp4:

[Parisian Phantom]

To be honest, I haven't heard of the legend of the phantom before the making of the recent 2004 movie. It was a few months before the movie's release that I heard about it, and I became completly fascinated by this legend, and started to read Gaston Leroux's novel. I only got to see the movie afterwards, and that is how I became a fan of it. :)

[erik's_admirer]

I think growing up I probably heard it mentioned once or twice, but I never really knew what it was. Then in 2004 my sister went and saw it, and for about 2 weeks she was all into it. Then in September she decided to force my mother to rent it, just because she felt like listening to some good music. Well, I thought what the heck, might as well watch it. Halfway thru the movie I would not budge from my seat or take my eyes off the screen, and thats sort of how it's been ever since. It's rather sad, because once I got really into it my sister lost interest, so I can't gush about Gerry Butler and PONR to her.
But thats okay, I own the DVD and can watch it whenever I want, now!
Oh yeah, and I've read the book by Gaston Leroux about 50 times, too. I'm working on Phantom by Susan Kay right now...sooooo good!

[Starr]

I was in high school when I first heard about ALW PotO, it was brand new then. I was already a Fan of ALW and my favorites were "Cats" and "Starlight Express".

PotO was the talk of the musical theater class that I was in in school, so we all got the OLC recording as soon as it came out!!!

[Kitty]

I first heard it when I was little...my aunt would play it all the time....and at the time, I hated it...because I didn't know the story....but when I started to LOVE it....it was a litle more than one year ago......when I saw the movie....for a firend's b-day....

[MystMoonstruck]

My father was a film buff, and he brought the Phantom films to my attention: Chaney, Raines, and Lom. We must have watched them every time they were shown on TV. I'm not sure if Dad would have liked the film version, but he probably would have watched it at least one time, as he would have any other version. (He died in the mid-'70s, by the way.)

So, TOPO has been one of my interests most of my life.

[moonfire2007]

I first heard of it and tried to read the Leroux book when I was 12, but my attention span at that age was limited and I never finished it. I remember being intrigued with the idea of a mysterious man who lived under the Opera though. I barely remember the small parts I read about him rowing Christine on the lake in this dark cave and singing to her. He actually creeped me out back then, despite it being interesting.

Flash forward to January 2005 and I'm in my late 30s, sitting mesmerized in front of the screen at Edwards Cinemas staring at Gerard and Emmy playing out their drama. Now as an adult, I fully understand the story, and I've been hooked ever since. For two years I've studied almost every version made, the possible history in Paris, the Opera and reports from various people about encounters with Erik's ghost, including me. I believe the story is still going on, still being written, and not just in fanfiction or in the minds of the producers. What makes it so intriguing is that it's based on fact. The other thing is that it touches on the subjects that mean the most to people: love, relationships, history, jungian psychology and myth, spirit, music and a timeless story at least most of us can relate to no matter what century we live in. It's not a passing fad, but an endless legend. The fact that it's set in 19th century France dosen't hurt for the romance factor either;)

[AngelofMusic122]

I heard about it about two years ago when the musical came into town and my grandfather made our whole family go see it. I honestly thought I was going to hate it, but I loved it, it was incredible, and the cast was great. After we saw the musical, we went back to my grandparents house and watched the movie, which I liked just as much! I have had an obsession with it ever since. And that's my story, moving on....

[ErikLove4Eva!]

My mom told about it when I was like..5 or so? All she said was he was a famous opera singer that got horribly burnt ina fire..(-_-') Then, in 4th grade I listened to the original cast recording. Jacqueline burbed it off her CD so I could practice my scales! And thern I lisntened to it SO much..I RUINED THE CD! Then I begged my Mom to buy The DVD and I got it and loved it. I haven't been very POTO active until the last few months. I had an urge to watch a movie, so I picked POTO (I hadn't watched for a while) so I loved it, so I watched it again and again. but my parents wouldn't let me (at that time my DVD player was busted.) FINALLY I GOT A NEW ONE AND NOW I WATCHED POTO ALMOST EVERYDAY!!!!!!!!!!

[The Phanto/\/\]

I first heard About it From a Friend about 2-3 months ago, they kept hounding me to whatch the 2004 movie so i gave in and hired it out, and it turned out i loved it lol, ever since i've been collecting POTO stuff left, right and center, ive got the 1925 film and the 1943 film, ive got numerous cds with different recordings and versions of the music, ive got both books, the list goes on

[inside your mind15]

I first heard about POTO from my mom when she went to the play,that was when i was seven... I first watched the movie at age 14 and fell in love!!! I've just finished reading the book... never seen the play though... soon hopefully!!!

[masquerading rose]

About two years ago. My sister went to a friends house for a movie party. SHe came back was FURIOUS because (she had never PotO before this) her friend was explaining EVERYTHING during the movie (and my sister understood it) like during the All I ask of you scene, her friend would pause it then say "This is the scene when Raoul: That guy *point* and Christine: That lady *point* confess their love for eachother. And then the phantom... Oh never mind, its kinda hard to catch were Raoul comes in. Here, I'll just rewind it to where Raoul is introduced." You know, stuff like that. And she was so annoyed.So I said, "Hey, Cassie (my sister), lets just rent it and watch it all the way through with out interuptions. So we rented it and I thought the movie was stupid. I watched it again. It was ok, watched it again. Liked it. Watched it again loved it. Watched it again: CAN'T GET ENOUGH!!. watched it again, read the books: ABSOLUTLY POTO OBSESSED!!!

[Whitters]

My first experience with Phantom was at camp when I was younger. Our counselors were all encouraged to read to us before it was bed time. My counselor chose the book "Phantom of the Opera" by Kate Mcmullan which is an adaptation written through Erik's eyes. I remember getting so into the book, and feeling so sad for the Phantom.

I had heard a bit about the Phantom of the Opera from my cousin who got to see it on Broadway, but who also told me that for my age, it would be too scary to see.

So when I got home from camp, I did some research and landed myself a copy of the original novel. After that I was completely Phantom obsessed.

[MrsOwenJones]

My mum and dad saw it years ago when i was like 6 and brought back the CD i used to listen to it all the time when i was little but i didn't really know the plot or what it was about. Only like a year ago my best friend showed me the dvd thats what made me fall in love with plot and characters ever since then i've been hooked ^_^

[Masqued Mystery]

I read a really younger kids' version of it about four years ago, though I didn't really put much thought to it. Then around a year or so ago I saw the movie at a sleepover, and I loved it. Then I insisted we buy the DVD with bonus features, which we did, and then I bought the Leroux book at a bookstore like a year ago, I think. Now I've ordered the Kay version, which I hear is awesome, so I can't wait for it to arrive!

[Hidden Away]

Long ago! It seemed so long ago! *sing song* I can sing a guys part if I wanted can't I? Anyways, hehe, it was since I was seven my friend raved on and on and on and--you know it!--on, but the man that hide from the world under the Opera House hidden by a mask.

At the age of 9--year of 2004 move--I never watched TV inorder to heard of the movie, so I was lost about it. I loved the idea, I just wasn't a huge phan. . .yet!

I--recently--was brought back to the Phantom my piano lessons...thank you!!!! I learned the song Think of Me and the theme song, I was in love with it all since I started to play it and sing it! I've been stuck since...I then watched the Vegas, listened the Original Cast, and then movie I was in love with it all!

[MllePaula]

For me, it was in 1988.

We had a half-day at school - it was probably a Friday before a vacation. Our teacher didn't feel like starting a new lesson on such limited time. So, she brought in a new album...the cast recording of a new show on Broadway called "The Phantom of the Opera."

I fell in love from the first thunder of the Overture. By the time I heard "The Music of the Night," there was no going back.

After school that day, I demanded to go straight to the local music store, demanded an advance on my allowance, and got my own copy. I've worn out so many since.

I became a fan from the beginning...but it was years before I saw it live. It was sold out and impossible to get tickets while Crawford was in the role. And I didn't spend much time in NYC back then.

After seeing the movie, I was in NYC and looked up at the Phantom billboard in Times Square. It said, "Remember Your First Time." I decided I'd waited long enough and I got myself a ticket for the front row.

The first performance went badly because of a talkative woman behind me and the fact that the leading man spit in my eye made it worse.

But I still went back again two months later for a perfect, amazing performance. And Hugh Panaro - despite the spitting incident - captivated me so much that I saw him fifteen times before he left the role that fall.

Since that first performance, I've seen four different Phantoms, seven Christines, and four Raouls. And, even when I don't like one or two of them, I still love the show itself.

[The Countess]

*smiles*
When I was 9, I was really into being unique (still am). I didn't like the 'normal' music everyone was listening to so I turned to opera. One day, a tralier for the 2004 POTO version came on and it looked really interesting. My mom is into art stuff too so I thought that I would impress her by wanting to see the movie. So we went out and rented it, as well as National Treasure. We watched NR first because my dad 'didn't want to watch opera' (please note that I know that POTO isn't opera). So anyway, that Sunday morning, my mom and I watched it together; my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. I begged my mom to buy and she did. Soon, I had the songs all memorized, then the entire screenplay. I got the book for Christmas and read that that night. I was eating up anything POTO related!

So here I am, 4 happy years later, still a phan.

[F-warp]

I think I saw the Charles Dance mini-series on television when I was way too young to understand what it was about, like 5 or 6 (I'm dutch and I didn't learn to speak proper English until I was about ten years old).

I remember avoiding Phantom when I was a little kid, mostly because it scared the living hell out of me. You see, my mom is an actress and back when I was little she had a lot of work in musicals and plays and seeing as she couldn't always find a babysitter for me, she tended to drag me along with her most of the time. I spent a lot of time backstage when I was little and the very concept of this masked, caped figure who was hideously deformed, stalking about back there and causing all kinds of misschief just freaked me out to no end.

I remember this one time when I was about ten or eleven years old and my mom couldn't arrange for me to get a regular seat in the theater so she had me placed in this...well I can only describe it as a kind of hole in the wall. Imagine right around the area where box five is in the story, only there is no box, just a big square window and behind it a little area with no carpets or light or anything, just grey concrete leading into a dark hallway. A stagehand put up a wooden chair for me so I could sit there and watch the performance. The whole time sitting there, I was scared stiff! I couldn't stop imagining some black-clad, caped creep coming from that big black hole of a hallway to get me.

I went to find my mom during intermission and INSISTED on being placed in a regular seat. Thankfully there was one available so I didn't have to go through that whole experience again.

I know its a little off topic but those are really what I see as my first memories regarding the Phantom of the Opera

Of course much later I saw the Chaney movie and found I could kind of identify with the character which made him a lot less scary. Kind of like Freddy Krueger where as a kid you think he's scary but as a teeager you think he's kind of cool.

[Mrs Nadir Khan]

I first heard of POTO when I was really young. There was this show, “Wishbone” and they did their version of it. For those of you who don’t know about the show, it was a show featuring a Jack Russell Terrier, who had a teenage (I think) owner. The boy would have a real life problem and Wishbone would connect it to a great work of literature. Well, I remember getting so worked up because my dad told me the unmasking of the Phantom would be terrifying and I chickened out. I mean, I like fled and didn’t finish the episode. Then, when I was nine, I was flipping through old movie channels or something and came across the Lon Chaney version. I didn’t watch that all the way through either. Not out of fear this time, but because I had things to do. I saw maybe five minutes of it. After that, I didn’t hear of Phantom again until 2004. The school band was to play selections from the Webber musical and all my friends were obsessed with Phantom. I was snide, to say the least, insisting that it was no big deal and once the movie had been out for a few weeks, no one would care. My best friend insisted I go to see it in theaters. And I didn’t. I refused to. I was “above the mindless zombie fangirls” thank-you-very-much. Then, a few weeks before school got out, some girls from my choir performed a medley of songs for the talent show, which sparked mild interest in me. It was short lived, though, and died out until summer. We were having a movie day at my friend Emily’s house. Someone brought over POTO (2004). I watched it straight through… and didn’t understand a word of it. A friend of mine who was also there would not shut up long enough for me to watch the freakin’ movie. She felt the need to put subtitles on, like I was unable to understand English. I snapped at her during Buquet’s death scene and she stormed out of the room for All I Ask of You. I saw that one scene and loved it. By the end of it, though, that annoying friend was back and I couldn’t hear the rest of the movie. I went home, complained to my dad. He totally misunderstood me, somehow hearing “I loved the movie” instead of “I’d love Rachel to shut her mouth during movies”. So he bought me the movie. One day I got bored and popped it in. I liked it, maybe even loved it. The storyline was interesting and I was starting to catch on to what my friends were ga-ga over. I promptly bought the soundtrack. And the Leroux novel. And the Original London Cast soundtrack. And the Susan Kay novel. It snowballed.

[cornholianphantomess]

My friend suggested that we(my mom and I) watch the movie and we watched it and an amazing feeling swept over me,like"this is the story that calls to my soul"and ever since then,I can't two sentences without mentioning Phantom.

[silver moon]

for me it starts with donald duck(i think):p
i read a story eith a phantom like guy, and it was something with a certain melody played on a flute, and a really big organ? i don`t remember much of it, wonder why i remember it at all, it`s so many years ago, much have loved the story since i still remember it:confused:

well anyway years later on a forum for margit sandemo\ the legend of the isfolk(translation sucks, it sounds so much moe..silly) fans(and i was, and still am a great fan of those books) and we had a game about finding songs that one way or another reminded us of books. and one of the others said that born to be lonely reminded of heike, one of the caracters (and i totally agree its cathes both erik and heike) and i downloaded the song.
time still passed by untill untill autumn last year when i and a friend at a movie night, we hadn`t planned to see any special movies so she just picked a random one for us... destiny or what? teehee she had off course seen it and loved it, and i not only came to love it, i was spellbound by it:D. i soon found the leroux book, and from that to kay.. and here i am i haven`t either seen the stage show or read any other of the books, ( i keep drooling over them on the internet) but i keep saying to myself, one day.. one day!;)

[Satine]

Well, the name of the phantom of the opera lived in my mind as long as I remember, the same with the melody of title song, but when I was 13 I've heard "The Music of the Night" sung by Michael Crawford and I loved it, but it all started later, when I discovered the movie version. I bought the DVD. Now, at last I am waiting for see the stage version in my country :).

[Henri]

I can't remember when I first saw a "reference" to TPOTO (mainly a person in a white mask playing the organ), but my first exposure to it was when I was home from school sick and watched movies all day.:D Anyway I watched TPOTO 2004 movie but wasn't realy paying any attention, I even think I fell asleep!:tongue: I didn't watch it again for like 3 years, and I only watched it again because my sister got a broadway book for piano and I liked playing the songs on it and one of them was Music of The Night. I wanted to hear how it went though so I watched the movie again and ended up loving the story and the music. I ended up getting most of the music on my ipod. So I guess I have always known about it but just really care until a few years ago.

[xXphantomaddictedXx]

I only just discovered it on the trip to Vegas I took with my family. My dad told me we would be seeing it Tuesday night while we were at the airport on Monday morning, waiting to catch our plane. I was hesitant at first, because I knew it might be a little scary, but I saw it anyway, and have been hooked ever since. I have yet to see any other versions.

[Ange de Musique]

I first was exposed to the Phantom's power when I was about 12. :D I read Gaston Leroux's book, and loved it, then watched the Claude Rains movie, and loved that, and it was rather like a domino effect after that. :D The Gerry Butler movie I saw on the Internet and was hooked. The 2004 movie is really what did it for me. Before that, Phantom was an interest, now he is my OBSESSION. :D

Laura

[angelgirl]

I first heard about it when I was little, but didn't really think much of it.

Then a few years ago, (late '06, to be exact,) we watched the movie in Vocal class and I fell in love with it and have been obsessed ever since.
(Get this:I hadn't even known they had made a movie of it until that day! Where WAS I during December '04?)
A.G.

[thePhantom6]

Well, I got hooked aphter I saw the 2004 movie!(plus, I found an Erik plushie at a garage sell!!)

[death_shadows]

to be perfectly honest when i first heard of it i was about 4 and it was in a dream of mine. i was in the opera house and everything and i had never heard of poto before in my life. years later after having the dream several times, i found the book, and remembering my dream i took much interrest in it and bought the book. i know its weird isnt it O_O

[The Countess]

Come to think of it, the first offical time that I ever heard of it was on a Wishbone episode when I was like 3 maybe. Erik's face scared me to death and so did his full face mask (as it should be). Then when I like 7 I read the Phantom of the Autotorium from the Goosebumps series.

It was only until (regretalblly) the 04 movie that I was hooked.

[Trix]

My mom was obsessed with it after seeing it in London when I was younger, so I pretty much grew up listening to the cast recording whenever she cleaned the house... must admit it scared the crap out of me.

I find it funny that now I'M obsessed because of the London show to... like Mom like daughter.

[tiannangel]

Wow...the sad thig is, I have no ideaa wher I first heard of POTO. I mean, it felt like it was alwys there, like I've always known about it.
I knwo for sure that I knew the 2004 movie when it came out, I knew POTO before then, but it never occured to me to look it up until last year.
In yr 7, any time someone mentioned POTO, I would always be like: Oh yeah, it's th disfigured guy with a white mask.

[death_shadows]

lol. whe sumone mentions poto or is wearing a poto shirt i automatically jump at the very chance to talk about poto and practically ambush them. XD

[Trix]

lol. whe sumone mentions poto or is wearing a poto shirt i automatically jump at the very chance to talk about poto and practically ambush them. XD

Ditto.
Like even things that only VAGUELY have to do with it.

[tiannangel]

Ditto.
Like even things that only VAGUELY have to do with it.

Ditto to that too XDDD

My friend mentions anything to do with: Roses, masks, ALW, Musicals, opera, opera house...basically anything at all that's related to POTO, and I go mental and start raving off in my own littel world :D

[death_shadows]

lol so do i. they cant get me to shut up once ive started and when i finally do im still thinking about it XD

[operadiva7]

Well, my Mom gave me her original cast recording when I was eight. Even though it scared the crap out of me and I had absolutley no idea what was going on, I loved it. Then the movie came out in 04 and my Mom bought it. My whole family watched it one night and I was enthralled. After I stopped crying, little ten year old me danced around the house, singing masqerade.
Everyboduy always has these fond memories of discovering musical theatre through like Showboat and A Chorous Line. I skipped straight to the tragic, dark, synth rock stuff. Go figure

[Erik'sMusic92]

When I was in Nags Head, NC with my cousins, aunt, uncle, and my mom, we went to a bookstore. I was looking in the horror section when I ran across Gaston Leroux's novel of POTO. I ameidently picked up the book, skimmed through the back cover, bought it, and never regreted buying it. I became a fan of Erik, and POTO right from the beginning of the book to the very end. And after reading Leroux's novel, I dreamed of going to the Opera House and seeing for myself the beauty of the Opera House and hopefully catching sight of Erik. I got that novel 2 years ago, and now I'm saving money to go to Paris!!

[The Countess]

Wow, how refreshing it is to have someone become a phan by the novel! What a good breath of fresh air that is for a purist...

[little daae]

i first heard that there's such thing as the phantom of the opera is when i first heard it at American idol season 7... i think because the movie and even Leroux books weren't well introduced here in the Philippines... at first... i tried finding the book and read it... after that... i became a fan... search and figured out there's a movie of it... too sad i have no such time going to cd stores and try having my self copy of its dvd... so i watched the entire vid in youtube... (the very last part is not yet uploaded so i'm still waiting for it...:() hehe...

[Chilihead]

My first encounter was at a wax museum when I was a little kid. I talk about it at my web site in my musings section.

Looking back, I'm sure he'd look a bit hokey by today's standards. Back then, as a kid that did not get to go out much, however, he just looked totally awesome and cool to me. They designed him much like Leroux's original description, down to the glowing yellow eyes. He was one of the only displays in the whole museum that moved. His hands moved across the organ and his head moved from side to side as the music played.

I remember the carpet in the gift shop was a deep shade of purple, thus that shade of purple for the background on that particular page at my site.

[death_shadows]

hmm...that seems cool wut museum was that?

[Chilihead]

Heh heh. I have to update that page.

It was a wax museum during the 1970's at Panama City Beach, Florida. It was called Castle Dracula. It went out of business some time early in the 1980's, I think.

[Meg_Giry]

I was doing a play a few years ago (a couple of years before the movie came out) and two of the girls were really into musicals. One day backstage we decided to sing a whole bunch of Disney/Broadway songs and then the two girls decided to sing some songs from "Phantom of the Opera." I remember liking "Think of Me," and listened to it a few times on my own. When I found out the movie was coming out I listened to more songs from the Original Cast and I liked them. The movie came out the day before my 14th birthday so I went to see it. I loved it, and as they say, the rest is history
(my obsession only grew when I went to see the show live last year)

[DayDreamBeliever]

I first heard of / saw Phantom of the Opera when I was 8 because of a friend who told me about an old theater (in the town that I used to live in) that was said to be haunted. Well I wanted to know if it was true, so I asked my mother to take me to a show that was playing there and it just so happened to be the Ken Hill version of The Phantom of the Opera. I instantly fell in love with the show and wanted to know everything about it so my mother went to the library and checked out the book for me and well that just sealed the deal.

[dreamfairy101]

I first really acknowledged the Phantom when I watched the 2004 movie, but I had known about it for a while. I didn't know the actual story until I saw the movie, but I knew it was a play by ALW, as I had always loved his plays, particuarly Cats, which I loved when I was little. When I saw the movie, it immediatly became my favorite of all time, but I still wasn't very hooked. My obsession started just recently actually, when I got the original novel from the library and read it, and I was hooked. Before that I was hooked on Twilight, and I still am, of course, because you can never have enough of Edward (squeel!), but I've found out that I can't have enough of Erik either. I haven't seen the stage musical, or read Susan Kay's novel, but I really want to. I just watched the 1925 version of the Phantom, and thought it was great, but in my eyes, there will never be another real Phantom other than Gerry Butler, but since I saw that version first, I don't know about Micheal Crawford, and I know a lot of other people love him, but I just always feel really connected with Erik in the 2004 movie. I don't know, I just do.

Oh! I was babbling! I do that. Sorry!

[darcimkire]

First heard about the musical during my high school days, specifically when i'm in second year high school... when i first heard the Overture, i began to think that there's something in this musical that i will surely love, so i continue to hear the music...

now, when i heard The Phantom of the Opera, The Music of the Night, etc. (The original cast were the singers, by the way), i began to love it, i became obsessed, i researched about it, the book by Leroux and Kay, FanFictions, Youtube, and so on...

And now, I'm a proud, big, permanent Phantom phan... and I love Michael Crawford because for me he's the best Phantom ever who could play the part in the musical. He is ERIK himself....:violin:

[darcimkire]

i first heard that there's such thing as the phantom of the opera is when i first heard it at American idol season 7... i think because the movie and even Leroux books weren't well introduced here in the Philippines... at first... i tried finding the book and read it... after that... i became a fan... search and figured out there's a movie of it... too sad i have no such time going to cd stores and try having my self copy of its dvd... so i watched the entire vid in youtube... (the very last part is not yet uploaded so i'm still waiting for it...:() hehe...

im from Phil also.. hehe... and i began to love it when im second year high school. i love the musical by ALW with Michael Crawford and the other Original casts performing (heard it from CD recording, and I must say I have my own original cast recording and I love it...).. then after loving the recording and the music i began to research about the musical and the original book by Leroux... i got a copy and read it, and it made me cry... i read it again and again and it always made me cry.... then YouTube offered me great opportunities of seeing some stage versions of the musicals and i love them (i even downloaded them)

you see, i became obssesed.. I'm an E/C phan, by the way....:spin2:

[Smurfette]

I first saw Phantom of the Opera when I was eleven. It was the start of a long, boring summer holiday in which there was nothing to do, so I went to the library to borrow some DVDs to watch in the spare time I suddenly had so much of. I remember actually wanting to borrow Around The World In 80 Days, but I couldn't find it so I borrowed phantom instead since I had heard of (but not literally heard) the musical.

Thank God the library didn't have Around The World In 80 Days. Even though I still think it's an awesome movie.

[Lot666]

When I was a toddler, mum used to ply the music. This was what started my obsession. I fell in love with it and mum loosely explained the storyline.

A year later, I found a cartoon version. You can watch it on youtube and there is a post about it somewhere. I adored it, but my friends still have nightmares over wathcing it in preschool with me.

When I was seven, the movie came out. I went to see that, and I was hooked.

Four years later, I saw that stage show. That was what tipped me over the edge.

I became a Phan.

And now I'm me. Thanks for listening!

[SoulLily]

I can't remember the first time I heard of it, I think I've pretty much always known it existed, but my path to phangirlism started a couple of months ago in French when it was announced that we'd be reading it, which got me very excited. Unfortunately we read an abridged version. I haven't actually seen the whole movie either, just the songs, so my whole experience has been abridged to some extent.
However, that was still enough to get me to spend a whole weekend on YouTube watching everything Phantom and completely disregarding all the work I had to do... ^^;

[Hidden Away]

The first time I heard of Phantom....hummm I would have to say it all started when I heard my friend singing ridiculously high notes for her childhood range! Yelling over her voice I screamed, "What are you doing?" She could only simply reply, "I'm being seduced by the Phantom!" Looking at her--keep in mind that we were seven or younger--I couldn't understand the meaning of her words "What's the Phantom?"

By asking that simple question I had an entire lecture of how charming Raoul was when professed his love to her, how pretty Daae was as a child, how mysterious and daring the Phantom was. Listening to this as well as the original soundtrack I couldn't help but become entranced.

After many years past--not to mention the fact of my range growing higher and higher! :)--I rediscovered Phantom of the Opera when I began piano lessons, now I play it on the flute, piano, and guitar. It's amazing and nothing more to say!

[*Obsessed*]

When was the first time I heard about POTO? *thinks real hard*
The first time I heard/saw POTO was in my music class. It was the end of the year, my teacher didn't have anything planed for us, so we watched POTO. We didn't get to finish it so I had to go out and buy it. I fell in love with it and it led to an *Obsession*

[PhantomoftheOpera]

my grandmother died when i was two and i was for a short time obsessed with her and i found out she liked POTO so i found out about it and i loved it.

btw i wasnt freaky about my grandma its just i wanted to know more

[death_shadows]

my grandmother died when i was two and i was for a short time obsessed with her and i found out she liked POTO so i found out about it and i loved it.

btw i wasnt freaky about my grandma its just i wanted to know more

don't worry i understand and don't think its freaky in the least bit. often when someone dies ppl try to become closer or try to understand and know that person better. its how some ppl deal with death.

[glamgirlsg]

There were three seperate incendents.
1. Wishbone when I was little.
2. In Middle School my friend Erin sang "Think of me"
These two incedents happened before I knew of POTO
And then
3. I saw the 2004 movie and everything cliked :) and I became obsessed.

[Kojinka]

After my parents saw the show in Minneapolis, and got the OLC recording on CD. It was two of my favorite CDs to listen to in my dad's pickup. At that age, the loud organ music and the Phantom's rage scared me, but I was in love with MotN. My mom's favorite was All I Ask of You.

[CrinolinesRibbon]

I think I first really acknowledged Phantom back in 2004, when there was a small clip of Raoul singing AIAOY on Newsround (which is a short news program, aimed at kids in the UK. XD And hey, I was 12 back then!)

I remember raising my eyebrow at the idea of a movie where everyone sang through out... not considering the FACT it was a MUSICAL, thus its purpose... and then I completely forgot about it.

Until a few months later, when I'm in my best friend's car, and her Mum is blasting out the original cast recording. :3 I was intreguiged in the story and its many forms from then on!

It is sad to say though my phan-love dimmed a bit, due to a few personal issues revolving around courtship in real life. I was a hopeless romantic until then, and I latched onto Phantom because it fed what I felt was empty in my life.

But it's still nice to dream now and then about the Phantom's world, even if the story has a completely different meaning to me now. :3