I was in 8th grade by that time, and my family did indeed head up to Toronto for spring break. A friend had already brought me back a copy of the Canadian cast recording, and I was so excited to see the show in the famous Pantages Theatre. Living in Michigan, everyone went to see Phantom in Toronto - certainly more often there than in NYC. My first glance of the Pantages on Yonge St. was somewhat mixed - it was smaller than I imagined, but seeing the mask looming over the street was quite a thrill. There was also a large billboard with a scene from the show across the street. The Victoria St. entrance was much more impressive, with giant posters along the sides of the building, and one entire side painted with a mask and the number of years the show had been running. Upon entering, I immediately thought the theatre was the most beautiful I had ever seen. Colm Wilkinson was still with the cast at that point, and I do remember that I didn't particularly like his Phantom. He was a bit too rought for my tastes. Still, the rest of the cast was marvelous. My neck was a bit sore though - as anyone who has been to the Pantages can tell you, though the box seats are close to the stage, they are a bit off to the side, and I was leaning on the railing of our orchestra level box the entire performance in order to be able to see. We went on a tour of the building later on in the week - although unfortunately it was only the lobbies and the auditorium. I had hoped it would include backstage - but alas, I'd have to wait a few more years for that! After that weekend, a Toronto Phan was born...
Until I began high school, the only phans I had known were myself, my sister, and one other friend from school - though strangely she and I didn't hang out that much, even though we were friends! I can't really understand why, as we were both nutty phans, and we did hang out when we were in high school, though not specifically for anything POTO related.... oh well, it's a mystery I guess! At any rate, during high school, I did have a number of phan friends through snail mail who I talked with often. Some of them even lived an hour away from me in my home state of Michigan! My sister and I would organize 'Phan Phests', and our Michigan phan friends would come over for a weekend of watching phantom films, listening to recordings, singing, and mostly making my parents nuts! In 1995, the group of us decided to write to the cast in Toronto about one of our gatherings, and send them my phone number. We didn't know if anyone would actually call us, but we decided it was worth a shot. Saturday came and went, and no calls. Sunday morning and early afternoon passed, and sadly, my friends had to leave early. When we returned from driving them home, my mother informed me that we had missed a phone call - from Christopher Shyer, the Raoul in Toronto! She said he seemed nice, and she'd had a lovely chat with him. I was disappointed to have missed it! Then, we checked the answering machine, and what should we hear? 'Hi, this is Ciarin Sheehan... I play the Phantom in Toronto...' as if I could forget! Oh, I was so upset I'd missed it! Still, I was glad he'd made the effort. So, I went up to my room to do some homework, and around dinner time, the phone rang again! I picked it up, and it was Ciarin! I was so excited! We talked for awhile about the show, and he talked to my sister as well. Not long after, we both got letters and autographed pictures from him in the mail! I did get another call from a Phantom in my life, but it was after I'd gone to MSU. He'd been going through old phan mail, and come across my number, and decided to call on a whim. He was surprised to learn from my mom that I was already in university! Sadly, when my mother told me about the incident, she couldn't remember the actors name! Argh!
At any rate, back to 1995. I'd been taking french in school since 1990, and the summer of 1995 I was fortunate enough to get to spend a summer living on the Breton coast as an exchange student. I lived with a french family in the city of Quimper, Brittany in France, with is on the Atlantic coast. We even went camping near Perros-Guirec! I also got to spend a week in Paris, and it was my very first visit to the Paris Opera. I still remember climbing out of the metro (the Parisian subway system) and seeing the Opera for the first time - it was breathtaking! Although, at that time, it was quite dirty in comparison with it's new clean facade. I was quite saddened to learn that the auditorium was undergoing renovations, so I wouldn't be able to see it, but I was able to explore the rest of the building open to the public. They were doing a costume exhibition at the time as well, and so the entire place was full of opera costumes, giving it the look of a masquerade ball! I took an entire photo album of pictures there! I also left a tiny gift for Erik - I'd put a locket and a little gold ring (the type he'd worn in the Leroux book) into a small, black velvet jewellry box. Inside the locket was a short note I'd written - the contents of which are private though, so I won't be sharing that here! I don't know whatever became of that little box, but I imagine someone found it eventually!
When I came back from France, my family and I returned to Toronto again to celebrate my 16th birthday. I'd written to Ciarin to tell him how excited I was to come and see him perform. It was a wonderful show, and my family and I headed to the stage door alley (called 'Rat Alley') to see if Sarah and I could get our programs signed. I was in for a surprise when I walked up to Ciarin though. He recognized me right away from a picture I'd sent with my letter (of me in front of a picture of the Paris Opera) and said 'you must be Rebecca... wait here and I'll take you guys backstage'. My first backstage tour! He showed us the costumes and the dressing room area, the wings, on the stage and under the stage. We also took a few photos outside his dressing room that can be seen in the PhanPics section. It was such a great birthday surprise!