Phantom of the Opera

Saturday, October 10th, Frank and I attended the musical Phantom of the Opera at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose. Frank and I are season ticket holders and this seasons's seats are on Orchestra Left (even numbers). We now have end seats 46 and 44 in Row 8. Our angle of view to the stage is about the same as last season and we are a bit closer than last year's Row 12. Here is what we saw. Note the chandelier suspiciously suspended above the audience for this show.

I am not a fan of opera. Although I appreciate the skill and talent in the voices of the singers, I still find the sound a bit pretentious. The power is incredible, but in this performance I could understood only about 10% of the words. In Act I, the staging of the gondola scene in the misty subterranean lake of the opera house was impressively well done. Even so, slightly discouraged, I actually considered leaving at intermission. Frank was enjoying the show more than me (which is not usually the situation) so I banished the thought of not staying. I was so glad of that decision. 

The opening song of the second act was Masquerade. The visual spectacle of the broad scope of the colors and creativity  of the costumes and masks along with the sheer size of the cast blending their voices was so powerful I was glad I was there to soak it all in. This short facebook reel gives a brief glimpse. Full lyrics describing what we saw are here.  What follows is just a sample of the choruses.

Masquerade, paper faces on parade
Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you
Masquerade, every face, a different shade
Masquerade, look around, there's another mask behind you

The word Masquerade also brings to mind the quilt I made for Robin's and Jeremy's 2011 wedding (completed nine years later). The title reflects that the quilt was made from fabric with masks all over it. For a full account check out my 10/16/2020 quilting blog post.

In retrospect I am glad we committed to be season ticket holders. Having done so gets Frank and me off our duffs and relieves us of the boredom associated with staying only within the confines of our comfort zones. Perhaps if I had reviewed the lyrics on Wikipedia or some similar source I would have gotten more out of the show. But that would have been homework! So much better to just go and relax.

Ponder: Anatomy of an Alibi

I read First Lie Wins, the first adult novel of Ashley Elston, in September of 2024 and rated it five stars. So enamored with this author, I followed on by reading two of her young adults novels in October of 2024, The Lying Woods and This is Our Story, rating them five stars and four stars respectively. I was excited to see Elston had a new adult novel Anatomy of an Alibi ©2026 and I am pleased to declare that after relishing it and devouring it within a day and a half, I rate Anatomy of an Alibi five stars as well.

In murder mysteries a rare, but not unheard of, plot is where Person A agrees to murder Person B's spouse/partner/relative/lover in exchange for Person B returning the favor and offing Person A's desired victim. Other than this secret agreement, Person A and Person B have no connection to each other.  The murders occur at a time when each person has an alibi that he is somewhere else. Anatomy of an Alibi is a slight twist on this theme. 

Camille suspects her husband is up to something no good and she wants to spy on him to learn what that might be. She is kept under such close scrutiny by her hot-shot, wealthy, lawyer husband, Ben, that she cannot break free to investigate. But what if she found someone to pretend to be her and fooled her husband into tracking that person in some innocent activities instead, leaving her time and a chance to snoop? Maybe Camille could find something that would invalidate her prenup? 

Aubrey is haunted by the circumstances ten years ago around a hit-and-run accident that killed both her parents when she was sixteen, leaving her grieving and destitute. The man incarcerated for the crime believes himself to have been framed and contacts Aubry from prison to tell her this. Anxious to learn the truth, Aubrey, dresses in a wig and the fancy clothing of Camille. Armed with Camille's credit card, iPhone, and car, Aubrey puts on a show in a distance town, acting as a decoy to Ben, thus giving Camille a window of opportunity, while Aubrey does some poking around of her own.

From the book flap...

Except the next morning Ben is found murdered. Both women need an airtight alibi, but only one of them has it. And one false step is all it takes for everything to come undone.

The book has many characters beyond the main ones of Camille and Aubrey, but the author does a great job of keeping them straight and giving them distinct personalities and traits. Wealthy powerful daddy has many of the police and officials in his town in his pocket. Husband Ben and brother Silas are stuck under grinding thumb of wealthy, powerful, crooked daddy. Does Ben's law firm partner Hank have ignorance of shenanigans or motives of his own? The story is revealed in scenes titled before and after the alibi; they are clearly labeled in the chapter headings by time and speaker and so the sequence of events is easily followed.

Who is lying to whom? Who is not revealing all they know? The tension during interviews and confrontations is palpable. There are multiple plot twists. I really, really, really enjoyed this book!

★★★★★ Great! Read it!