Leroux Less Travelled: A Phantom of the Opera Recap Podcast

Kristin and Cara continue their deranged conversation about the many thoughts about Masquerade NYC in this much-delayed episode! We discuss the Hugh Panaro Rik Academy, explain the lore of Cooper Grodin, and continue to pray none of them find out about this podcast. We PROMISEEEE we will finish Phantom of Manhattan next. Show notes: LOTR Hugh Panaro, Telly Leung, Clay Singer on the 'Brotherhoo...

Its been a long time comin..... Kristin and Cara finally have been so rikmatized it took them a month to organize their thoughts in a semi coherant way to talk about the immersive Phantom of the Opera production, Masquerade NYC! We talk all things rik, discuss Hugh Panaro to a degree that is concerning, and are joined by friend of the pod Ashley to explore the changes and innovations that are this...

This week, Cara and Kristin cover chapters 6-whatever of Frederick Forsyth's Phantom of Manhattan! The newsies take over, we finally meet RIK and Christine comes out of the car like Rose from Titanic to say it isn't any bigger than the Mauretania. We say a fond-ish farewell to Diva Fred, whomst we lost since recording episode one, and we have a special tribute to our beloved girl Isis. Enj...

In unprecedented times, we have our new episode! Join Cara and Kristin as we review the 1999 smash hit, "The Phantom of Manhattan" by Federick Forsyth. This sequel to the Phantom of the Opera has everything: clownery (figuratively), clownery (literally), and so much more. We touch base on riks in the wild and recap the first few chapters of this....interesting...book and talk about the s...

Backstreet's Back (Alright!) Cara and Kristin are busy recording our Phantom of Manhattan season but HAD to stop to talk about the impending Masquerade NYC Production coming this Thursday! We offer our shotty predictions, Kristin reminds us that all we are are proud and passionate, and we gird our loins for Immersive Phantom! Stay subscribed and posted - our Phantom of Manhattan season is comi...

We are LIVE and in person to bring you the most intense chapters yet from Phantom. Cara and Kristin are on the opera roof making odd moaning and groaning noises as Christine details her terrible journey below in Chapter 13: Apollo's Lyre. Then, we support Philippe in his one-man mission to create common sense Raoul reform in Chapter 14: A Masterstroke from the King of the Traps. All bangers all th...

WE DID IT! We have come to the end of our recap of Susan Kay's "Phantom" just in time for Fall (the summer technically ended don't judge us). Kay lands her Phantom of the Opera sized plane this chapter, getting us to the events of the book/musical with grace and poise and...a lot of blasphemy. Cara and Kristin are joined by friend of the pod and noted Raoul scholar Rachel (@rachellacroixs) to fini...

Cara and Kristin are back in a return to form with Episode 7 of our Summer of Susan Kay. This week, we dive into the "Erik 1856-1881." Rik decides to take an ill-fated trip back home to Maddie, who he assumes is at Sandals, only to learn her true, tragic life. Luckily, he pre-grieved (he didn't) and becomes a normal-amount obsessed with helping real life architect Charles Garnier build the definit...

Your tent or mine? Special Guest Angie from the podcast Musicalsplainin' joins Cara and Kristin to cover this week's chapter of Susan Kay's Phantom. We cover "Nadir, 1850-1853" aka the Persia chapter! We navigate the troubled waters of 90s era prejudice while also watching two men who are definitely not-in-love traverse the cut-throat world of Qajar-era Persia! Come for the w...

It's heating up in a respectable PG-13 way here on Leroux Less Travelled! Cara and Kristin finish their recap of Chapter 4: Giovanni from Susan Kay's "Phantom." Rik is still doing masonry in shirt sleeves while Giovanni is trying to find the guy who did this (not parent either of his children). Hopefully Chekov's Crumbling Parapet doesn't come back to bite anyone! Come fo...

Hey there, we noticed you on our scaffolding and dug your vibe! Cara and Kristin dive into Chapter 4 of Susan Kay's "Phantom" - the Giovanni Years! We're finally having fun and enjoying the truly cursed Club Chalamet energy of Giovanni as he takes in a young Rik and teaches him the magic of stone masonry. Teen Rik would not be complete without teen angst, and Luciana is here to s...

The Summer of Susan Kay and our review of "Phantom" by Susan Kay continues with the "Erik 1840-1843" chapter. We make unfounded claims about Rik's ability to win the Hunger Games while we attempt to navigate one of the most controversial chapters in the controversial book! 8 year old genius Rik has left home to join a community of travelers and Susan once again attempts to...

Cara and Kristin dive into "Phantom" by Susan Kay in this week's episode. We cover the "Madeline" chapter, in which we meet fetal rik doing behaviors and deal with the complicated issue of what if we were Erik's mother. Madeline books a trip to Sandals, we call the ASPCA on behalf of Sasha the dog, and hope that none of these formative year traumas have a huge impact on...

We begin our "Summer of Susan Kay" with a real treat: the proshot of the 1988 Broadway production of "The Phantom of the Opera!" Kristin and Cara are together and in person huddled in a hotel room after viewing the special tape housed in the New York Public Library archives! We talk at length about how sexy Michael Crawford is, Sarah Brightman's blue eyeshadow, and the perf...

We're back! In this normal-sized mini-sode we explore a MISSING chapter of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera: The Magic Envelope. Find out why this chapter ended up on the cutting room floor in 1909 as we plumb the depths of Rik-behavior and check in with our faves one last time. Be sure to listen to find out our grand plans for this summer and season 2! Notes from this episode: The...

"It's over now, the music of the-" Oh, wait, we're getting word that it's actually going to be over now...in about three months, once Rik pays back the money, does his Oprah interview with the Persian, and sets up his last will and testament with his ex-situationship, Christine Daae. We meet up one last time with Rik, the Persian, and Gaston Leroux to talk about Rik's ric...

Lions and tigers and Rik, oh my! Join Cara and Kristin as we venture into the penultimate episode of our hit series recapping the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux! Raoul and the Persian have the WORST table at the Rainforest Cafe (Rik's Version) and they need to get out without triggering the thunderstorm! Will they get out? What's the deal with all the barrels? What rec center did Ri...

Did...you leave something in the microwave? This week Cara and Kristin dive into Chapters 23 and 24 of "The Phantom of the Opera!" We revisit the torture chamber where Raoul cannot help but call for Christine; we get a read on the railroad style apartment that is Rik's house, and calm down with a peaceful bedtime story about Bluebeard. We're so close to the end!! What will happen...

Hi Barbie! Kristin and Cara are coming fresh from their screenings of Barbenheimer to bring you Chapter 22 of the Phantom of the Opera, very scarily named, "Concerning the interesting and instructive ordeals undergone by the Persian in the belly of the Opera." Raoul is desperate to rescue his low commitment long distance girlfriend from Erik's Mojo Dojo Casa House, but the Persian ha...

We go down once more to Erik's house, AKA the Home Alone booby-trap house, in this episode of Leroux Less Travelled! We are recapping Chapter 21 of "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux: "In the Belly of the Opera." Cara and Kristin follow Raoul and the Persian down the five levels of the opera house, find out what the 401k situation is for stagehands, and dare to ask...

We are at the halfway point of recapping The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, so let's recap how far we've come and where we are going next! Cara fills us in on her recent trip to Paris, aka Rik's house, Kristin checks in on her younger self from 1997, and we hastily* recap the first half of the novel before we move on with the stunning conclusion next time! Enjoy! ⁠⁠Follow us on...

Hey, has anyone seen, uh....Christine? Daae? The managers sure haven't in this week's episode. We are recapping Chapters 19 and 20 of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera," and this week the police are outsourcing their job, the managers are desperately trying to get out of doing theirs, and The Persian is quickly learning that Raoul de Chagny is a terrible Escape Room p...

Last episode gave us a million questions, and now we have answers! Cara and Kristin dive into Chapters 17 and 18 of "The Phantom of the Opera" to find out why the managers were walking backward, what's up with Madame Giry's fit, and HOW Erik made 20,000 francs of monopoly money! Check it out! ⁠⁠Follow us on Instagram! ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Follow us on Tik Tok! ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Opening: Audiobook narr. by C...

Chaos reigns at the Opera Garnier! Christine is missing! The managers are nowhere to be found! The police are en route! Chapters 15 and 16 of "The Phantom of the Opera" are full of employees trying to find answers while poor Raoul looks for his girlfriend in the tunnels of the opera house. We check in with Cara about Broadway closing and Kristin recaps what 1997 Kristin went through when...

Coming to you LIVE and IN PERSON, Cara and Kristin do a LIVE REACT to the most famous (arguably) chapters of the book: Chapter 13 "Apollo's Lyre" and Chapter 14 "A Masterstroke from the King of Traps." We listen to BJ Harrison's audiobook version of Texiera de Mattos' English translation of Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera . If you like canned wine and broad...