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 finish our Summer of Susan with a BANG....literally!

Intro Source

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 definitive opera house for Paris, the Paris Opera House! We invite our friend Paperandsong to come explain to us Rik's weird views of the Paris Commune of 1871 and why he would definitely throw at least one (1) Molotov cocktail in the revolution.

This is our penultimate episode of the season! Join us next week for our LAST ep of the Summer of Susan!

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 womb-tent, stay for the bone collecting and Leroux references!

Show Notes

Lindsey Ellis Daroga Video

Wishbone Phantom of the Opera

Susan Kay Source - Lady Sheil's Eyewitness Account of Persia

Photography in the Qajar Period

Outro