Unmasking My Desire to See The Phantom

I first heard its melodies in grade school. Sitting in the front row of a classroom, a black metal music stand in front of me, while a choir teacher insisted that some of the iconic scores be integrated into our performance routine. From the first note played on the accompanying piano I was captivated by the music. A few years later, as I wandered the alluring stacks of dreams, desires and fears I found myself encountering the music’s textual background and since crossing the literary borders that only Gaston Leroux and the beloved bookstore could present, I was forever enchanted with Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. Adding to my fixation of the masked opera ghost, a movie came to my possession to bring the story to life before my eyes, but the enacted presentation still presented distant hopes of an additional dramatic portrayal, and as of yesterday I have finally met my desire to see the Phantom take stage in a full-scale theatrical performance.

The Venetian’s Phantom show performed its 2006^th performance yesterday in the customized replica of the Paris Opera House for the show’s 6^th anniversary. With an exquisite stage construction and elaborate sets and costumes, a beautifully constructed theater and an elaborately integrated chandelier, the visual elements of the performance matched up to no less than my highest expectations. Carrying it’s adaptation form Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical theater production, the cast was stunning as they portrayed their characters and moved from one musical piece to the next. I was excited to see that all of the scores were used in the performance.

While I believe the role of the Phantom could have endured a slightly stronger vocal performance, the character was by no means a disappointment. The entire cast offered remarkable vocal talent and captured the emotional delivery perfectly. Among the best performances given were without a doubt, in my opinion, the roles of Monsieur André and Monsieur Firmin who not only had perfect stage presence but outstanding voices.

All in all I was overly excited about the performance, and found myself unable to stop talking about the story for the remainder of the evening. Thanks to a vast selection of beautiful visual elements, aside from the excessive amount of singing, even a non-musical fan was able to contribute to my obsessed dialogue without physically showing the desire to repress the opera from the forefront of conversation, (thank goodness for an amazing boyfriend who endures such experiences for the sake of making me happy; this played another huge factor in the overall enjoyment of the evening).

I’m sad to see that the Phantom show will cease to exist at the Venetian come early September. Its musical will no longer be surrounding guests in elevators, lobbies or quite shopping hallways. But I am able to breathe easily and hold on to the excitement that I was able to see the show before it departs from the city. 

It's Serious Music and the Artifice has 'Let It In'

The Artifice Bar in downtown Las Vegas, will be filled with the pop-rock soul sounds of Steven Roth this Wednesday night as the singer/songwriter/musician debuts his tunes in his first Vegas performance. The performance is kicking off the start of his 2012 tour and is promoting his soon-to-be-released album.

“This is my first time performing in Vegas which is exciting. I booked Vegas as the first stop of the tour, which in retrospect probably not the best idea,” said Roth.

Highlighting his organic, fun-natured sounds and self-written music, Roth is defining his solo career since splitting away from the pop rock group,  ‘Redstone Hall’.

Roth's in-home recording studio. "I built it about four
years ago. It was originally suppose to be a project studio
but I decided to invest more money in the equipment
and bring in other artists, so now it's a full commercial
space." - Steven Roth. 

“I liked being in a band and being with the other creative friends but at the same time there’s creative differences so it can be difficult at times,” said Roth. “As a solo artist all the creative ideas come from me, which can be challenging but I like the pace of things and I think I’m happier being solo.”

A new tour and performance stop in Las Vegas aren’t the only firsts for Roth this year, soon to debut is Roth’s first full-length solo release ‘Let It In’, which will debut this fall. Almost a year of writing, brainstorming and on-and-off recording between Nashville and his home studio, this album features all of Roth’s self-written music and is, as he describes and I attest; “a breath of fresh air.”

“I’m really excited about the record, I spent a lot of time on it and I think it really came out well. It has a unique voice and music sound,” said Roth.

While the name Steven Roth may not be a highly recognized radio name, Roth is no rogue newbie in the world of music. With a family background of two generations of renowned Canadian pianists, a history of piano and guitar playing which sparked a life-long music obsession, Roth is also the co-owner of Los Angeles’ most acclaimed mom and pop music stores; Westwood Music. With a new modern and digital direction, Roth is working inside the walls of Westwood Music in an attempt to focus the legendary business on instrument sales, classes and repairs for the musically enthused.

“The toughest part about managing all these music endeavors is keeping track of all the things I’ve gotta do and not loosing my mind,” said Roth. “My own music is by far the priority but my schedule is always changing to balance of always being in touch with the shop, working in studio and doing my thing.”

Living up to his promise to himself to put his music career on the forefront, Roth has performed in LA and is now taking his music on the road with jam band presentation style.

“There will be a lot of energy and fun. I like to call it controlled improve. We open up the songs and have really good musicians so we let them open up and do their thing,” said Roth.

For more information on Roth or find out future tour dates visit his website StevenRothMusic.com

The People Watching Prime of EDC

If you’re one of the thousands of people who will be partaking of the Electric Daisy Carnival festivities, then pasties, glow sticks, legwarmers, body paint and leather are things that are anxiously waiting for attention in your closet. But for those staying away from the speedway that weekend, there’s still plenty of entertainment for you that can be found in the joys of people watching and observing the costumes in a muted and cautious approach. So while the DJ fanatics dress up by striping down and make their way to the stages held within the confines of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, prepare for some of the best people watching Las Vegas has to offer. Don’t worry this EDC people watching adventure is free from pyrotechnics, lasers, the pounding bass of multiple DJs and certainly is without the need to fight through a disordered tempest of wall to wall people. Simply make your way to some of the key locations for hotel pick-ups and casino check-ins on the Las Vegas strip, grab a drink, maybe a camera and a seat in a cozy chair or window and laugh to your heart’s content as the costumed socialites gather by the dozens to transport to the temporary realm that is EDC.

While the DJ sets spin from sundown on June 8th to sunup on June 11th, shuttles will be continuously running between the speedway and select hotels, transporting EDC attendees to the LED-lit stages. These are the places to pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy the show as the costumes come and go.

Top DJ-Free, EDC-People Watching Locations:

1.) Bellagio – In the tour and travel lobby

2.) Golden Nugget – Near the first street entrance

3.) Mandalay Bay – Toward the Shark Reef and convention center entrance

4.) Monte Carlo – By the taxi, bus, and group pickup

5.) Excalibur – Near the rotunda airport/shuttle bus pickup and drop-off location

6.) ARIA – Near the tour lobby

7.) MGM Grand – By the South conference center entrance

8.) Cosmopolitan – At the main entrance near registration

9.) Hard Rock – By the Paradise self-parking lot

10.) Palms – Near the hotel valet right walkway heading towards The Strip

11.) Mirage – Near the North valet

12.) Circus Circus – By the West side lot, behind the Adventure Dome

A Business of Licenses and Visuals

If you’re a book nerd like me then you are quite aware of the amazing book cover posters that line the walls at Barnes and Nobel. If you’re an extreme book nerd like me then you are also aware that finding these posters for sale is almost impossible, but after a little bit of foot work and a few emails I’ve tracked down the source of these literature beauties.

The website is BuyEnLarge.com and they are the art source for large companies, including Barnes and Nobel, Art.com, Getty Images and many more. Before you begin to question how one company alone can be the source for these images let me explain; they own the licensing to the original artwork.

No, the family doesn’t have distant family ties to Fitzgerald, Pynchon or Steinbeck. As professional art collectors, they acquire the images’ original file through friends, art collectors and direct purchases.

“I have the art background so I know how to gain the original access to find the product. When you’re in rarefied air you know other people who live in rarefied air, so a lot of the stuff we digitize. Some we buy, some we get because our friends own the originals and some we own,” said BuyEnLarge President Sara Pierce. “It’s not a cheap business to go into. This is not a hot dog stand that anyone can open, it’s heavy dollars up front to get started and it takes an awful long time to get a return.”

After acquiring the original images they go through the hoops to own the rights and license to the image. Established by Pierce and her husband, the corporation has a family foundation, right down to their son, the company lawyer, who makes sure the business follows all the rules of copyright and licensing laws.

“We follow the rules and we never violate any rights. If the artist hasn’t been dead for 70 years we don’t touch the stuff, but if they’ve been dead for 70 years and they don’t have protected works then we will reproduce them if we can get a hold of the original product. 80% of the images are public domain, but you can’t find it anywhere because no one has the license to duplicate them, we do,” said Pierce, as she broke down the process of attaining licensing and copyright. “When they take a copyright out on the book they don’t include the cover, so the reality is that most covers aren’t protected but the books are. People come out of the woodwork all the time who own the copyright to the book, but they do not have the rights to the cover art, no one ever thought to do it. Who would think that one day people would want to start reproducing the covers of books?

“We print from our archives and we license to the right management groups so they can also sell these art pieces. A lot of the products, we have the original pieces and we scanned them and set up the licensing for them. People buy the license for certain images. When they buy the license from us they can then sell and modify the images as they wish. We don’t care if people modify the original images as long as they sell and we get checks.”

According to Pierce, the largest portion of the company’s business is overseas in Japan, followed by major bookstores, academic publishers and the media. 

“Our biggest clientele is the bookstores, but bookstores are being turned into cafes because no books are selling anymore, bookstores are on their way out. I think books are too much trouble to schlep around anymore; it’s all going digital.  I’m in between a rock and a hard place because I have not replaced Barnes and Nobel [as a client] because there is no replacement for that order, but we license images and they [businesses who purchase a license] physically make the products and give us commissions. We wind up with the same amount of money and less hassle and overhead,” said Pierce. “As everything goes digital we have to completely adapt by increasing our database so we can increase our digital files we license.”

To date, the Pierce family’s company has around 50 to 60 thousand images digitized in their archives. Of the well-known suppliers they license to, Art.com has purchased licensing to about 36,000 of these images and Getty Images has purchased about 50,000 of the BuyEnLarge image licenses.

“I’ll continue this forever, until my last breathe because the more images you have the more money you make and it’s fun you get to go to the ephemera shows where they have old documents and maps,” said Pierce.

While the company holds the licensing for most all the visual elements for the best classic literature and us literature-loving commoners may not be able to purchase a license or track down an original classic book cover file, we can turn to Pierce’s company for prints and posters while continuously being infatuated with the pages of scrolling graphics that highlight the literature loves of our lives.