Widescreen: Andrew Lloyd Webber's free videos became my pandemic soundtrack
"Night time sharpens / Heightens each sensation" - "The Music of the Night," from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera"
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"School days, school days / Dear old Golden Rule days" - "School Days," Will D. Cobb and Gus Edwards
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As Billy Crystal's basketball ref pointed out in "Forget Paris," the familiar refrains of these two songs sound nearly identical. Both have been in my head for weeks, thanks to Webber's charitable YouTube channel, The Shows Must Go On.
And that's fine - I go through a "Phantom" phase at least once a year, and this one's particularly potent. Just ask my wife, who has to deal with my endless humming of "Masquerade" while she's trying to work.
"Phantom" was one of the weekly shows available for free from The Shows Must Go On. Beginning five weeks ago, a different Webber program is posted at 1 p.m. Friday for 48 hours, and carries links to donate to Broadway Cares and other charities that benefit both the battle against COVID-19 and the performers who can't take the stage because of it.
This weekend's offering is one of ALW's lesser-known musicals, "By Jeeves," a comedy featuring the characters of British author P.G. Wodehouse; Playbill reports the recording comes from a 2001 production. If this is the first you're hearing of these free streams, you've already missed "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Donny Osmond, "Jesus Christ Superstar" with the unlikely casting of comedian Tim Minchin as Judas, and "Love Never Dies," the sequel to "Phantom" whose stunning melodies make up for a plot that feels like fan fiction.
Of course, that means "Cats" is yet to come. I'll let you decide whether that's a threat or a promise.
Never seen 'Phantom'?
You could watch Joel Schumacher's 2004 big-screen version, which made me fall in love with Webber's most popular musical despite action hero Gerard Butler screaming and yowling his way through the title role. Emmy Rossum's angelic voice saves the day as Christine Daae, the object of the masked madman's affection. It's available for digital rental and purchase.
The better option is a 25th anniversary stage version filmed in 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, also available for digital rental and purchase.
Culled from three performances, this impressive production features stage veterans, not movie stars, and the leads are two incredibly magnetic performers: Ramin Karimloo, a 2014 Tony nominee for his interpretation of Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables," and Millikin University grad Sierra Boggess, who made her Broadway debut as "The Little Mermaid" and teamed with Webber again for "School of Rock."
Karimloo and Boggess will blow you away. But please, don't blame me when your domestic partner loses their mind from all the humming.
• Sean Stangland is your angel of music. Follow him (from a distance) on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.