Fandom of the Opera

Welcome back to Fandom of the Opera! Our guest this week is Patricia [Freaking] Wallinga, composer, vocalist, nerd, and absolute goddamn delight. She's ostensibly on the podcast to chat about "Everything What's Wrong of Possums", the unhinged song cycle Gwen commissioned from her (premiering this weekend in our "Critters, Creatures, & Cryptids" concert!) -- but when you get three people with ADHD and overlapping interests into a conversation, who knows what sorts of tangents you'll end up following! Listen to find out her feelings about writing the best dots, giving DnD campaigns a proper ending, and (possibly most important) being the frog. (It makes sense in context, we swear!)

To keep up with Patricia, you can also follow her on BlueSky!

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland

Edited by Gwen Hyland

Art by CHIMI

Music by Rachel Dean & Erin Reifler

In this week's episode, Alissa and Gwen discuss how much better video games were when they were kids, which is totally different from every other generation's nostalgic memories of their youth because we're the main characters of the universe and therefore OBJECTIVELY CORRECT. Remember when there were only 151 Pokémon? Remember when the PS2 was the cutting edge of gaming technology? Remember when you weren't painfully aware of your mortality and how each passing day brings us all closer to the inevitability of the grave? Cling to the innocence of youth with us as we talk about our favorite retro games!

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland

Edited by Gwen Hyland

Art by CHIMI

Music by Rachel Dean & Erin Reifler

In this week's episode, Alissa and Gwen discuss the socioeconomic difficulties of being a professional artist in modern America: namely, that we live in hell. Along the way, we touch on the concept of inherent human dignity, the ways we've been conditioned by our culture to accept futility & dissatisfaction in our lives, and what artists can do to keep their souls from being completely crushed by the machinery of late-stage capitalism.

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland

Edited by Gwen Hyland

Art by CHIMI

Music by Rachel Dean & Erin Reifler

In this week's episode, Alissa and Gwen discuss the merits of a much-maligned masterpiece -- Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats! From the original cast recording to the current revival, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, we talk about what makes it work so well, why so many people are missing out by not giving it a chance, and how the addition of queer black ballroom culture makes the revival such an incredible experience.

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

This week, we welcome a special guest: our friend Xavier, creator of the TTRPGs Einsol's Razor and Outrunners! In tonight's episode, we discuss a variety of topics, including drag mothers, music theory, inclusion, and how to create an NPC so awful that your players will kill him every chance they get. (Fucking Trevor.)

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

After a brief hiatus due to performance chaos, we've returned with what might be our most unhinged episode to date -- possibly because we recorded it at 2 AM. Please enjoy Alissa and Gwen's wide-ranging discussion on composers in hell, kink philosophy, reinventing trains, and ragebaiting Gwen. Also, Gwen does a bunch of voices, several of which may get her canceled.

Is this a coherent episode? No. But is it an entertaining episode? God, we sure hope so.

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

On this week's episode, Alissa and Gwen chat about upcoming projects like RPG Limit Break and Don Giovanni (Abridged!), as well as shows starting on time, the importance of taking your meds, and the proper pricing structure for feet pics.

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

This week, Gwen and Alissa have a lengthy discussion about two things that have taken up a lot of time in their lives recently! This episode comes with a massive SPOILER WARNING for plot details of hit video game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the 2009 musical Next to Normal -- which, as it turns out, are about exactly the same thing. (Give or take a flaccid Eiffel Tower.)

Content warning for extensive discussion of death, suicide, and other self-destructive behaviors.

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

This week, we welcome our friend & colleague Chris to the podcast! Together, we discuss the current state of classical singing in America, what "bel canto" singing actually is, and how we've been radicalized by our experience with Next to Normal!

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Special Guest: Chris Fotis (Instagram | TikTok)

Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler

On this week's episode, we have a conversation about the distressing lack of theater reviewers in the Triangle region and the role of criticism in the arts in general. Are performers and critics natural enemies? Can arts journalism survive in an age of casual online cruelty? And, perhaps most importantly: how much horniness should be allowed in video games??

Hosted by Alissa Roca & Gwen Hyland
Edited by Gwen Hyland
Art by CHIMI
Music by Rachel Dean and Erin Reifler