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Phantom (musical)
Encyclopedia
Phantom is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux
's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera
, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas
in 1991.
Although it has never appeared on Broadway and has been overshadowed by the success of the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical, Yeston and Kopit's Phantom has received over 1,000 productions.
, winner of the Tony Award
for Best Musical in 1982, when in 1983 they were approached by actor/director Geoffrey Holder
to write a musical based on Leroux's novel. Holder had obtained the rights to musicalize the novel in America from the Leroux estate, making Phantom the only Phantom of the Opera musical to do so. Holder planned to direct. Initially, Yeston was skeptical of the project. "I laughed and laughed.... That's the worst idea in the world! Why would you want to write a musical based on a horror story?.... And then it occurred to me that the story could be somewhat changed.... [The Phantom] would be a Quasimodo
character, an Elephant Man
. Don't all of us feel, despite outward imperfections, that deep inside we're good? And that is a character you cry for."
In 1984, British
producer Ken Hill
revived his 1976 musical The Phantom of the Opera in England
. This was not a big threat to Holder, Kopit and Yeston, since their musical was intended to play on Broadway
. The real threat emerged through an announcement in Variety
, where an article was published concerning plans for a musical production of The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
. The rights to the novel were in the public domain in Great Britain. Holder only held the rights for two years in the United States and Europe
before the property became public domain there as well. Yeston had completed much of the score to Phantom, and Yeston, Kopit and Holder were in the process of raising money for a Broadway production when the Lloyd Webber plans were announced.
After The Phantom of the Opera
became a smash hit in London in 1986, Lloyd Webber announced a Broadway production, and Yeston's Broadway investors backed out. Yeston, Kopit and Holder reluctantly shelved their plans for Phantom and went their separate ways for a time. When Kopit saw the Lloyd Webber version of The Phantom of the Opera in New York
, he realized that the approach he and Yeston had taken was fundamentally different and that it could still work on the musical stage. A few years later, Kopit wrote the NBC
miniseries
Hands of a Stranger, which was successful enough that NBC approached Kopit again. Kopit rewrote the script outline of his unproduced musical Phantom into a teleplay for a four-hour two-part miniseries entitled The Phantom of the Opera
and sold it to NBC
, with Yeston's blessing. It was filmed at the Opera Garnier, and the only music used was opera music. It starred Charles Dance
, Teri Polo
and Burt Lancaster
and premiered on television in 1990. Kopit said, "I told Maury to hold on. Maybe someone would see the miniseries, think it would make a good musical we'd be ready."
The Yeston/Kopit musical was finally produced by Theater Under the Stars
in 1991 under the official title Phantom. The piece has since received over 1,000 productions around the world. Yeston refers to Phantom as "the greatest hit never to be produced on Broadway." Yeston and Kopit's Phantom is more operetta
-like in style than Lloyd Webber's, seeking to reflect the 1890s period, and seeks to project a French atmosphere to reflect its Parisian setting. Its story offers a deeper exploration of the phantom's past and his relationship with Gérard Carrière, the head of the Opera House.
In January 1991, Houston Texas
’s Theater Under the Stars
presented the world premiere of the Yeston/Kopit musical, renamed simply Phantom to separate it further from Lloyd Weber's and other productions of Phantom of the Opera. Richard White
starred in the title role. Members of the Houston cast recorded a cast album released by RCA records
.
Early regional U.S. productions
That summer of 1991, Yeston and Kopit made a few cuts and changes to the musical. In the fall, the revised version was presented in Seattle and at the California Theatre of Performing Arts in San Bernardino
in California and was received warmly. In Chicago, Bill Pullinsi, Artistic Director of the Candlelight Playhouse staged the production, receiving rave reviews in publications including Variety and the Wall Street Journal. This led to other editions in other cities, including 1992 productions at Casa Mañana
in Ft. Worth, Texas, Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach, and at the Westchester
Broadway Theatre in New York State, starring Robert Cuccioli
in the title role; and 1993 productions at Music Theater of Wichita
(Kansas) and Musical Theatre Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
International productions
The Australian premiere was held in 1996 at Altona City Theatre
.
A Japanese language
translation was produced by the Cosmos Troupe of Takarazuka Revue
in 2004 (featuring Yoka Wao
and Mari Hanafusa
) and in 2006 by Flower Troupe (featuring Sumire Haruno
and Ayane Sakurano
in her Grand Theater debut). A German-language version ran for three years in Germany. An Estonian-language version of Phantom was performed from November 15 to December 1, 2007 at the Linnahall in Tallinn
.
2007-2008 Westchester revivals
In October through November 2007, the show played at the Westchester Broadway Theater, in Elmsford, New York
, and played again from December 27, 2007 to February 9, 2008 featuring Robert Cuccioli
reprising the title role.
Other notable cast members in later productions:
Act II
Maury Yeston
Maury Yeston is an American composer, lyricist, educator and musicologist.He is known for writing the music and lyrics to Broadway musicals, including Nine in 1982, and Titanic in 1997, both of which won Tony Awards for best musical and best score. He also won a Drama Desk Award for Nine...
and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera
Le Fantôme de l'Opéra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in "Le Gaulois" from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910...
, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
in 1991.
Although it has never appeared on Broadway and has been overshadowed by the success of the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musical, Yeston and Kopit's Phantom has received over 1,000 productions.
Background
Yeston and Kopit had just finished the musical NineNine (musical)
Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
, winner of the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Musical in 1982, when in 1983 they were approached by actor/director Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
to write a musical based on Leroux's novel. Holder had obtained the rights to musicalize the novel in America from the Leroux estate, making Phantom the only Phantom of the Opera musical to do so. Holder planned to direct. Initially, Yeston was skeptical of the project. "I laughed and laughed.... That's the worst idea in the world! Why would you want to write a musical based on a horror story?.... And then it occurred to me that the story could be somewhat changed.... [The Phantom] would be a Quasimodo
Quasimodo
Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by...
character, an Elephant Man
Elephant Man
Elephant Man, also known as the Energy God, born O'Neil Bryan on September 11, 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica, is a dancehall musician.-Career:...
. Don't all of us feel, despite outward imperfections, that deep inside we're good? And that is a character you cry for."
In 1984, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
producer Ken Hill
Ken Hill
Ken Hill was a critically acclaimed English playwright, and theatre director.He was a protege of Joan Littlewood at Theatre Workshop...
revived his 1976 musical The Phantom of the Opera in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. This was not a big threat to Holder, Kopit and Yeston, since their musical was intended to play on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. The real threat emerged through an announcement in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, where an article was published concerning plans for a musical production of The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. The rights to the novel were in the public domain in Great Britain. Holder only held the rights for two years in the United States and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
before the property became public domain there as well. Yeston had completed much of the score to Phantom, and Yeston, Kopit and Holder were in the process of raising money for a Broadway production when the Lloyd Webber plans were announced.
After The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
became a smash hit in London in 1986, Lloyd Webber announced a Broadway production, and Yeston's Broadway investors backed out. Yeston, Kopit and Holder reluctantly shelved their plans for Phantom and went their separate ways for a time. When Kopit saw the Lloyd Webber version of The Phantom of the Opera in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, he realized that the approach he and Yeston had taken was fundamentally different and that it could still work on the musical stage. A few years later, Kopit wrote the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Hands of a Stranger, which was successful enough that NBC approached Kopit again. Kopit rewrote the script outline of his unproduced musical Phantom into a teleplay for a four-hour two-part miniseries entitled The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1990 miniseries)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1990 NBC two-part drama television miniseries directed by Tony Richardson and stars Charles Dance in the title role...
and sold it to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, with Yeston's blessing. It was filmed at the Opera Garnier, and the only music used was opera music. It starred Charles Dance
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
, Teri Polo
Teri Polo
Theresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the movie Meet the Parents and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers...
and Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
and premiered on television in 1990. Kopit said, "I told Maury to hold on. Maybe someone would see the miniseries, think it would make a good musical we'd be ready."
The Yeston/Kopit musical was finally produced by Theater Under the Stars
Theatre Under The Stars (Houston)
Theatre Under the Stars is a year-round, professional, non-profit musical theatre production company. It is located in Houston, Texas, performing mostly at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Theatre Under The Stars’ season generally includes both self-produced shows as well as national...
in 1991 under the official title Phantom. The piece has since received over 1,000 productions around the world. Yeston refers to Phantom as "the greatest hit never to be produced on Broadway." Yeston and Kopit's Phantom is more operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
-like in style than Lloyd Webber's, seeking to reflect the 1890s period, and seeks to project a French atmosphere to reflect its Parisian setting. Its story offers a deeper exploration of the phantom's past and his relationship with Gérard Carrière, the head of the Opera House.
Productions
Original productionIn January 1991, Houston Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
’s Theater Under the Stars
Theatre Under The Stars (Houston)
Theatre Under the Stars is a year-round, professional, non-profit musical theatre production company. It is located in Houston, Texas, performing mostly at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Theatre Under The Stars’ season generally includes both self-produced shows as well as national...
presented the world premiere of the Yeston/Kopit musical, renamed simply Phantom to separate it further from Lloyd Weber's and other productions of Phantom of the Opera. Richard White
Richard White (actor)
Richard White is an American actor, opera singer and voice actor. He is best known for voicing the character of Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and in the TV series House of Mouse....
starred in the title role. Members of the Houston cast recorded a cast album released by RCA records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Early regional U.S. productions
That summer of 1991, Yeston and Kopit made a few cuts and changes to the musical. In the fall, the revised version was presented in Seattle and at the California Theatre of Performing Arts in San Bernardino
San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino is a city located in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area , and serves as the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States...
in California and was received warmly. In Chicago, Bill Pullinsi, Artistic Director of the Candlelight Playhouse staged the production, receiving rave reviews in publications including Variety and the Wall Street Journal. This led to other editions in other cities, including 1992 productions at Casa Mañana
Casa Mañana
Casa Mañana Theatre, in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, is located in the Fort Worth Cultural District and is known as the "House of Tomorrow." Originally an outdoor amphitheater, Casa opened in 1936 as the part of the official Texas Centennial Celebration....
in Ft. Worth, Texas, Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach, and at the Westchester
Westchester
Westchester may refer to:*Westchester, Connecticut*Westchester, Florida*Westchester, Illinois*Westchester, Indiana*Westchester, Los Angeles, California*Westchester County, New York*The Westchester, a shopping mall in White Plains, New York...
Broadway Theatre in New York State, starring Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer born in Hempstead, New York. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll and Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk...
in the title role; and 1993 productions at Music Theater of Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
(Kansas) and Musical Theatre Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
International productions
The Australian premiere was held in 1996 at Altona City Theatre
Altona City Theatre
Altona City Theatre, or ACT, is a community based production company residing at the Altona Theatre in Altona, Victoria, Australia.The company is over 30 years old and has been at its home in the Altona Theatre for over half that time....
.
A Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
translation was produced by the Cosmos Troupe of Takarazuka Revue
Takarazuka Revue
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
in 2004 (featuring Yoka Wao
Yoka Wao
' is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1988 and resigned in 2006....
and Mari Hanafusa
Mari Hanafusa
is a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specialized in female roles . She is from Tokyo and joined the revue in 1991 and retired in 2006...
) and in 2006 by Flower Troupe (featuring Sumire Haruno
Sumire Haruno
is a former member of Takarazuka Revue, specializing in otokoyaku. She joined the revue in 1991, became the top star in 2002 and resigned from the company in 2007...
and Ayane Sakurano
Ayane Sakurano
is a Japanese actress in the Takarazuka Revue's Flower Troupe, where she performs as a musumeyaku .-Background:...
in her Grand Theater debut). A German-language version ran for three years in Germany. An Estonian-language version of Phantom was performed from November 15 to December 1, 2007 at the Linnahall in Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
.
2007-2008 Westchester revivals
In October through November 2007, the show played at the Westchester Broadway Theater, in Elmsford, New York
Elmsford, New York
Elmsford is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. Roughly one mile square, the village is fully contained within the borders of the town of Greenburgh...
, and played again from December 27, 2007 to February 9, 2008 featuring Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli
Robert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer born in Hempstead, New York. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll and Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk...
reprising the title role.
Plot
The story begins at the time of the first meeting of Erik (the Phantom) and a street singer named Christine. Erik was born and raised in the catacombs under the Paris Opera House and needs beautiful music – he cannot exist without it. He accepts Christine as his pupil, training her for the opera, but forbids her to see his face. Complications arise when Gérard Carrière, the company manager, loses his position as head of the Opera house and therefore cannot protect Erik any longer. Furthermore, Carlotta, the new diva and owner of the Opera, has such a terrible voice that the Phantom is in torment. His salvation must eventually come through Christine, whose voice is so beautiful that he falls in love with her. Later, it is revealed that Carrière is actually Erik's father. Erik fears that he will be captured and treated like a circus freak because of his horrendous face (which is never seen). The police surround him and the chief of police tells his men not to shoot because they "can take him alive!" Erik shouts out to his father for help. Carrière understands; he grabs a policeman's gun and aims at his son. After a struggle with himself, he fires, and the Phantom falls, calling out Christine's name.Principal roles and cast information
The Theatre Under the Stars cast is listed first:- The Phantom: Richard WhiteRichard White (actor)Richard White is an American actor, opera singer and voice actor. He is best known for voicing the character of Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and in the TV series House of Mouse....
- Christine Daaé: Glory Crampton
- Count Philippe de Chandon: Paul SchoefflerPaul SchoefflerFor the operatic baritone, see Paul Schöffler.Paul Schoeffler is a Canadian stage, film, television and voice actor.-Biography:...
- Gérard Carrière: Jack Dabdoub
- Alaine Cholet (the new head of the Opera): Lyle Garrett
- Carlotta (his diva wife): Patty Allison (replaced by Meg BussertMeg BussertMeg Bussert is an American actress, singer and a university professor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Bussert received her BA degree from Purchase College and her MAT from Manhattanville College...
on the recording) - Joseph Buquet: Allen Kendall
- Inspector Ledoux: James Van Treuren
Other notable cast members in later productions:
- The Phantom: Robert CuccioliRobert CuccioliRobert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer born in Hempstead, New York. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll and Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk...
- Christine Daaé: Kristin ChenowethKristin ChenowethKristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
Musical numbers
Act I- Overture
- Melodie de Paris – Christine, Philippe and Company
- Paris Is a Tomb – Erik
- Dressing for the Night – Carlotta, Carriere and Ensemble
- Where in the World – Erik
- This Place Is Mine – Carlotta
- Home – Christine and Erik
- The Music Lessons/Phantom Fugue – Christine, Erik, Carriere, Philippe and Ensemble
- You Are Music – Erik and Christine
- The Bistro: Sing, Can You Sing?/Paris Is A Lark/Melodie de Paris – Carlotta, Christine and Company
- Who Could Ever Have Dreamed Up You? – Philippe and Christine
- Dressing for the Night (Reprise) –
- This Place Is Mine (Reprise) –
- Titania's Entrance –
- Where in the World (Reprise) –
Act II
- Entr'acte
- Without Your Music – Erik
- Where In The World (Reprise 2) –
- The Story of Erik –
- My True Love – Christine
- My Mother Bore Me – Erik
- You Are My Own – Erik and Carriere
- Finale: You Are Music (Reprise) – Christine