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The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
Encyclopedia
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, but withdrew due to illness after some initial work on a single song, "Masquerade
". The central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé
, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in the West End
in 1986, celebrating its 25th anniversary in October 2011; and on Broadway
in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award
for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the 1986 Olivier and 1988 Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. It is the longest-running Broadway show by a wide margin, the second longest-running West End musical, and the third longest-running West End show overall.
With total worldwide box office receipts of over $5.1 billion (£
3.5 billion), including a Broadway gross of US $800 million, Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time and the most financially successful theatrical show in history. It had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities in 27 countries by 2011, the most successful entertainment project in history.
In 1984 Lloyd Webber contacted Cameron Mackintosh
, the co-producer of Cats
and Song and Dance
, to propose a new musical. He was aiming for a romantic piece, and suggested Gaston Leroux's book The Phantom of the Opera
as a basis. They screened both the 1925 Lon Chaney
and the 1943 Claude Rains motion picture versions, but neither saw an effective way to make the leap from film to stage. Later, in New York, Lloyd Webber found a second-hand copy of the original, long-out-of-print Leroux novel, which supplied the necessary inspiration to develop a musical:
Lyricists
Lloyd Webber first approached Jim Steinman
to write the lyrics because of his "dark obsessive side", but he declined in order to fulfill his commitments on a Bonnie Tyler
album. Alan Jay Lerner was then recruited, but he became seriously ill after joining the project and was forced to withdraw; none of his contributions (mostly involving the song "Masquerade") are credited in the show. Richard Stilgoe, the lyricist for Starlight Express
, wrote most of the original lyrics for the production. Charles Hart, a young and then-relatively unknown lyricist, later rewrote many of the lyrics, along with original lyrics for "Think of Me". Some of Stilgoe's original contributions are still present in the final version, however.
Score
Inspired in part by an earlier musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, Lloyd Webber's score is sometimes operatic in style but maintains the form and structure of a musical throughout. The full-fledged operatic passages are reserved principally for subsidiary characters such as Andre and Firmin, Carlotta, and Piangi. They are also used to provide the content of the fictional "operas" that are taking place within the show itself, viz., Hannibal, Il Muto, and the Phantom's masterwork, Don Juan Triumphant. Here, Lloyd Webber pastiched various styles from the grand operas of Meyerbeer through to Mozart and even Gilbert and Sullivan (Coveney, 1999). These pieces are often presented as musical fragments, interrupted by dialogue or action sequences in order to clearly define the musical's "show within a show" format. The musical extracts from the Phantom's opera, "Don Juan Triumphant", during the latter stages of the show, are dissonant and modern—suggesting, perhaps, that the Phantom is ahead of his time artistically (Snelson, 2004).
Design, direction, choreography
Maria Björnson
designed the sets and over 200 costumes, including the elaborate gowns in the "Masquerade" sequence. Her set designs, including such indelible elements as the chandelier, subterranean gondola, and the sweeping staircase, set a standard for stage spectacle seldom equalled, and earned her multiple awards. Hal Prince, director of Cabaret
, Candide
, Follies
, and Webber's Evita directed the production, while Gillian Lynne
, associate director and choreographer of Cats
provided the integral musical staging and choreography.
First Preview At Sydmonton
A preview of the first act was staged at Sydmonton (Lloyd Webber's home) in 1985, starring Colm Wilkinson (later the star of the Toronto production) as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman
as Kristin (later Christine) and Clive Carter (later a member of the London cast) as Raoul. This very preliminary production used Richard Stilgoe's original unaltered lyrics, and many songs sported names that were later changed, such as "What Has Time Done to Me" ("Think of Me"), and "Papers" ("Notes"). The Phantom's original mask covered the entire face and remained in place throughout the performance, obscuring the actor's vision and muffling his voice. Björnson designed the now-iconic half-mask to replace it, and the unmasking sequence was added. Clips of this preview performance were included on the DVD of the 2004 film production.
in London's West End on September 27, 1986 under the direction of Hal Prince, and opened on October 9. It was choreographed by Gillian Lynne
and the sets were designed by Maria Björnson, with lighting by Andrew Bridge. Michael Crawford
starred in the title role with Sarah Brightman as Christine and Steve Barton
as Raoul.
The production, still playing at Her Majesty's, celebrated its 10,000th performance at the matinée on 23 October 2010, with Lloyd Webber and the original Phantom, Michael Crawford, in attendance. A 25th-anniversary concert performance was held in London on 1 and 2 October, 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall
, with Lloyd Webber and several original cast members, including Crawford and Brightman, in attendance. It is the second longest-running musical in West End (and world) history behind Les Miserables
, and third overall behind The Mousetrap
and Les Miz.
previews at the Majestic Theatre on January 9, 1988 and opened on January 26. Crawford, Brightman, and Barton reprised their respective roles from the West End. The Broadway production continues to play at the Majestic, where it surpassed 9,500 performances in November 2010 and marked its 23rd anniversary in January 2011. It is, by over 2,000 performances, the longest-running show in Broadway history.
† The role of Christine Daaé is double-cast in most professional productions. The secondary actress performs the role twice a week (on Broadway, Thursday evening and Saturday matinée).
‡ Three roles (The Phantom, Christine, and Carlotta) were double-cast in the original Las Vegas production, with the two actors in each pair singing alternate performances. Las Vegas casting is now identical to that in the Broadway production, with single casting for all characters except Christine.
Notable West End Replacements
Notable Broadway Replacements
in 1911, an auction of old props is underway. Lot 665, purchased by the elderly Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, is a music box in the shape of a monkey; he eyes it fondly, noting that its details appear "exactly as she said." Lot 666 is a shattered chandelier that, the auctioneer says, has a connection to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera…a mystery never fully explained." As the chandelier illuminates, reassembles itself, and slowly rises over the audience to its old position in the rafters, the years roll back and the Paris Opéra returns to its 1880s grandeur. ("Overture")
, rehearses for that evening's performance, a backdrop collapses without warning. "The Phantom! He's here!" the excited cast members whisper. The Opera's new owners, Firmin and André, try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to continue and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Opéra's ballet mistress, tells Firmin and André that Christine Daaé, a Swedish chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught", and could sing Carlotta's role. With cancellation of the performance their only alternative, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise she is equal to the challenge. ("Think of Me")
Backstage after her triumphant début, Christine confesses to her best friend Meg (Madame Giry's daughter) that she knows her mysterious teacher only as an invisible "Angel of Music" ("Angel of Music"). The new patron, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, finds Christine, his old childhood playmate, in her dressing room. ("Little Lotte") Christine reminds Raoul about the "Angel of Music" stories that her late father used to tell them, and confides that the Angel has visited her, and taught her to sing. Raoul nonchalantly dismisses this notion, and invites her to dinner. After Raoul leaves, a jealous Angel of Music appears as an image in Christine's mirror. ("Angel of Music/The Mirror") Christine begs him to reveal himself. The Phantom guides Christine through the mirror into a ghostly underground realm. ("The Phantom of the Opera") They cross a subterranean lake to his secret lair beneath the opéra house, an eerie place containing a pipe organ, a throne, and a life-sized doll resembling Christine and clad in a wedding gown. The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his music. ("The Music of the Night") She faints, and the Phantom puts her to bed, accompanied by further expressions of his love for her.
As the Phantom composes music at his organ ("I Remember…"), Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box. She slips up behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his face. The Phantom rails at her curiosity, then ruefully expresses his longing to look normal—and to be loved by her. ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It")
Meanwhile, inside the opéra house, Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand who, like Madame Giry, inexplicably knows much about the Phantom, regales everyone with tales of the "Opéra Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso
("Magical Lasso"). Madame Giry warns Buquet to exercise restraint. In the managers’ office, Madame Giry delivers a note from the Phantom: he demands that Christine replace Carlotta in the new opera, Il Muto
. ("Notes…") Firmin and André assure the enraged Carlotta that she will remain the star, ("Prima Donna") but during her performance, disaster strikes. ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh") The Phantom reduces Carlotta's voice to a frog-like croak. A backdrop lifts to reveal the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the rafters by the Punjab lasso.
In the ensuing mêlée, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom. Raoul is skeptical ("Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There"), but swears to love and to protect her always. ("All I Ask of You") The Phantom, who has overheard their conversation, is heartbroken. He angrily vows revenge against Raoul ("All I Ask of You (Reprise)"), and the Opéra's mighty chandelier crashes to the floor as the curtain falls.
Six months later, in the midst of the gala masquerade ball
the Phantom makes his first appearance since the chandelier disaster. ("Masquerade/Why So Silent") He announces that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant
. He demands that it be produced immediately, with Christine, who is now engaged to Raoul, in the lead role. He then seizes Christine's engagement ring and vanishes. Raoul demands that Madame Giry tell him about the Phantom. She replies that he is a brilliant musician and magician, born with a terrifyingly deformed face, who escaped from captivity in a traveling freak show and disappeared.
Raoul hatches a plan to use Don Juan Triumphant as a trap to capture the Phantom. ("Notes/Twisted Every Way") Christine, torn between her love for Raoul and her reluctance to see the Phantom imprisoned again, visits her father's grave. ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again") The Phantom appears, ("Wandering Child") but Raoul arrives to protect her. ("Bravo, Monsieur!") The Phantom declares war upon them both.
Don Juan Triumphant débuts, with Christine and Ubaldo Piangi, the Opéra's leading tenor, singing the lead roles. ("The Point of No Return") During their duet, Christine suddenly realises that she is singing not with Piangi, but with the Phantom himself. Christine tears off his mask to expose his hideous face to the audience, as Piangi is found strangled backstage. The Phantom seizes Christine and flees the theatre, pursued by an angry mob led by Meg. Madame Giry tells Raoul about the Phantom's subterranean lair—and reminds him to beware the Punjab lasso.
In the lair, Christine is compelled to don the doll's wedding dress. ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer") Raoul finds the lair, but the Phantom captures him with his Punjab Lasso. He tells Christine that he will free Raoul if she agrees to stay with him forever; if she refuses, Raoul will die. ("Final Lair") Christine tells the Phantom that it is his soul, not his face, that is distorted, and kisses him. The Phantom, having experienced kindness and compassion for the first time, sets them both free. Christine returns the ring that he gave her, listens in pity as he tells her again that he loves her, then leaves with Raoul. The Phantom, weeping, sings a brief reprise of "The Music of the Night" before sitting on his throne and covering himself with his cape. The mob storms the lair and Meg pulls away the cape, but the Phantom has vanished; only his mask remains.
Act Two
A pre-recorded track (organ, synthesisers, synthesised drums, electric guitars, and bass guitar) supplements the live orchestra during the overture and title song to prevent the noisy motorized props operating in the Journey to the Lair sequence from being amplified by the actors' microphones. The conductor and drummer listen to a click track
on headphones to keep the live musicians synchronised with the track. Most of the Phantom's offstage voiceovers are pre-recorded, as is Christine's final note of the title song.
To reduce touring expenses, a downscaled orchestral arrangement was developed that included a third keyboard in lieu of the brass section, reduction of the woodwind section to three instruments, and a smaller string section. The smaller arrangement is also used in the Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular production.
The recording of the 1986 original London cast, released by Polydor Records
in 1987, became the first album in British musical history to enter the UK albums chart at #1. It was released in both a single CD Highlights From The Phantom of the Opera and a two CD Phantom of the Opera, both of which have been certified 4× Platinum in the US. Phantom was also certified 3× Platinum in the UK. The Canadian cast recording went 2× Platinum in Canada. In Switzerland, Phantom was certified 3× Platinum and Highlights was certified 2× Platinum. Recordings of the Vienna cast and the Hamburg cast were certified Gold and triple Platinum, respectively, in Germany.
A live recording of the October 2011 25th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London is scheduled to be released, along with Blu-Ray and DVD
videos and a collectors' box set of the Royal Albert concert, the original cast recording, and the sequel, Love Never Dies.
charged in a lawsuit that the climactic phrase in "Music of the Night" closely resembled a similar phrase in the sequence "Quello che tacete" from Puccini's opera Girl of the Golden West. The litigation was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
In 1990, a Baltimore songwriter named Ray Repp filed a lawsuit alleging that the title song from Phantom was based on a song that he wrote in 1978 called "Till You." After eight years of litigation — including an unsuccessful countersuit by Lloyd Webber claiming that "Till You" was itself a plagiarism of "Close Every Door" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
— the jury found in Lloyd Webber's favor.
Roger Waters
has repeatedly claimed in interviews that the signature descending/ascending half-tone chord progression from Phantom's title song was plagiarised from the bass line of a track on the Pink Floyd
album Meddle called "Echoes
." He has never taken any legal action, but did add an insulting reference to Lloyd Webber in his song "It's a Miracle":
"We cower in our shelters/With our hands over our ears/Lloyd Webber's awful stuff/Runs for years and years and years/An earthquake hits the theatre/But the operetta lingers/Then the piano lid comes down/And breaks his fucking fingers./It's a miracle!".
An edited production renamed Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular opened 24 June 2006 at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
, in a theatre built specifically for the show to resemble the Opéra Garnier in Paris. The production runs 95 minutes with no intermission, and was directed and choreographed by Harold Prince and Gillian Lynne, with scenic designs by David Rockwell
. The show features updated technology and effects, including a re-engineered chandelier capable of reassembling in midair during the overture while the entire interior of the venue (not merely the stage) returns to its 1880s halcyon days. Almost 45 minutes' worth of material was eliminated, such as the Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal. "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh" and "The Point of No Return" were significantly shortened. Other changes resembled those in the 2004 film
, such as staging the chandelier crash at the plot's climax (during performance of "The Point of No Return") rather than mid-story.
A film version
, starring Gerard Butler
as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum
as Christine, Patrick Wilson
as Raoul, and Minnie Driver
as Carlotta, was released in December 2004.
Amateur stage rights are available to high schools and colleges.
A sequel
, with a book by Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater
and Ben Elton
, and lyrics by Slater, is called Love Never Dies. It was loosely adapted from the 1999 novel The Phantom of Manhattan
, written by Frederick Forsyth
, who had collaborated with Lloyd Webber. Set in 1907 (a decade after the conclusion of Phantom according to the production's announcement, but actually 26 years, since the original show was set in 1881), Christine is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction at Coney Island
, by an anonymous impresario. With her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, she journeys to Brooklyn
, New York, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance at the popular beach resort.
The original production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell
with set and costume designs by Bob Crowley
, Love Never Dies opened at the Adelphi Theatre
in the West End on 9 March 2010, the first time a musical sequel had been staged in the West End, and closed on 27 August 2011. The production received mixed reviews. The musical was scheduled to open on Broadway in November 2010, but was postponed until Spring 2011 and later postponed indefinitely. A revamped Australian production, starring Ben Lewis and Anna O'Byrne, opened 21 May 2011 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne
to more favorable reviews. After the Melbourne run ends on 12 December 2011, the production is expected to move to the Capitol Theatre in Sydney
in January 2012.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
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...
, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra
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...
by 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...
.
The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart
Charles Hart (lyricist)
Charles Hart is a British lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for re-writing the lyrics to, and contributing to the book of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera. He also co-wrote the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love...
, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
Richard Stilgoe
Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music....
. Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
was an early collaborator, but withdrew due to illness after some initial work on a single song, "Masquerade
Masquerade (song)
"Masquerade" is a song from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera. It is sung at the beginning of the second act where a New Year's masquerade ball is held at the Opera House...
". The central plot revolves around a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé
Christine Daaé
Christine Daaé is the main female character in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera , the young singer with whom the main character Erik, the Phantom of the Opera falls in love.- Character history :...
, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius.
The Phantom of the Opera opened in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
in 1986, celebrating its 25th anniversary in October 2011; and 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...
in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 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, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the 1986 Olivier and 1988 Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. It is the longest-running Broadway show by a wide margin, the second longest-running West End musical, and the third longest-running West End show overall.
With total worldwide box office receipts of over $5.1 billion (£
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3.5 billion), including a Broadway gross of US $800 million, Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time and the most financially successful theatrical show in history. It had been seen by over 130 million people in 145 cities in 27 countries by 2011, the most successful entertainment project in history.
Development
IdeaIn 1984 Lloyd Webber contacted Cameron Mackintosh
Cameron Mackintosh
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...
, the co-producer of Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and Song and Dance
Song and Dance
Song and Dance is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a love story.The first part is Tell Me On A Sunday, with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, about a young British woman's romantic misadventures in New York...
, to propose a new musical. He was aiming for a romantic piece, and suggested Gaston Leroux's book 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...
as a basis. They screened both the 1925 Lon Chaney
The Phantom of the Opera (1925 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1925 American silent horror film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same title directed by Rupert Julian. The film featured Lon Chaney in the title role as the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House, causing murder and mayhem in an attempt to force...
and the 1943 Claude Rains motion picture versions, but neither saw an effective way to make the leap from film to stage. Later, in New York, Lloyd Webber found a second-hand copy of the original, long-out-of-print Leroux novel, which supplied the necessary inspiration to develop a musical:
Lyricists
Lloyd Webber first approached Jim Steinman
Jim Steinman
James Richard "Jim" Steinman is an American composer, lyricist, and Grammy Award-winning record producer responsible for several hit songs. He has also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer...
to write the lyrics because of his "dark obsessive side", but he declined in order to fulfill his commitments on a Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...
album. Alan Jay Lerner was then recruited, but he became seriously ill after joining the project and was forced to withdraw; none of his contributions (mostly involving the song "Masquerade") are credited in the show. Richard Stilgoe, the lyricist for Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
, wrote most of the original lyrics for the production. Charles Hart, a young and then-relatively unknown lyricist, later rewrote many of the lyrics, along with original lyrics for "Think of Me". Some of Stilgoe's original contributions are still present in the final version, however.
Score
Inspired in part by an earlier musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, Lloyd Webber's score is sometimes operatic in style but maintains the form and structure of a musical throughout. The full-fledged operatic passages are reserved principally for subsidiary characters such as Andre and Firmin, Carlotta, and Piangi. They are also used to provide the content of the fictional "operas" that are taking place within the show itself, viz., Hannibal, Il Muto, and the Phantom's masterwork, Don Juan Triumphant. Here, Lloyd Webber pastiched various styles from the grand operas of Meyerbeer through to Mozart and even Gilbert and Sullivan (Coveney, 1999). These pieces are often presented as musical fragments, interrupted by dialogue or action sequences in order to clearly define the musical's "show within a show" format. The musical extracts from the Phantom's opera, "Don Juan Triumphant", during the latter stages of the show, are dissonant and modern—suggesting, perhaps, that the Phantom is ahead of his time artistically (Snelson, 2004).
Design, direction, choreography
Maria Björnson
Maria Björnson
Maria Björnson was an acclaimed theatre stage designer, born in Paris to Norwegian and Romanian parents....
designed the sets and over 200 costumes, including the elaborate gowns in the "Masquerade" sequence. Her set designs, including such indelible elements as the chandelier, subterranean gondola, and the sweeping staircase, set a standard for stage spectacle seldom equalled, and earned her multiple awards. Hal Prince, director of Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
, Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
, Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
, and Webber's Evita directed the production, while Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
, associate director and choreographer of Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
provided the integral musical staging and choreography.
First Preview At Sydmonton
A preview of the first act was staged at Sydmonton (Lloyd Webber's home) in 1985, starring Colm Wilkinson (later the star of the Toronto production) as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman
Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register...
as Kristin (later Christine) and Clive Carter (later a member of the London cast) as Raoul. This very preliminary production used Richard Stilgoe's original unaltered lyrics, and many songs sported names that were later changed, such as "What Has Time Done to Me" ("Think of Me"), and "Papers" ("Notes"). The Phantom's original mask covered the entire face and remained in place throughout the performance, obscuring the actor's vision and muffling his voice. Björnson designed the now-iconic half-mask to replace it, and the unmasking sequence was added. Clips of this preview performance were included on the DVD of the 2004 film production.
West End
Phantom began previews at Her Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London's West End on September 27, 1986 under the direction of Hal Prince, and opened on October 9. It was choreographed by Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
and the sets were designed by Maria Björnson, with lighting by Andrew Bridge. Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
starred in the title role with Sarah Brightman as Christine and Steve Barton
Steve Barton
Steve Barton was an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher.- Biography :Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton...
as Raoul.
The production, still playing at Her Majesty's, celebrated its 10,000th performance at the matinée on 23 October 2010, with Lloyd Webber and the original Phantom, Michael Crawford, in attendance. A 25th-anniversary concert performance was held in London on 1 and 2 October, 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, with Lloyd Webber and several original cast members, including Crawford and Brightman, in attendance. It is the second longest-running musical in West End (and world) history behind Les Miserables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
, and third overall behind The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. It has the longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far. It is the longest running show of the modern...
and Les Miz.
Broadway
Phantom began BroadwayBroadway 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...
previews at the Majestic Theatre on January 9, 1988 and opened on January 26. Crawford, Brightman, and Barton reprised their respective roles from the West End. The Broadway production continues to play at the Majestic, where it surpassed 9,500 performances in November 2010 and marked its 23rd anniversary in January 2011. It is, by over 2,000 performances, the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Casting
The original casts of the major productions of The Phantom of the Opera:| Character | Original West End Cast | Original Broadway Cast | Original Las Vegas Cast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erik (The Phantom of the Opera) | Michael Crawford Michael Crawford Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City... |
Brent Barrett Brent Barrett Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally... /Anthony Crivello Anthony Crivello Anthony Crivello is an American actor and singer, mostly in musicals on Broadway. He has written several scripts and more than twenty songs.-Personal life:... ‡ |
|
| Christine Daaé Christine Daaé Christine Daaé is the main female character in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera , the young singer with whom the main character Erik, the Phantom of the Opera falls in love.- Character history :... |
Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register... /Claire Moore Claire Moore (singer) Claire Moore is an English soprano singer and actress, best known for her leading role as Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and as Ellen in "Miss Saigon".... † |
Sarah Brightman/Patti Cohenour Patti Cohenour Patti Cohenour is an American actress and singer. She was most recently seen in the Broadway production of The Light in the Piazza as Signora Naccarelli... † |
Sierra Boggess Sierra Boggess Sierra Boggess is an American theater actress and soprano singer. She was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, with her two sisters, Summer and Allegra. The three of them were members of the Colorado Children's Chorale. Her parents are Kellun Turner and Michael Boggess... /Elizabeth Loyacano‡ |
| Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny is a main character from Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera.-Biography:Raoul de Chagny is a viscount and Christine Daaé's childhood friend. They first met when he was a young child when he went on vacation in Northern France... |
Steve Barton Steve Barton Steve Barton was an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher.- Biography :Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton... |
Tim Martin Gleason Tim Martin Gleason Tim Martin Gleason is an American musical theatre actor. As of November 2010, he has concluded touring as The Phantom in the US touring production of The Phantom of the Opera, taking part in the show's final production on October 31, 2010.-Biography:... |
|
| Carlotta Giudicelli Carlotta Giudicelli Carlotta is a fictional character from the French novel The Phantom of the Opera.In the novel she is a minor character hailing from Spain. The first time that she is mentioned in the novel is during the chapter "The New Marguerite", where it is revealed that she could not perform at the ceremony... |
Rosemary Ashe Rosemary Ashe Rosemary Ashe is an English stage actress and classically trained opera singer. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the London Opera Centre.... |
Judy Kaye Judy Kaye Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:... |
Elena Jeanne Batman/Geena Jeffries Mattox‡ |
| Madame Giry Madame Giry Madame Giry is a character in the Gaston Leroux novel, The Phantom of the Opera. She is a fairly intermediate character in the novel, although her role is much increased in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical... |
Mary Millar Mary Millar Mary Millar was a British actress best remembered for her role as Rose in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. She was born Mary Wetton in Doncaster, Yorkshire... |
Leila Martin | Rebecca Spencer |
| Meg Giry Meg Giry Meg Giry is one of the fictional characters from Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. In the story she is Madame Giry's oldest daughter.... |
Janet Devenish | Elisa Heinsohn Elisa Heinsohn Elisa Heinsohn is an actress who starred as Jillian Beckett in the sixth season of the television series version of Fame. She was Meg Giry in the original Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera in 1988.... |
Brianne Kelly Morgan |
| Monsieur Richard Firmin | John Savident John Savident John Savident is a British actor, best known for playing the part of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. And also was a frequent guest on Soccer AM alongside fellow actor Jack 'The Rigger' Spooner.... |
Nicholas Wyman | Lawson Skala |
| Monsieur Gilles André | David Firth | Cris Groenendaal | John Leslie Wolfe |
| Ubaldo Piangi | John Aron | David Romano | Larry Wayne Morbitt |
| Joseph Buquet | Janos Kurucz | Philip Steele Philip Steele Philip Nicholas Steele is an author, chiefly of children's non-fiction.Steele was born in Dorking, Surrey, England. He attended Felsted School and University College, Durham, graduating in Modern Languages in 1971. In the 1970s he worked as an editor for various book publishers in London including... |
John Paul Almon |
† The role of Christine Daaé is double-cast in most professional productions. The secondary actress performs the role twice a week (on Broadway, Thursday evening and Saturday matinée).
‡ Three roles (The Phantom, Christine, and Carlotta) were double-cast in the original Las Vegas production, with the two actors in each pair singing alternate performances. Las Vegas casting is now identical to that in the Broadway production, with single casting for all characters except Christine.
Notable West End Replacements
- Phantom - Dave WillettsDave WillettsDave Willetts is an English singer and actor known for having leading roles in West End musicals.Willetts is something of an enigma in that he has had no formal singing, dancing, or acting lessons. Before he was 20 he rarely visited the theatre...
, Martin SmithMartin Smith (actor/musician)Martin Smith was a British actor, singer, and composer who starred in many shows in London's West End...
, Peter KarriePeter KarriePeter Karrie , is a Welsh singer, best known for his portrayal of the lead role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera. He played the part in London, Toronto, Vancouver, Singapore, Hong Kong and on the UK Tour in Bradford, and Manchester...
, Peter PolycarpouPeter PolycarpouPeter Polycarpou is a British stage and TV and film actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopoudos in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather.-Career:...
, Simon BowmanSimon BowmanSimon Bowman is a British actor and singer, born in, Cardiff and trained at Mountview Theatre School. He is best known for creating the role of Chris, opposite Lea Salonga's Kim, in the original production of Miss Saigon at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End.Prior to that, he was Marius in...
, Peter CousensPeter CousensPeter Cousens is an Australian actor, born in Tamworth NSW.He attended The Armidale School in Armidale and then Gordonstoun School, Scotland. He then spent a year reading Arts at St Paul's College, Sydney University before studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art , graduating in...
, Mike Sterling, John Owen-JonesJohn Owen-JonesJohn Owen-Jones is a British musical theatre actor, best known for his portrayals of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables and of The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. He most recently appeared as Valjean on the 25th Anniversary Tour of...
, Ramin KarimlooRamin KarimlooRamin Karimloo is an Iranian-born Canadian musical theatre actor, recognized chiefly for his work in London's West End. He has played the leading male roles in both of the West End’s longest running musicals; the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, as of 29th... - Christine - Claire MooreClaire Moore (singer)Claire Moore is an English soprano singer and actress, best known for her leading role as Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and as Ellen in "Miss Saigon"....
, Rebecca CaineRebecca CaineRebecca Caine is a Canadian opera and musical theatre performer. She was born in Toronto and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She currently resides in London. She is 50–51 years of age.-Career:...
, Myrra MalmbergMyrra Malmberg-Life:Anna Myrra Malmberg was born in Chicago, Illinois, and spent her childhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota and her teenage years in Stockholm, Sweden. She graduated the Stockholm High School of Music and immediately embarked upon a theatrical career...
, Rachel BarrellRachel BarrellRachel Barrell is a British stage performer and singer known best for playing Christine in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera from September 2004 until October 2006...
, Leila Benn HarrisLeila Benn HarrisLeila Benn Harris is a British actress and singer. She trained at Arts Educational School in London and graduated with a BA in Musical Theatre. Upon graduation, she was cast in the lead role of Carmen in the No.1 National Tour of Fame...
, Robyn NorthRobyn NorthRobyn North is a soprano English musical theatre actress. She trained at the Sandy Gray School of Dancing, and the London Studio Centre on full scholarship....
, Gina BeckGina BeckGina Beck is an English actress and singer known primarily for her roles in leading musical theatre productions. Gina recently starred as Christine Daaé in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in London's West End for two years... - Raoul – Michael BallMichael Ball (singer)Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
, Robert MeadmoreRobert MeadmoreRobert Meadmore a musical theatre artist.-Theatre:He has starred in many of the biggest hit shows in London's West End which include Phantom of The Opera, Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Bless the Bride, The Gondoliers, Oklahoma!, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Metropolitan Mikado and Camelot.In...
, John BarrowmanJohn BarrowmanJohn Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...
, Simon BurkeSimon BurkeSimon Burke is an Australian actor. Burke began his acting career as a 13 year-old in the Australian film, The Devil's Playground for which he was awarded Best Actor at the 1976 Australian Film Institute Awards....
, Clive CarterClive CarterClive Carter is a British actor and singer.Carter studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His West End theatre credits include Someone Like You with Petula Clark, A Man for All Seasons with Martin Shaw, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Brendan Fraser and Ned Beatty, We Will Rock You, I...
, Simon BowmanSimon BowmanSimon Bowman is a British actor and singer, born in, Cardiff and trained at Mountview Theatre School. He is best known for creating the role of Chris, opposite Lea Salonga's Kim, in the original production of Miss Saigon at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End.Prior to that, he was Marius in...
, Ramin KarimlooRamin KarimlooRamin Karimloo is an Iranian-born Canadian musical theatre actor, recognized chiefly for his work in London's West End. He has played the leading male roles in both of the West End’s longest running musicals; the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, as of 29th...
, Oliver ThorntonOliver ThorntonOliver Thornton is an stage actor and singer who is best known for his contributions to musical theatre in London's West End. He currently stars in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre.- Early life :...
, Killian DonnellyKillian DonnellyKillian Donnelly is an Irish born musical theatre performer.He is from Kilmessan, in County Meath, Ireland, where he was a member of the St Mary's Musical Society. He has recently finished playing the role of Enjolras in the West End production of Les Misérables. He has one sister and one brother... - Carlotta – Julia GossJulia GossJulia Goss , is an English singer and actress best known for her performances in the principal soprano roles of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company...
, Margaret PreeceMargaret PreeceMargaret Preece is a British operatic soprano. She trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and the National Opera Studio. She has worked with English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North and the Carl Rosa Company...
, Shan CothiShân CothiShân Cothi is a Welsh classical singer, presenter and actress. She was born and raised the daughter of a blacksmith in the tiny village of Ffarmers inCarmarthenshire. She graduated in Music and Drama from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth...
Notable Broadway Replacements
- Phantom – Timothy NolenTimothy NolenTimothy Nolen is an American actor and baritone who has had an active career in operas, musicals, concerts, plays, and on television for over four decades. He notably portrayed the title role in the first operatic presentation of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd at the Houston Grand Opera in 1984...
, Steve BartonSteve BartonSteve Barton was an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, stage director and teacher.- Biography :Steven Neal Barton was born on June 26, 1954, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, the youngest of three children of Tom and Mary Barton...
, Mark JacobyMark JacobyMark Jacoby is a Broadway performer. He has achieved fame from his leading roles in Show Boat, The Phantom of the Opera and Ragtime...
, Thomas James O'LearyThomas James O'LearyThomas James O'Leary is an American actor. O'Leary began his acting career on the theater stage in New York, broadening to Broadway theaters, and finally to film and television....
, Hugh PanaroHugh Panaro-Life and career:Panaro was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and resided in the East Oak Lane section of the city with his family. As a schoolchild, he attended St. Helena’s parochial school in the adjoining Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney. He played organ for the parish church from age twelve...
, Howard McGillinHoward McGillinHoward McGillin is a Tony-nominated stage, screen and television actor, perhaps best-known for being the world's longest running Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera....
, Brad LittleBrad LittleBrad Little is an American musical theatre actor who has appeared in a number of Broadway and touring productions. After several regional productions , he made his national debut in 1988 in the United States national tour of Anything Goes as Billy Crocker...
, John CudiaJohn CudiaJohn Cudia is a musical theatre actor who has played many of the biggest roles in musical theatre on Broadway. He was born on September 21, 1970 in North Carolina, but he graduated from Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River, New Jersey....
, Gary MauerGary MauerGary Mauer is an actor who most recently starred in the third national tour of The Phantom of the Opera playing the role of the Phantom. On Broadway, Gary starred as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagney in Phantom and played the role of Enjolras in Les Misérables. He has also appeared in numerous regional... - Christine – Rebecca LukerRebecca LukerRebecca Luker is an American musical theatre actress and soprano who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions.-Life and career:...
, Lisa VromanLisa VromanLisa Vroman is an American lyric soprano and stage actress. She graduated from South Jefferson Central School in New York State in 1975, the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam in 1979, and she did her graduate work at Carnegie Mellon University....
, Rebecca PitcherRebecca PitcherRebecca Pitcher is an American musical theatre actress primarily known for her role as Christine in the Broadway adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. Previously, Pitcher had played Christine in the Phantom of the Opera national tour opposite Gary Mauer...
, Jennifer Hope WillsJennifer Hope WillsJennifer Hope Wills is an American actress and soprano singer. She was the first child of William and Sue Wills. She made her stage debut at the age of 1 in a production of Rumplestiltskin performed by the Baltimore Actor's Theatre.The family moved to Ocean City, Maryland where her parents... - Raoul – Hugh PanaroHugh Panaro-Life and career:Panaro was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and resided in the East Oak Lane section of the city with his family. As a schoolchild, he attended St. Helena’s parochial school in the adjoining Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney. He played organ for the parish church from age twelve...
, Brad Little, Gary MauerGary MauerGary Mauer is an actor who most recently starred in the third national tour of The Phantom of the Opera playing the role of the Phantom. On Broadway, Gary starred as Raoul, Vicomte de Chagney in Phantom and played the role of Enjolras in Les Misérables. He has also appeared in numerous regional...
, John CudiaJohn CudiaJohn Cudia is a musical theatre actor who has played many of the biggest roles in musical theatre on Broadway. He was born on September 21, 1970 in North Carolina, but he graduated from Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River, New Jersey....
, Tim Martin GleasonTim Martin GleasonTim Martin Gleason is an American musical theatre actor. As of November 2010, he has concluded touring as The Phantom in the US touring production of The Phantom of the Opera, taking part in the show's final production on October 31, 2010.-Biography:... - Monsieur Andre – George Lee AndrewsGeorge Lee AndrewsGeorge Lee Andrews is an American actor. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most performances in the same Broadway show. Andrews hold the record because he has appeared in the musical Phantom of the Opera on 9,382 occasions, over a period of 23 years....
Prologue
At the Paris OpéraParis Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
in 1911, an auction of old props is underway. Lot 665, purchased by the elderly Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, is a music box in the shape of a monkey; he eyes it fondly, noting that its details appear "exactly as she said." Lot 666 is a shattered chandelier that, the auctioneer says, has a connection to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera…a mystery never fully explained." As the chandelier illuminates, reassembles itself, and slowly rises over the audience to its old position in the rafters, the years roll back and the Paris Opéra returns to its 1880s grandeur. ("Overture")
Act I
It is now 1881. As Carlotta, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donnaPrima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
, rehearses for that evening's performance, a backdrop collapses without warning. "The Phantom! He's here!" the excited cast members whisper. The Opera's new owners, Firmin and André, try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to continue and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Opéra's ballet mistress, tells Firmin and André that Christine Daaé, a Swedish chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught", and could sing Carlotta's role. With cancellation of the performance their only alternative, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise she is equal to the challenge. ("Think of Me")
As the Phantom composes music at his organ ("I Remember…"), Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box. She slips up behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his face. The Phantom rails at her curiosity, then ruefully expresses his longing to look normal—and to be loved by her. ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It")
Meanwhile, inside the opéra house, Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand who, like Madame Giry, inexplicably knows much about the Phantom, regales everyone with tales of the "Opéra Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso
Punjab lasso
The Punjab lasso is a type of weapon referred to in Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. It is described as a noose but employed like a garotte to strangle victims...
("Magical Lasso"). Madame Giry warns Buquet to exercise restraint. In the managers’ office, Madame Giry delivers a note from the Phantom: he demands that Christine replace Carlotta in the new opera, Il Muto
Il Muto
Il Muto is a fictional opera by Albrizzio, within the musical The Phantom of the Opera, just as Hannibal and Don Juan Triumphant are operas inside the show...
. ("Notes…") Firmin and André assure the enraged Carlotta that she will remain the star, ("Prima Donna") but during her performance, disaster strikes. ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh") The Phantom reduces Carlotta's voice to a frog-like croak. A backdrop lifts to reveal the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the rafters by the Punjab lasso.
In the ensuing mêlée, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom. Raoul is skeptical ("Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There"), but swears to love and to protect her always. ("All I Ask of You") The Phantom, who has overheard their conversation, is heartbroken. He angrily vows revenge against Raoul ("All I Ask of You (Reprise)"), and the Opéra's mighty chandelier crashes to the floor as the curtain falls.
Act II
Masquerade ball
A masquerade ball is an event which the participants attend in costume wearing a mask. - History :...
the Phantom makes his first appearance since the chandelier disaster. ("Masquerade/Why So Silent") He announces that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant
Don Juan Triumphant
Don Juan Triumphant is the name of a fictional piece of music written by the title character in the novel The Phantom of the Opera. In the musical adaptation, the concept is expanded as an opera within a musical.-The novel:...
. He demands that it be produced immediately, with Christine, who is now engaged to Raoul, in the lead role. He then seizes Christine's engagement ring and vanishes. Raoul demands that Madame Giry tell him about the Phantom. She replies that he is a brilliant musician and magician, born with a terrifyingly deformed face, who escaped from captivity in a traveling freak show and disappeared.
Raoul hatches a plan to use Don Juan Triumphant as a trap to capture the Phantom. ("Notes/Twisted Every Way") Christine, torn between her love for Raoul and her reluctance to see the Phantom imprisoned again, visits her father's grave. ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again") The Phantom appears, ("Wandering Child") but Raoul arrives to protect her. ("Bravo, Monsieur!") The Phantom declares war upon them both.
Don Juan Triumphant débuts, with Christine and Ubaldo Piangi, the Opéra's leading tenor, singing the lead roles. ("The Point of No Return") During their duet, Christine suddenly realises that she is singing not with Piangi, but with the Phantom himself. Christine tears off his mask to expose his hideous face to the audience, as Piangi is found strangled backstage. The Phantom seizes Christine and flees the theatre, pursued by an angry mob led by Meg. Madame Giry tells Raoul about the Phantom's subterranean lair—and reminds him to beware the Punjab lasso.
In the lair, Christine is compelled to don the doll's wedding dress. ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer") Raoul finds the lair, but the Phantom captures him with his Punjab Lasso. He tells Christine that he will free Raoul if she agrees to stay with him forever; if she refuses, Raoul will die. ("Final Lair") Christine tells the Phantom that it is his soul, not his face, that is distorted, and kisses him. The Phantom, having experienced kindness and compassion for the first time, sets them both free. Christine returns the ring that he gave her, listens in pity as he tells her again that he loves her, then leaves with Raoul. The Phantom, weeping, sings a brief reprise of "The Music of the Night" before sitting on his throne and covering himself with his cape. The mob storms the lair and Meg pulls away the cape, but the Phantom has vanished; only his mask remains.
Musical numbers
Act One- "Prologue"
- "Overture"
- "Hannibal" – Carlotta, Piangi, Chorus and Ballet Girls
- "Think of Me" (Part 1) – Carlotta, Ballet Girls, André and Buquet
- "Think of Me" (Part 2) – Christine and Raoul
- "Angel of Music" – Meg and Christine
- "Little Lotte/The Mirror (Angel of Music)" – Christine, Raoul and Phantom
- "The Phantom of the Opera" – Phantom and Christine
- "The Music of the Night" – Phantom
- "I Remember/Stranger than You Dreamt It" – Christine and Phantom
- "Magical Lasso" – Buquet, Meg, Madame Giry, and Ballet Girls
- "Notes/Prima Donna" – Firmin, André, Raoul, Carlotta, Madame Giry, Meg, Piangi, and Phantom
- "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh (Il Muto)" – Carlotta, Piangi and Company
- "Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There" – Raoul and Christine
- "All I Ask of You" – Raoul and Christine
- "All I Ask of You (Reprise/I Gave You My Music)/Chandelier Crash" – Phantom, Raoul, and Christine
Act Two
- "Entr’acte"
- "Masquerade/Why So Silent" – Firmin, André, Raoul, Carlotta, Madame Giry, Meg, Piangi and Chorus/Phantom
- "Notes II" – Firmin, André, Carlotta, Piangi, Raoul, Christine, Madame Giry, and Phantom
- "Twisted Every Way" – Christine and Raoul
- "A Rehearsal for Don Juan Triumphant" – Carlotta, Piangi, Christine and Chorus
- "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" – Christine
- "Wandering Child/Bravo, Monsieur!" – Phantom, Christine, and Raoul
- "Seal My Fate" – Phantom
- "Don Juan Triumphant" – Piangi, Carlotta, Christine and Cast
- "The Point of No Return" – Phantom and Christine
- "All I Ask Of You (Reprise)" – Phantom
- "Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer" – Phantom, Christine, Raoul, and Company
- "Final Lair" – Phantom, Christine, and Raoul
Instrumentation
The 27-piece orchestra is substantially larger than those used in most modern musicals:
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A pre-recorded track (organ, synthesisers, synthesised drums, electric guitars, and bass guitar) supplements the live orchestra during the overture and title song to prevent the noisy motorized props operating in the Journey to the Lair sequence from being amplified by the actors' microphones. The conductor and drummer listen to a click track
Click track
A click track is a series of audio cues used to synchronize sound recordings, sometimes for synchronization to a moving image. The click track originated in early sound movies, where marks were made on the film itself to indicate exact timings for musicians to accompany the film...
on headphones to keep the live musicians synchronised with the track. Most of the Phantom's offstage voiceovers are pre-recorded, as is Christine's final note of the title song.
To reduce touring expenses, a downscaled orchestral arrangement was developed that included a third keyboard in lieu of the brass section, reduction of the woodwind section to three instruments, and a smaller string section. The smaller arrangement is also used in the Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular production.
Recordings
Cast recordings have been made of the London, German, Canadian, Austrian, Japanese, Mexican, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, and Hungarian productions.The recording of the 1986 original London cast, released by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in 1987, became the first album in British musical history to enter the UK albums chart at #1. It was released in both a single CD Highlights From The Phantom of the Opera and a two CD Phantom of the Opera, both of which have been certified 4× Platinum in the US. Phantom was also certified 3× Platinum in the UK. The Canadian cast recording went 2× Platinum in Canada. In Switzerland, Phantom was certified 3× Platinum and Highlights was certified 2× Platinum. Recordings of the Vienna cast and the Hamburg cast were certified Gold and triple Platinum, respectively, in Germany.
A live recording of the October 2011 25th anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London is scheduled to be released, along with Blu-Ray and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
videos and a collectors' box set of the Royal Albert concert, the original cast recording, and the sequel, Love Never Dies.
Alleged plagiarism
In 1987, the heirs of Giacomo PucciniGiacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
charged in a lawsuit that the climactic phrase in "Music of the Night" closely resembled a similar phrase in the sequence "Quello che tacete" from Puccini's opera Girl of the Golden West. The litigation was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
In 1990, a Baltimore songwriter named Ray Repp filed a lawsuit alleging that the title song from Phantom was based on a song that he wrote in 1978 called "Till You." After eight years of litigation — including an unsuccessful countersuit by Lloyd Webber claiming that "Till You" was itself a plagiarism of "Close Every Door" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
— the jury found in Lloyd Webber's favor.
Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
has repeatedly claimed in interviews that the signature descending/ascending half-tone chord progression from Phantom's title song was plagiarised from the bass line of a track on the Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
album Meddle called "Echoes
Echoes (Pink Floyd song)
"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
." He has never taken any legal action, but did add an insulting reference to Lloyd Webber in his song "It's a Miracle":
"We cower in our shelters/With our hands over our ears/Lloyd Webber's awful stuff/Runs for years and years and years/An earthquake hits the theatre/But the operetta lingers/Then the piano lid comes down/And breaks his fucking fingers./It's a miracle!".
Other productions
Phantom has been translated into several languages and produced in over 25 countries on six continents. With only two exceptions (Hungary, Poland), these productions have all been “clones”, using the original staging, direction, sets and costume concepts. International productions include the following:- ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
: The Argentine production premièred in March 2009 at Buenos Aires' Teatro Ópera and closed 29 November 2009 after 194 performances. - AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
: 1990 – 1998: Melbourne, Sydney, BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, and PerthPerth, Western AustraliaPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
; 2007 – 2009: Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Perth and Adelaide, both starring Anthony WarlowAnthony WarlowAnthony Warlow is an Australian opera and musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range ....
. Marina PriorMarina PriorMarina Prior is an Australian singer and actress.- Early life :When she was a young child her parents returned to Australia and she grew up in Melbourne, attending Syndal South Primary School and Korowa Anglican Girls' School...
starred as Christine in the original production. In the original Australian production, Rob GuestRob GuestRobert John Guest, OBE was a British born New Zealand-Australian actor and singer, best known for his work in Australian musical theatre, particularly in various productions of The Phantom of the Opera...
later took over the title role. The final leg of the more recent tour was staged in AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
in an arena format featuring giant screens on either side of the stage that presented footage shot simultaneously with the performance. - AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
: The German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
production premiered at the Theater an der WienTheater an der WienThe Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
in December 1988. - BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
: The DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
production toured to Belgium. - BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
: São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, premièred at Teatro Abril in April 2005. - CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
: The Toronto production of Phantom ran for just over ten years, ending abruptly when LiventLiventThe Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, Inc., also known as Livent, was a theatre production company in Toronto, Ontario, begun as a division of the motion picture exhibitor Cineplex Odeon...
collapsed. The Music Box Tour (Third U.S. National Tour) played dates across Canada in 2006 – 2007 including CalgaryCalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Vancouver, EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, WinnipegWinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Toronto, SaskatoonSaskatoonSaskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
and OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. - Canadian International Touring Company: 11 March 1991 – October 1995 toured Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Hong Kong and SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
- ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
: The Shanghai production played 97 performances at the Shanghai Grand TheatreShanghai Grand TheatreThe Shanghai Grand Theatre is located at the intersection of Central Boulevard and Huangpi Road South in northern part of the People's Square in Huangpu District, Shanghai, China.... - DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
: Det Ny TheaterDet Ny TheaterDet Ny Teater is an established theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, first opened in 1908. It is based in a building which spans a passage between Vesterbrogade and Gammel Kongevej in Copenhagen's theatre district on the border between Vesterbro and Frederiksberg....
, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
(2000–2001, 2003–2004, 2009) - GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
: There have been three German productions: HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
. - Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
: First tour – at the Hong Kong Cultural CentreHong Kong Cultural CentreThe Hong Kong Cultural Centre is a multipurpose performance facility in the Tsim Sha Tsui area of Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road, it was founded by the former Urban Council and, after 2000, is administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong Government...
Grand Theatre June to October 1995; Second tour – July to August 2006 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. - HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
: Madách Theatre, BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. This production, which began in 2003, was the first to modify the original staging with new sets, costumes and direction. The five hundredth performance on 20 September 2007 featured four successive sets of casts. After the final curtain, three Christines and four Phantoms performed the title song once again. - JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
: Shiki Productions produced the show in 1988, the first production performed in a language other than English. It was still running at the Shiki Theater in Nagoya . - KoreaKoreaKorea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
: Opened in 2009 at Charlotte Theater in SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. - MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
: Mexico City, premiered at Centro Cultural Telmex in December 1999. - NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
: At the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen. More than 1,000 performances (1993–1996) with Henk PoortHenk PoortHenk Poort, born 20 January 1956 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a Dutch actor and singer, who mainly plays in operas and musicals. Major roles include Erik in the Dutch version The Phantom of the Opera and Jean Valjean in the first staging of the Dutch version of Les Misérables in the late 1990s...
as the Phantom. - New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
: AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world... - PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
: WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
production premiered in March 2008 at Teatr Muzyczny Roma, featuring original sets, costumes, and direction. Closed June 2010. - SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
: First tour at the Kallang Theatre from 26 February 1995 to 20 May 1995, 2nd tour at the Esplanade - Theatres on the BayEsplanade - Theatres on the BayEsplanade – Theatres on the Bay is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore...
from 23 March 2007 to 20 May 2007. - South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
: 2004, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, The South African State Theatre, PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
. 2011, Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
Artscape Theatre and 2012, JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
Teatro at Montecasino. - SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
: MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, premiered at Teatro Lope de VegaLope de VegaFélix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio was a Spanish playwright and poet. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Century Baroque literature...
on 4 September 2002. - SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
: 1989 – 1995, OscarsteaternOscarsteaternOscarsteatern or "Oscars" is one of Stockholm's finest private theatres and the most well-known musical theatre in Sweden. It's located at Kungsgatan 63 in central Stockholm....
, StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. More than 1,000 performances. Starring Mikael SamuelsonMikael SamuelsonMikael Samuelson is a Swedish barytone opera singer, actor and composer.Samuelson is the son of the famous musician and music arranger Bror Samuelson...
as the Phantom. - SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
: Performed in both English and German at the Musical Theatre Messe Basel in Switzerland for over a year in 1996 – 1997. - TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
: began on 18 January 2006 at National Theater and Concert Hall (Taiwan) and July 2009 at Taipei Arena, with Brad Little as the Phantom. - United States: Los Angeles (1989–1993), San Francisco (1993–1999). A U.S. National tour commenced in 1991 in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and closed on 31 October 2010 at the Pantages TheatrePantages Theatre (Hollywood)The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre, is located at Hollywood and Vine , Hollywood, California, USA. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, it was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages...
in Hollywood, California. The closing-night tour performance was attended by many former cast- and crew-members, including Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman.
An edited production renamed Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular opened 24 June 2006 at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, in a theatre built specifically for the show to resemble the Opéra Garnier in Paris. The production runs 95 minutes with no intermission, and was directed and choreographed by Harold Prince and Gillian Lynne, with scenic designs by David Rockwell
David Rockwell
David Rockwell is an American architect and designer, who is the founder and CEO of Rockwell Group, based in New York with satellite offices in Madrid and Dubai. Rockwell has long been fascinated with immersive environments.-Early life and education:...
. The show features updated technology and effects, including a re-engineered chandelier capable of reassembling in midair during the overture while the entire interior of the venue (not merely the stage) returns to its 1880s halcyon days. Almost 45 minutes' worth of material was eliminated, such as the Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal. "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh" and "The Point of No Return" were significantly shortened. Other changes resembled those in the 2004 film
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
, such as staging the chandelier crash at the plot's climax (during performance of "The Point of No Return") rather than mid-story.
A film version
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
, starring Gerard Butler
Gerard Butler
Gerard James Butler is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in...
as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum
Emmy Rossum
Emmanuelle Grey "Emmy" Rossum is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first starred in a string of movies including Songcatcher , An American Rhapsody, and Passionada . However, it was her role in Mystic River that garnered her wider recognition...
as Christine, Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (actor)
Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...
as Raoul, and Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, as well as for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe for her work in the television series The Riches.- Early life...
as Carlotta, was released in December 2004.
Amateur stage rights are available to high schools and colleges.
Original London production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best New Musical | ||
| Best Actor in a Musical | Michael Crawford Michael Crawford Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City... |
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| Designer of the Year | Maria Björnson Maria Björnson Maria Björnson was an acclaimed theatre stage designer, born in Paris to Norwegian and Romanian parents.... |
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| 2002 | Most Popular Show Audience Award for Most Popular Show See Olivier Awards for more information about the awards and a full list of categories and winners.The Laurence Olivier Awards are a series of awards presented annually by The Society of London Theatre. They are presented in recognition of achievements in commercial British theatre, most notably... |
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Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since. Before the 21st Drama Desk Awards, acting awards were given without making distinctions between roles in straight dramas as opposed to musicals, nor were there... |
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| Outstanding Actor in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Michael Crawford Michael Crawford Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City... |
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| Outstanding Actress in a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She is famous for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves and singing in the whistle register... |
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| Outstanding Director of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Harold Prince | |||
| Outstanding Music Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee comprising New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
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... |
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| Outstanding Orchestrations Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
David Cullen and 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... |
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| Outstanding Set Design Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee composed of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Maria Björnson Maria Björnson Maria Björnson was an acclaimed theatre stage designer, born in Paris to Norwegian and Romanian parents.... |
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| Outstanding Costume Design Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
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| Outstanding Lighting Design Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Andrew Bridge | |||
| 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... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is awarded to the actor who was voted as the best actor in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival... |
Michael Crawford Michael Crawford Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City... |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. The award, introduced in 1950, was previously named as Best Performance by a Featured or Supporting Actress in a Musical until 1976.... |
Judy Kaye Judy Kaye Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime and Mamma Mia!-Biography:... |
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| Best Direction of a Musical Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. Prior to 1960, category for direction included plays and musicals.-1950s:Note: this category was for both dramatic and musical productions... |
Harold Prince | |||
| Best Book of a Musical Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible... |
Richard Stilgoe Richard Stilgoe Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music.... and 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... |
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| Best Original Score Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics... |
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... , Charles Hart Charles Hart (lyricist) Charles Hart is a British lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for re-writing the lyrics to, and contributing to the book of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera. He also co-wrote the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love... and Richard Stilgoe Richard Stilgoe Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe OBE is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician. He is noted for clever wordplay as much as for his music.... |
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| Best Scenic Design | Maria Björnson Maria Björnson Maria Björnson was an acclaimed theatre stage designer, born in Paris to Norwegian and Romanian parents.... |
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| Best Costume Design Tony Award for Best Costume Design These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals... |
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| Best Lighting Design Tony Award for Best Lighting Design This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play... |
Andrew Bridge | |||
| Best Choreography Tony Award for Best Choreography -1940s:* 1947: Agnes de Mille – Brigadoon / Michael Kidd – Finian's Rainbow* 1948: Jerome Robbins – High Button Shoes* 1949: Gower Champion – Lend An Ear-1950s:* 1950: Helen Tamiris – Touch and Go* 1951: Michael Kidd – Guys and Dolls... |
Gillian Lynne Gillian Lynne Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-... |
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Sequel
- See: Love Never Dies (musical)
A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, with a book by Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater
Glenn Slater
Glenn Slater is an American lyricist who collabrates with Alan Menken and other musical theatre composers. He was nominated for the Tony Award, Best Original Score for The Little Mermaid and received his second Tony nomination for Sister Act.-Biography:Slater was born in Brooklyn, New York, but...
and Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
, and lyrics by Slater, is called Love Never Dies. It was loosely adapted from the 1999 novel The Phantom of Manhattan
The Phantom of Manhattan
The Phantom of Manhattan, a 1999 novel by Frederick Forsyth, is a sequel to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera, itself based on the original book by Gaston Leroux....
, written by Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
, who had collaborated with Lloyd Webber. Set in 1907 (a decade after the conclusion of Phantom according to the production's announcement, but actually 26 years, since the original show was set in 1881), Christine is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction at Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
, by an anonymous impresario. With her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, she journeys to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance at the popular beach resort.
The original production was directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell
Jerry Mitchell
Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer.-Early life and education:Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, Mitchell later moved to St. Louis where he pursued his acting, dancing and directing career in theatre. He graduated from the Fine Arts college at Webster University in St. Louis. ...
with set and costume designs by Bob Crowley
Bob Crowley
Bob Crowley is a theatre director, scenic and costume designer.Born in Cork, Ireland, he is the brother of director John Crowley...
, Love Never Dies opened at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
in the West End on 9 March 2010, the first time a musical sequel had been staged in the West End, and closed on 27 August 2011. The production received mixed reviews. The musical was scheduled to open on Broadway in November 2010, but was postponed until Spring 2011 and later postponed indefinitely. A revamped Australian production, starring Ben Lewis and Anna O'Byrne, opened 21 May 2011 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
to more favorable reviews. After the Melbourne run ends on 12 December 2011, the production is expected to move to the Capitol Theatre in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in January 2012.
See also
- The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the OperaLe 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...
- Phantom of the Opera (1976 musical)
- PhantomPhantom (musical)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....
- The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
- Love Never Dies
- List of best-selling albums worldwide
- Echoes (Pink Floyd song)Echoes (Pink Floyd song)"Echoes" is a song by Pink Floyd including lengthy instrumental passages, sound effects, and musical improvisation. Written in 1970 by all four members of the group , "Echoes" provides the extended finale to Pink Floyd's album Meddle...
External links
- The official Phantom of the Opera Website
- Annual Phantom Masquerade Ball
- Andrew Lloyd Webber's Official Website
- The Phantom of the Opera in Argentina, official website
- The Phantom of the Opera (The Guide to Musical Theatre)
- The Phantom of the Opera at R&H Theatricals
- Unusual aria singing - Artyom Semenov
- The Phantom of the Opera Website for South Africa