ThePhantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe. Based on the novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, it tells the tragic story of beautiful soprano Christine Daa, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious but disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opra House.[1]
The musical opened in London's West End in 1986 and on Broadway in New York in 1988, in a production directed by Harold Prince and starring English classical soprano Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's then-wife) as Christine Daa, screen and stage star Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and international stage performer Steve Barton as Raoul. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, with Crawford winning the Olivier and Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.[2] A film adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, was released in 2004.
The Phantom of the Opera was the longest running show in Broadway history, and celebrated its 10,000th performance on 11 February 2012, becoming the first Broadway production in history to do so.[3] It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misrables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap.[4][5][6][7] With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion,[8] The Phantom of the Opera was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014.[9][10][11] By 2019, it had been seen by over 140 million people in 183 cities across 41 countries.[12]
The original West End production at His Majesty's Theatre, London, ended its run in 2020,[13][14] its run cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] A new production of Phantom opened in the same theatre in July 2021. The original Broadway production played its final performance on 16 April 2023.[16]
Backstage after her triumphant debut, Christine confesses to her friend, Madame Giry's daughter Meg, that her singing has been inspired by an unseen tutor she knows only as the "Angel of Music" ("Angel of Music"). Raoul visits Christine in her dressing room and the two reminisce about "Angel of Music" stories that her late father used to tell them. Christine confides that the Angel has visited her and taught her to sing ("Little Lotte"). Raoul indulges what he assumes are fantasies and insists on taking Christine to dinner. When Raoul leaves to fetch his hat, Christine hears the jealous Phantom's voice and entreats him to reveal himself. The Phantom obliges by appearing in her mirror ("The Mirror/Angel of Music (Reprise)"). Christine is hypnotized and irresistibly drawn through the mirror to the Phantom, who leads her down into the shadowy sewers below the Opra house. The two board a small boat and cross a subterranean lake to his secret lair ("The Phantom of the Opera"). The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his musical compositions. A mirror reflects an image of her in a wedding dress; when the mirror image spreads its arms towards the real Christine, she faints from shock. The Phantom lays her on a bed and covers her tenderly with his cloak ("The Music of the Night").
As the Phantom is composing music at his organ, Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box ("I Remember"). She slips behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his disfigured face. The Phantom rails at her prying, then ruefully expresses his longing to be loved ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It"). Moved by pity, Christine returns the mask to the Phantom, and he escorts her back above ground.
Meanwhile, Joseph Buquet, the Opra's chief stagehand, regales the chorus girls with tales of the "Opra Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso. Madame Giry warns Buquet to restrain himself ("Magical Lasso"). Arguments break out in the managers' office between Firmin, Andr, Raoul, and Carlotta over notes sent by the Phantom, including a demand that Christine replace Carlotta in the starring role of the new opera, Il Muto ("Notes"). Firmin and Andr assure the furious Carlotta that she will remain the star ("Prima Donna").
The premire of Il Muto initially goes well, until the Phantom suddenly enchants Carlotta's voice, reducing it to a frog-like croak. Firmin rushes to defuse the situation by announcing to the audience that Christine will take over the starring role, and he instructs the conductor to bring the ballet forward to keep the audience entertained. Buquet's corpse drops from the rafters, hanging from the Punjab lasso. Mayhem erupts and the Phantom's evil & sinister laugh is heard throughout the auditorium ("Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh").
In the ensuing chaos, Christine escapes with Raoul to the rooftop and tells him about her subterranean encounter with the Phantom ("Why Have You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There"). Raoul is skeptical but promises to love and protect her ("All I Ask of You"). The Phantom, who overheard their conversation, is heartbroken and swears revenge on Christine. In the auditorium, the chandelier crashes onto the stage during the Il Muto curtain call ("All I Ask of You (Reprise)").[19]
Six months later, the Opera house hosts a masquerade ball. The Phantom, who has been conspicuously absent since the chandelier disaster, appears in costume as the Red Death. He announces that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant, and demands that it be produced with Christine (who is now engaged to Raoul) in the lead role. He pulls Christine's engagement ring from the chain around her neck and vanishes in a flash of light ("Masquerade/Why So Silent").
Raoul accosts Madame Giry and demands that she reveal what she knows about the Phantom. She reluctantly explains that the Phantom is a brilliant scholar, magician, architect, inventor, and composer, who was born with a deformed face. Feared and reviled by society, he was cruelly exhibited in a cage as part of a travelling fair until he eventually escaped and took refuge beneath the opera house.
Raoul plots to use the premire of Don Juan Triumphant to trap the Phantom and end his reign of terror, knowing he will attend the opera's debut. He begs Christine to help lure the Phantom into the trap ("Notes/Twisted Every Way"). During rehearsals, Piangi sings his role incorrectly, causing chaos. The piano suddenly plays by itself, with the entire cast singing in harmony. Torn between her love for Raoul and her loyalty to the Phantom, Christine visits her father's grave, begging for his guidance ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"). The Phantom appears atop the mausoleum ("Wandering Child"). Christine begins to succumb to the Phantom's influence, but Raoul arrives to rescue her. The Phantom taunts Raoul, hurling fire balls at him until Christine begs Raoul to leave with her. Furious, the Phantom declares war upon them both.
Don Juan Triumphant premieres with Christine and Piangi, the house tenor, singing the respective lead roles of Aminta and Don Juan. During Don Juan and Aminta's duet, Christine realizes that the Phantom has somehow replaced Piangi ("Don Juan Triumphant/The Point of No Return"). She calmly removes his mask, revealing his deformed face to the horrified audience. Exposed, the Phantom hurriedly drags Christine off the stage and back to his lair. Piangi's garrotted body is revealed backstage and the opera house plunges into chaos. An angry mob, vowing vengeance for the murders of Buquet and Piangi, search for the Phantom. Madame Giry tells Raoul how to find the Phantom's subterranean lair and warns him to beware the magical lasso ("Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer").
In the lair, the Phantom forces Christine to don a wedding dress. Raoul comes to the rescue but is ensnared in the Punjab lasso. The Phantom offers Christine an ultimatum: if she will stay with him, he will spare Raoul, but if she refuses, Raoul will die ("The Point of No Return Reprise"). Christine tells the Phantom that he's not alone and kisses him.
Having experienced both kindness and compassion for the first time, the Phantom frees Raoul. He also tells Christine that he loves her and she tearfully exits the lair with Raoul. As the angry search mob closes in, the Phantom huddles on his throne beneath his cloak. Meg is the first to enter the lair. She approaches the Phantom's throne and pulls away the cloak, finding only his mask ("Finale").[19]
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 and tragic 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 any 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: said Lloyd Webber, "I was actually writing something else at the time, and I realised that the reason I was hung up was because I was trying to write a major romantic story, and I had been trying to do that ever since I started my career. Then with the Phantom, it was there!"[21]
In the musical's title song, the signature, chromatic five-note descending eighth-note run from the major root to the flat 6th below is directly similar to a riff created by Pink Floyd for the track "Echoes" on their 1971 album "Meddle", something noted with indignation by Pink Floyd's Roger Waters in a 1992 interview.[32]
Maria Bjrnson designed the sets and over 200 costumes, including the elaborate gowns in the "Masquerade" sequence. Her set designs, including the chandelier, subterranean gondola, and sweeping staircase, earned her multiple awards.[33][34] Hal Prince, director of Cabaret, Candide, Follies, and Lloyd Webber's Evita, directed the production, while Gillian Lynne, associate director and choreographer of Cats, provided the integral musical staging and choreography.
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