The Beginning

The Novel

Important Characters

The Story

A short synopsis of the story:


The Paris Opera House was said to have been haunted by the "Opera Ghost". Many have claimed to have seen the ghost, although no one had any definite proof that he actually existed.

Christine, a young opera singer and the orphaned daughter of a poor violinist, had heard the Opera Ghost speak to her through her dressing room walls. He had sung to her, and even gave her singing lessons. She believed that the voice belonged the "Angel of Music". In reality, it belonged to Erik, a disfigured man who had made his home under the Opera House.

On the night of the retirement of the two Opera House managers, a final grand show had been planned for them. However, it seemed that the show might have to be cancelled, as the prima donna, Madame Carlotta, suddenly fell ill. Christine, however, stepped up and sang the rest of the opera, Faust, in Carlotta's place.

That night, Raoul, a childhood friend of Christine's, heard her sing, and fell in love with her. Erik, seeing Raoul's love for Christine, became very jelous, as he, too, loved her. He told Christine that she could never marry, or he (as the Angel of Music) would return to heaven and never visit her again. So, Christine tried to avoid any contact with Raoul at all.

When Carlotta was well enough to sing again, she recieved a letter, written in red ink, stating that she should prepare for a great misfortune if she attempted to sing that night. Assuming that the letter was from Christine, she ignored it, and the show went on as planned.

But when Carlotta got up to sing, no music came out---just the loud croaking of a frog. She tried again, and again, she croaked.

Erik's laugh filled the theatre. «She is singing to bring down the chandelier!» he said; and, as if on cue, the great chandelier crashed down into the middle of the theatre, right in the middle of the audience.

That night, Erik kidnapped Christine and brought her to live with him under the Opera House. She knew, now, that he was not her Angel, but a madman desperately in love with her. He kept her with him for two weeks before she finally convinced him to let her go. Erik gave Christine a gold ring, and told her that as long as she wore it, she would be safe.

Later, Christine sat with Raoul on the roof of the Opera, telling him all that had happened. Raoul decided that he wanted to take Christine far away from Paris, to a place where Erik could never find them. He wanted to leave that night, but Christine refused, saying how she had already promised to sing for Erik the next night. So they decided to leave the next night after Christine sang.

But those plans were less than foolproof, as Erik had been hiding by a statue and had heard the whole conversation.

Angry and hurt, Erik kidnapped Christine again and gave her a choice: marry him, or he'll blow up the Paris Opera House.

Meanwhile, Raoul, accompanied by a mysterious man known only as "the Persian", had journeyed into the darkness of Erik's world to try to save Christine. When Erik found them, he locked them in a room that he called his "torture chamber", a room which was at an unbearable temperature. Seeing this, Christine told Erik that she would marry him, and kissed him.

Completely overjoyed, Erik let them all free, and told Christine that she may marry Raoul if she wished. Happily, Raoul and Christine leave together. They are soon married.

Three weeks later, a notice was printed in the Paris newspaper, ordered by the Persian: Erik is dead.

1925 Silent Film

«Movie poster for the silent film The Phantom of the Opera»

Directed primarily by Rupert Julian, this first adaptation is still considered to be the most true to the novel. However, there are a few notable differences, as there always are:

1. Erik's history in Persia was changed to a history on Devil's Island.
2. The ending, although originally intended to stay true to the novel, was changed to a more exciting ending: Erik kidnaps Christine and attempts to escape with her in a stolen carriage, but is hunted down and killed by an angry mob (they beat him, and then throw him into the Seine River to finally drown).

The movie starred Lon Chaney, Sr., as Erik; Mary Philbin as Christine; and Norman Kerry as Raoul. It has been praised as being "The greatest horror film" of it's time.


«Lon Chaney as Erik»

Lon Chaney: The Man of a Thousand Faces

Lon Chaney, the "Man of a Thousand Faces", did his own makeup for the film, and his appearance as Erik was kept secret until the film was released.

When I was first researching this movie, I didn't realise just how much I would find on Chaney regarding his makeup. In fact, much of what I found was incredibly surprising. Don't believe me? Here's a little of what I found:

• Chaney's makeup distracted a camera operator during the filming of the scene where Christine crept up behind Erik to unmask him.
• Theatres that showed this movie were urged to have smelling salts on hand, in case women fainted at the sight of the disfiguring makeup.
• The makeup job was kept secret until the release of the movie in theatres; since viewers had pretty much no idea what it would look like, they were all the more shocked by Chaney's appearance.
• Regarding Chaney's makeup, many eyewitnesses described his use of "wire hooks or bobby pins, grease paint, tape, and wax", among other materials.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Musical

«The logo for Ander Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera»

When most people think of The Phantom of the Opera, this adaptation of the novel is what they think about. It first opened in Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End on 9^th October, 1986. In 1987, the musical traveled across the ocean, and, on 26^th January, 1988, opened on Broadway in the Majestic Theatre for the first time. It is still playing in both theatres; Phantom holds the record for the longest running musical in Broadway history, and the second-longest running musical in West End's history (bested only by Les Misérables).



In both the West End and the Broadway productions, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, and Steve Barton originated the roles of Erik, Christine, and Raoul (respectively). A complete list of actors and actresses who have taken on these roles is here:

The Phantom (Erik)

West End	Broadway
Michael Crawford Dave Willetts Martin Smith Peter Karrie Peter Polycarpou Ethan Freeman Grant Norman Simon Bowman Peter Cousens Glyn Kerslake Mike Sterling Scott Davies John Owen-Jones Earl Carpenter Ramin Karimloo David Shannon	Michael Crawford Timothy Nolen Chris Groenendaal Steve Barton Kevin Gray Mark Jacoby Marcus Lovitt Davis Gaines Thomas James O'Leary Hugh Panaro Howard McGillin John Cudia

Christine

West End	Broadway
Sarah Brightman Claire Moore Jan Hartley-Morris Jill Washington Shona Lindsay Jill Washington Nikki Ankara Megan Kelly Shona Lindsay Myrra Malmberg Charlotte Page Deborah Dutcher Ceilia Graham Katie Knight-Adams Rachel Barrell Celia Graham Leila Benn Harris Robyn North Gina Beck	Sarah Brightman Patti Cohenour Rebecca Luker Karen Culliver Mary D'Arcy Tracy Shayne Marie Danvers Sandra Joseph Adrienne McEwan Sarah Pfisterer Lisa Vroman Jennifer Hope Wills Marni Raab

Raoul

West End	Broadway
Steve Barton Michael Ball Michael Cormick Robert Meadmore Mario S. Frangoulis John Barrowman Simon Burke Clive Carter Simon Bowman Alasdar Harvey Mike Sterling Matthew Cammelle Robert Finalyson Ramin Karimloo Oliver Thornton David Shannon Michael Xavier Alex Rathgeber Simon Bailey	Steve Barton Davis Gaines Hugh Panaro Cirán Sheehan Brad Little Gary Mauer Lawrence Anderson Jim Weitzer Michael Shawn Lewis John Cudia Tim Martin Gleason Ryan Silverman

«Michael Crawford as Erik»

As always, there are differences from the novel, including:

1. The opening scene of the musical (the Prologue) is that of an auction in 1911; Raoul bids on a monkey-shaped musical box, wins it, then sings to it, saying how it was exactly the way that Christine had described it.
2. Carlotta does not become ill on the night when Christine takes her place; she simply storms off in a fit of rage.
3. Although the threatening note is sent to Carlotta before the opera, Erik does not make her sing like a frog because she appeared anyway; it is only when she angers him by calling Christine a toad that he does this to Carlotta.
4. When Christine refuses to marry Erik, he does not threaten to blow up the Opera House; instead, he threatens to strangle Raoul with a noose.
5. At the end, we don't know if Erik dies or not; he simply dissapears under his cape, leaving only his white mask for Meg to find (she had been looking for him).

The show has a total of 20 musical numbers, listed here:

Act I	Act II
Prologue Overture Think of Me Angel of Music Little Lotte/The Mirror (Angel of Music) The Phantom of the Opera Music of the Night I Remember/Stranger than you Dreamt It Magical Lasso Notes/Prima Donna Poor Fool/He Makes Me Laugh Why Have You Brought Me Here? All I Ask of You All I Ask of You (Reprise)	Masquerade/Why So Silent? Notes/Twisted Every Way Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again Wandering Child/Bravo, Bravo The Point of No Return Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer

«Steve Barton and Sarah Brightman in the final scene.»

The story itself resembles that of the original novel, to a point. Some of the changes that most stood out: This musical has been translated into several languages, and has been produced in more than 20 countries on 6 continents. The first language it was translated to was Japanese, in 1988; other languages include, but are cirtainly not limited to, Spanish, Chinese, German, Polish, and Dutch.

2004 Film

«Movie poster for the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera»

Directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber himself, this is the most well-known movie-version of The Phantom of the Opera. It stars Gerald Butler as Erik; Emmy Rossum as Christine; and Patrick Wilson as Raoul. Other actors who were considered for the part of Erik include John Travolta and Hugh Jackman; other actresses considered for the part of Christine include Anne Hathaway and Charlotte Church.

There are even more changes from the musical to the film adaptation of it: another song, "Learn to be Lonely", is added to the end of the film. There are also additional scenes, including a sword fight scene between Erik and Raoul; and, at the end of the film, an elderly Raoul goes to visit Christine's grave and leaves the monkey-shaped musical box on it; before leaving, he notices a single red rose with a black ribbon tied around it, Erik's engagement ring attached. (This, personally, is my favourite part of the movie.)

Other Notable Adaptations

An uncomplete list of the many adaptations and versions of The Phantom of the Opera. Why is it incomplete? Because there are simply too many to list them all.

Film

• Das Phantom der Oper (1916): a lost Swedish film that is only believed to have existed because of media references.
• 夜半歌聲 (1937): a Chinese adaptation/remake; the title can be translated to "Song at Midnight" in English. It is well-regarded, and has been named one of the top 100 Chinese films by the Hong Kong Film Awards.
• Phantom of the Opera (1943): a "remake" of the 1925 film, although, other than using the same sets, it has little in common with the 1925 film, and is considered one of, if not THE least true-to-the-novel adaptations (if I wanted to, I could write a whole section just on how this adaption is different from the novel; it is to the point where names are changed, some entirely; as well as the Phantom is deformed by acid rather than being born deformed).
• The Phantom of the Opera (1962): takes place at the London Opera House; again, names are changed, and again, the Phantom is deformed by acid; although, it is more true to the novel than the 1943 adaptation.
• Phantom of the Paradise (1974): a rock musical based loosely on The Phantom of the Opera, among other classic tales.
• The Phantom of the Opera (1987): a cartoon version.
• The Phantom of the Opera (1989): considered to be one of the goriest and most sadistic adaptation, and, in that respect, one of the truest to the novel. Robert Englund, who portrays the infamous Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, plays Erik in this version.
• 夜半歌聲 (1995): a remake of the 1937 movie 夜半歌聲 (Song at Midnight); the title can be translated to "The Phantom Lover", although it uses the same Chinese characters as the 1937 movie (yeah, it confused me at first, too).

Television

• Phantom of the Horse Opera (1961): a Woody Woodpecker cartoon.
• The Phantom of What Opera? (1971): an episode of "Night Gallery", a follow-up series to "The Twilight Zone".
• The Phantom of Hollywood (1974): a made-for-TV movie about a washed-up actor (again, deformed by acid) who haunts the backlots of Hollywood.
• The Phantom of the Opera (1983): a made-for-TV movie.
• The Phantom of the Opera (1990): a made-for-TV movie.
• The Phantom of the Megaplex (2000): a made-for-TV movie produced by the Disney Channel; it is only very loosely based on The Phantom of the Opera, and is more of a family comedy than anything else.

The Story Continues...

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