Phantom of the opera 1986 film biography

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical/opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux. The song was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart.

Additional lyrics were written by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator, but he withdrew after completing work on a single song, Masquerade, and died shortly thereafter. 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 , and on Broadway in It is the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the second-longest-running West Close musical, and arguably the world's most financially successful single show project to date.

Phantom won the Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (as the phantom) won the Olivier and Tony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical. The show has been seen in cities in 25 countries, and has played to over million people.

With total worldwide box office receipts of over £bn ($bn), Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time. The New York movie alone has grossed US $ million, making it the most financially successful Broadway show in history.

History of the Show[]

West End[]

Inspired by an earlier musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, Phantom began previews at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End on 27 September, and opened on 9 October under the direction of Hal Prince.

It was choreographed by Gillian Lynne and the sets were crafted by Maria Björnson, with lighting by Andrew Bridge.[10]

Michael Crawford starred as the titular traits, Sarah Brightman as Christine, and Steve Barton as Raoul. The show is still playing at Her Majesty's, celebrating its 24th anniversary in October , and celebrated its 10,th performance at the matinée on 23rd October, ; both Andrew Lloyd Webber and the original Phantom, Michael Crawford, were in attendance.

It is the second longest-running West End musical in history behind Les Miserables.

Broadway[]

Phantom began Broadway previews at the Majestic Theatre on 9 January, and opened on 26 January. Crawford, Brightman and Barton reprised their respective roles from the London production.

In the Broadway show marked its nine thousandth recital and is currently the longest-running musical in Broadway history celebrating 23 years in January of

Development of the Musical[]

Musical Idea[]

In the northern hemisphere winter of , Cameron Mackintosh, the co-producer of Cats and Song and Dance received a phone name.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was looking to create a new musical. He was aiming for a romantic piece, but having trouble reining in a worthwhile thought, and, hitting upon the notion of using Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera as a base, he pitched the idea.

Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber screened both the Lon Chaney and the Claude Rains versions but neither were able to gain any material that might be useful in making the leap from book to stage. While in New York, Lloyd Webber tracked down a second hand copy of the drawn-out out-of-print original Leroux novel, from which his attitude to the material was transformed;

“ I was actually writing something else at the time, and I realized that the reason I was hung up was because I was trying to document 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!" ”

From there, Lloyd Webber began work developing Phantom of the Opera to fit into musical form.

Lyricists and Lyrics[]

Lloyd Webber approached Jim Steinman to note the lyrics because of his "dark obsessive side", but the writer/producer declined in order to fulfil his commitments on a Bonnie Tyler album.

The pair did eventually collaborate on Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation of Whistle Down the Wind.

Alan Jay Lerner was then recruited, but died soon after beginning the project, and none of his contributions remained in the performance.

Richard Stilgoe, who also wrote the lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express, then wrote lyrics for the production, as well as devising most of the titles for the songs. However, the composer felt that Stilgoe's lyrics were too witty and clever, rather than affectionate.

Charles Hart, a young and relatively unknown lyricist was invited to rewrite the lyrics, even contributing almost solely to an unplaced tune by Lloyd Webber, which later became "Think of Me". Some of Stilgoe's imaginative contributions are still present in the final version.

Musical Scoring[]

Lloyd Webber's score is sometimes operatic in style but he maintains the form and structure of a musical throughout. The fully-fledged operatic writing is reserved principally for the subsidiary characters such as the theatre managers, Andre and Firmin; their Prima Donna, Crlotta; and principal tenor, Piangi.

Fittingly, it is also used to provide the content of the fictional "operas" that are taking place within the exhibition itself, viz., Hannibal, Il Muto, and the Phantom's masterwork, Don Juan Triumphant. Here, Lloyd Webber affectionately pastiches various styles from the grand operas of Meyerbeer through to Mozart and even Gilbert and Sullivan (Coveney, ).

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 we hear from the Phantom's opera, "Don Juan Triumphant", during the latter stages of the present, are much more dissonant and modern – suggesting, perhaps, that the phantom is ahead of his time artistically (Snelson, ).

There have been many literary and dramatic works based on Gaston Leroux 's novel The Phantom of the Operaranging from stage musicals to films to children's books. Some well acknowledged stage and screen adaptations of the novel are the production and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical see The Phantom of the Opera musical ; Susan Kay 's Phantom is one of the best known novels and includes in-depth study of the title character's life and experiences. Finnish Symphonic metal band Nightwish covered the title ballad for their fourth studio album Century Child. Several different notebook games have been released based on the Phantom of the Opera or that make some reference to it.

This is also displayed when The Phantom makes his entrance on the show's title song. Andrew had said himself that the title song was "Rock n' roll merely masquerading as opera". For the characters of Christine, the Phantom, and Raoul, the straight and "natural" style of current song is used rather than the more decorative aspects of aria; their material provides the musical centre of the piece.

Costume Designs and Ideas[]

For the costume and set design of the show, Maria Björnson was recruited. She alone designed over costumes, the most spectacular of all shown in the Masquerade sequence. Björnson went into meticulous detail with the sets, visiting the real Paris opera home in which the story is set to gain a sense for what the look of the show should be and grasp the feeling of s theatre.

Direction of the Musical[]

Hal Prince, director of such theatrical classics as Cabaret, Candide, Follies, and Webber's Evita was chosen. He proved an excellent selection and worked closely with the crew and cast to find the best possible performances of everyone.

Preview at Sydmonton[]

The first act of The Phantom of the Opera was staged at Sydmonton (Andrew Lloyd Webber's home). It starred Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom (who would leave on to play the Phantom in the Toronto production from until ), Sarah Brightman as Kristin (the name was eventually changed to Christine) and Clive Carter as Raoul (who would also go on to participate Raoul in London in ).

The lyrics were written by Richard Stilgoe. The preview was very different from the terminal version of the show. Most of the songs had other names. For example, "Think of Me" was originally "What Has Time Done to Me", and "Notes" was originally "Papers".

In addition, the Phantom's mask was changed to a silver mask that covered the eyes and nose instead of the current half-mask, as it obstructed the actor playing the Phantom's vision and obscured his face too completely from the audience. The unmasking sequence was excluded.

The preview received mixed reviews. Concise clips of the preview show are featured on disc 2 of the DVD of the film version.

Musical Overall Synopsis[]

Prolog[]

At the Paris Opéra in , an auction of old props is underway.

Adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera - Wikipedia: Based on the novel by Gaston Leroux, it tells the tragic story of gorgeous soprano Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious and disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House. [1].

Lot , 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 is a shattered chandelier which, the auctioneer says, has a connection to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Operaa 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 theatre returns to its s grandeur.

("Overture")

Act I[]

It is now As Carlotta, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donna, rehearses for that evening's performance, a backdrop collapses without warning. "The Phantom! He's here!" the thrilled cast members whisper.

The Opera's new owners, Firmin and André, try to downplay the incident, but Carlotta refuses to maintain and storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Opéra's ballet mistress, tells Firmin and André that Christine Daaé, a Swedish chorus teen and orphaned daughter of a prominent violinist, has been "well taught", and could sing Carlotta's role.

Rather than cancel the performance, the owners reluctantly audition Christine, and to their surprise, she is equal to the challenge. ("Think of Me")

Backstage after her triumphant debut, Christine confesses to her best companion Meg (Madame Giry's daughter) that she knows her mysterious lecturer only as an invisible "Angel of Music" ("Angel of Music").

The new patron, Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny, finds Christine, his childhood friend, in her dressing room. ("Little Lotte") Christine reminds Raoul about the "Angel of Music" stories that her late father used to say them, and confides that the Angel has visited her, and taught her to sing.

Raoul does not believe her, but invites her to dinner. After Raoul leaves, a very resentful Angel of Music's booming voice announces his displeasure at Raoul's presence. ("Angel of Music/The Mirror") Christine beseeches him to expose himself, and the Phantom's image appears in her dressing room mirror.

He guides Christine through the mirror into a ghostly underground realm. ("The Phantom of the Opera") They cross a subterranean lake to his classified lair deep beneath the Opera House, an eerie place containing a pipe organ and a throne.

The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his music . He urges her to forget the life she knew before. ("The Music of the Night"). He shows Christine a life-sized doll in her image, clothed in a wedding gown. She faints, and the Phantom puts her to bed, once again restating his feelings 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 against her curiosity, then ruefully expresses his longing to glance normal and to be loved by Christine ("Stranger Than You Dreamt It").

In the Opera House, Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand, who (like Mme. Giry) inexplicably knows a lot about the Phantom, regales everyone with tales of the "Opera Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso ("Magical Lasso").

Mme. 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 Andre 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. The backdrop lifts to reveal the corpse of Buquet, hanging from the rafters by the Punjab lasso.

In the ensuing melee, Christine escapes with Raoul to the roof, where she tells him about her subterranean rendezvous with the Phantom.

Raoul is skeptical ("Why Possess You Brought Me Here?/Raoul, I've Been There"), but swears to love and 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 Opera's mighty chandelier crashes to the floor as the curtain falls.

Act II[]

Six months later, in the midst of the gala masquerade ball ("Masquerade"), the Phantom makes his first appearance since the chandelier disaster. He announces that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant.

He demands that it be produced immediately ("Why So Silent?"), with Christine, who is now engaged to Raoul, in the steer role. He then seizes Christine's engagement ring and vanishes. Raoul demands that Madame Giry reveal him about the Phantom.

Every classic has its origin story. Indeed, the Phantom had been roaming the subterranean layers of the cultural milieu for seventy years before Andrew Lloyd Webber happened upon his story, but it was the musical that placed The Phantom of the Opera firmly in the spotlight. The real-life Palais Garnier was rumoured to be haunted by a ghost; during an production, a chandelier counterweight crashed through the ceiling due to a fire, killing one. However, Lloyd Webber knew that, in command to create a show compelling enough for the stage, he would need to make some important changes.

She replies that he is a brilliant composer and magician, born with a terrifyingly deformed face, who she helped escape from captivity in a traveling freak show by hiding him in the opera theater.

Raoul hatches a design to use Don Juan Triumphant as a trap to capture the Phantom.

("Notes/Twisted Every Way") Christine, torn between her like for Raoul and her reluctance to see the Phantom imprisoned again, visits her father's dignified ("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 debuts, with Christine and Ubaldo Piangi, the Opéra's leading tenor, singing the lead roles.

The melody was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart. Additional lyrics were written by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator, but he withdrew after completing work on a single song, Masquerade, and died shortly thereafter. It is the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the second-longest-running West End musical, and arguably the world's most financially successful single entertainment proposal to date.

("The Point of No Return") During their duet, Christine suddenly realizes she is singing not with Piangi, but the Phantom himself. Christine tears off his mask to uncover his hideous face to the audience, as Piangi is start strangled backstage.

The Phantom seizes Christine and flees the theatre. A mob is soon in hot pursuit. Madame Giry tells Raoul about the Phantom's subterranean lair, reminding 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 he will free Raoul if she agrees to stay with him forever; if she refuses, Raoul will expire. ("Final Lair") Christine tells the Phantom it is his heart, not his face, that is distorted, and kisses him.

The Phantom, having experienced kindness and compassion for the first period, sets them both free. Christine returns the ring he gave her, and listens in pity as he tells her he loves her. She then forces herself to turn away, and 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 I[]

"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 Demand of You (Reprise)/Chandelier Crash" – Phantom, Raoul, and Christine

Act II[]

"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
"The Point of No Return" – Phantom and Christine
"Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer" – Phantom, Christine, Raoul, and Company
"Final Lair" – Phantom, Christine, and Raoul

Instrumentation[]

The piece orchestra is substantially larger than those used in most modern musicals:

Reed I: Flute/Piccolo
Reed II: Flute/Clarinet
Reed III: Oboe/Cor anglais
Reed IV: Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/E-flat clarinet
Reed V: Bassoon
Horns I-III
Trumpets I-II
Trombone
Percussion
Keyboards I-II: Piano, Synthesizer
Violins I-VII
Violas I-II
Cellos I-II
Double Bass
Harp

A pre-recorded track, employing organ, synthesizers, synthesized drums, electric guitars, and bass guitar, supplements the live orchestra during the Overture, and during the title anthem, 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 path on headphones to keep the live musicians synchronized with the track. Most of the Phantom's off-stage voiceovers are prerecorded, as is Christine's final note of the title song.

To cut down 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 possess been made of the London, German, Austrian, Japanese, Mexican, Korean, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Hungarian and Canadian productions.

When the Authentic London Cast Album was released in CD format in , it became the first album in British musical history to enter the UK albums chart at #1.

Some well famous stage and screen adaptations of the novel are the clip and the Andrew Lloyd ber musical (see The Phantom of the Opera ( musical)); Susan Kay's Phantom is one of the best known novels and includes in-depth study of the title character's life and experiences.

It has since gone both gold and platinum in Britain and the U.S., selling over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time. The cast recording/soundtrack of the film adaptation was released in

While never released to the general widespread, there is a video recording of an early performance of the musical with Michael Crawford, which is only available to certain people involved with the show.

Whether or not it will ever be released is unknown.

Sequel[]

Andrew Lloyd Webber has created a sequel, with a book by Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater, and Ben Elton, and lyrics by Slater. It is titled Love Never Dies and is loosely adapted from the novel The Phantom of Manhattan, published in and written by Frederick Forsyth, who had collaborated with Lloyd Webber on the sequel years before.

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 Pride with previews from 22 February It is the first day a musical sequel has been staged in the West Termination.

The opening was delayed from its original date of 26 October The first act was staged in at the Sydmonton Festival at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Hampshire country home. Love Never Dies was originally scheduled to open on Broadway on 11 November but Lloyd Webber has had some post operative problems from prostate cancer and has been unable to do any long-haul flight, so the display has been postponed until Spring [26] In October the Broadway production was postponed indefinitely.

The Australian production will still reveal as scheduled in

The musical is set in ,[28] a decade after the end of Phantom. (Note: According to the official announcement, the events occur approximately a decade after the events of The Phantom of the Opera.

The Phantom of the Opera was the longest running show in Broadway historyand celebrated its 10,th performance on 11 Februarybecoming the first Broadway production in history to execute so. The original Broadway show played its final performance on 16 April The next lot — Lot — is a broken chandelier, portions of which have been renovated with electrical wiring. The auctioneer states that this chandelier was involved in a famous disaster, connected to "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Operaa mystery never fully explained".

In life, however, Lloyd Webber's original demonstrate was set in , interpretation that the time period between the two stories amounts to 26 years.) Christine is invited to perform at Phantasma, a new attraction in Coney Island, by an anonymous impresario and, with her husband Raoul and son Gustave in tow, journeys to Brooklyn, unaware that it is the Phantom who has arranged her appearance in the popular beach resort.

The musical received mixed reviews.

Plagiarism[]

In the heirs of Giacomo Puccini claimed in a lawsuit that the climactic phrase in Phantom's "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.

A quixotic melodrama, The Phantom of the Opera premiered in London’s West End on October 9, , and began its Broadway sprint on January 26, The emotional audience reaction to the performance, stemming from both stages, has been described as “Phantom-mania.”.

In a Baltimore songwriter named Ray Repp filed a lawsuit alleging that the title song from Phantom was based on a song he wrote in called "Till You." After eight years of litigation - which included 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 chord progression from Phantom's title tune was plagiarized from a footpath on the Pink Floyd album Meddle called "Echoes." He has never taken any legal operation, but did add an derogatory 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 twenty countries on six continents. With only two exceptions (Hungary, Poland), these productions have all been ”clones”, using the original staging, advice, sets and costume concepts.

Argentina: The Argentine production premiered in March at Buenos Aires' Teatro Ópera and closed November 29, after performances.
Australia: – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth; – Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Auckland, Perth and Adelaide, both starring Anthony Warlow.

Marina Prior starred as Christine in the original film. In the original Australian movie, Rob Guest later took over the title role. The concluding leg of the more recent tour was staged in Adelaide in an arena format featuring giant screens on either side of the stage that presented footage shot simultaneously with the performance.
Austria: The German language show premiered at the Theater an der Wien in December
Belgium: The Dutch production toured to Belgium.
Brazil: São Paulo, premiered at Teatro Abril in April
Canada: The Toronto production of Phantom ran for just over ten years.

The Music Box Tour (3rd U.S. National Tour) played dates across Canada in – including Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon and Ottawa.
Canadian International Touring Company: 11 March – October toured Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, Hong Kong and Singapore
China: The Shanghai production played 97 performances at the Shanghai Grand Theatre
Denmark: Det Ny Theater, Copenhagen (–, –, )
Germany: There have been three German productions: Hamburg, Stuttgart and Essen.
Hong Kong: First tour – at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre June to October ; Second tour – July to August at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre.
Hungary: Madách Theatre, Budapest.

This production, which began in , featured original sets, costumes and direction, the first Phantom that changed the original staging.[40] The th Phantom, held on 20 September featured 4 successive sets of casts. After the final curtain 3 Christines and 4 Phantoms performed the title song once again.
Japan: Shiki Productions produced the show in , the first production performed in a language other than English.

It was still running at the Shiki Theater (四季劇場 Shiki-Gekijō?) in Nagoya as of January
Korea: Opened in at Charlotte Theater in Seoul.
Mexico: Mexico Urban area, premiered at Centro Cultural Telmex in December , starring Juan Navarro as the Phantom.
Netherlands: At the Circus Theatre in Scheveningen.

More than 1, performances (–) with Henk Poort as the Phantom.
New Zealand: Auckland
Poland: Warsaw, premiere took place in March at Teatr Muzyczny Roma. It features original sets, costumes, and command.

Closed June
Singapore: 1st tour at the Kallang Theatre from 26 February to 20 May , 2nd tour at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay from 23 March to 20 May [43]
South Africa: , Cape Town, The South African State Theatre, Pretoria.
Spain: Madrid, premiered at Teatro Lope de Vega on 4 September
Sweden: – , Oscarsteatern, Stockholm.

More than 1, performances. Starring Mikael Samuelson as the Phantom.
Switzerland: Performed in both English and German at the Musical Theatre Messe Basel in Switzerland for over a year in –
United States: Los Angeles (–), San Francisco (–)

A U.S.

touring company commenced in in Los Angeles, and closed on October 31, at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California. The closing-night performance was attended by many former cast- and crew-members, including Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman.

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

The amateur stage rights are currently available to high schools and colleges.

Phantom: The Las Vegas Spectacular[]

An edited production renamed Phantom-The Las Vegas Spectacular opened 24 June, at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in a theatre built specifically for the demonstrate to resemble the Opéra Garnier in production runs 95 minutes, with no intermission, and was created by the original director and choreographer, Harold Prince and Gillian Lynne, with scenic designs by David Rockwell.

The reveal features updated technology and effects, including advanced pyrotechnics and strobe lighting, and a much-heralded, re-engineered chandelier capable of reassembling in mid-air during the overture while the entire interior of the venue (not merely the stage) magically returns to its s heyday.

In addition to the intermission, almost 45 minutes' worth of material was eliminated, including most of the spoken lines within the libretto, dance sequences, and scenes (such as the Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal) which enhance the Phantom's back story but are not crucial to the overall plot.

While most of the musical numbers were left intact, "Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh" and "The Point of No Return" were significantly shortened, engendering some criticism. Other changes resembled many of the alterations made in the film, such as staging the chandelier crash at the plot's climax (during performance of "The Point of No Return") rather than mid-story (reprise of "All I Ask of You").

To assure continuity during a six-day-per-week performance schedule, the roles of The Phantom, Christine Daaé and Carlotta Guidicelli were double-cast.

Awards and Nomintations[]

Olivier Awards:

Best Artist – Maria Björnson (Nomination)
Best Player in a Musical – Michael Crawford (Winner)
Best New Musical (Winner)

Tony Awards:

Best Musical (Winner)
Best Primary Actor in a Musical—Michael Crawford (Winner)
Best Featured Actress in a Musical—Judy Kaye (Winner)
Best Direction of a Musical—Harold Prince (Winner)
Best Publication of a Musical—Richard Stilgoe, Andrew Lloyd Webber (Nomination)
Best Original Score—Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe (Nomination)
Best Scenic Design—Maria Björnson (Winner)
Best Costume Design—Maria Björnson (Winner)
Best Lighting Design—Andrew Bridge (Winner)
Best Choreography—Gillian Lynne (Nomination)

Olivier Awards

Audience Award for Most Popular Show (Winner)