The Phantom of the Opera
With the release of the new movie, Phantom has become more popular than ever. The Andrew Lloyd Weber The Phantom of the Opera, that is.
And you're probably beginning to see the signs of my obsession. I practically screeched when I saw the last sentence of the quote on Josh Groban. But that's beside the point.
The obsession began two years ago, when my parents went to London and Paris. They had planned on seeing Les Miserables in London. And somewhere along the way, lightning struck my dad (not literally), and he
Yes, getting melodramatic, I know. But I'm not kidding! It really did change my life.
My parents bought the Phantom soundtrack as soon as they got home from London. Let the obsession begin. The CD was Higlights from the Original London Production. The vocals of the entire cast are amazing and I was hooked. I eventually bought the CD for the entire musical along with the libretto for the whole show. A Phantom Phan's dream come true. (Yes, that's what we call ourselves. Phans)
Synopsis
Erik* is a musical genius who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House. His background is a little foggy, but one thing is undebatable: he has been disfigured from birth and he is known as "The Phantom of the Opera." The Phantom falls in love with the voice (and eventually the girl herself) of young Christine Daae and makes it his mission to make her a star. Unfortunately, Christine has recently renewed her relationship with childhood sweetheart, Raoul, Le Vicomte de Chagny. So who does Christine really love? I don't think she's too sure herself...
*Erik is the Phantom's name. This is never mentioned in theALW musical, but is the Phantom's true name in the original novel.
Sorry to burst some of your bubbles, but if you've just seen the 2004 movie, you haven't truly seen Phantom. When I originally saw the movie, I about died when Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum opened their mouths to sing. And not dying because the lovely tones of their voices were flooding to my ears in a rush of the most beautiful music imaginable. It was because their voices weren't...what I'd expected. Neither of them did Phantom justice. Pardon me, Gerry and Emmy, but your voices are more cut out for the pop scene, not classic Broadway, or I guess in London it'd be the "West End."
I was able to see the touring company of Phantom several months ago. I no longer enjoy the movie as I once did. If I want to watch Phantom, I instead watch the Behind-the-Scenes footage about the making of the musical. I must give a hand to Patrick Wilson, though, who played Raoul.
Other Interpretations
No, the Andrew Lloyd Weber version is not the only interpretation of Phantom. The original novel, Le Fantome de l'Opera, was published by Gaston Leroux in the early 1900s. I believe it was translated into English around 1910. Various translations of Leroux's novel are in existence.
In addition to a few TV spin-offs, there have been a number of Phantom-reminiscent movies, most of which are hardly worth mentioning. Lon Chaney's, who was known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces," interpretation is probably the best known of the movies. Various TV shows include Phantom-ish storylines, and the popular kids' TV show Wishbone did an episode about Phantom once (which was, by the way, my first exposure to Phantom).
Two other musicals have been written about Phantom. Ken Hill's The Phantom of the Opera preceded the ALW version and the Koppit/Yeston Phantom hit the stage about the same time as ALW's. The ALW version was the most successful of the three and is now the longest-running musical in Broadway history. In my opinion, Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera is definitely one of the best musicals ever.
Links
The Official ALW Phantom of the Opera Website
The Official 2004 Phantom of the Opera Movie Website
Ken Hill's The Phantom of the Opera
More links coming soon! (once I find the one for the Koppit/Yeston production...)
