An introduction to The Phantom of the Opera

Prologue

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the novel novel by French novelist Gaston Leroux. The music was composed by Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe.

The musical focuses on a beautiful singer, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, disfigured musical genius known as "The Phantom of the Opera," who terrorizes the Paris Opera.

The Phantom of the Opera was inspired by a different musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, which Lloyd Webber saw at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1984 . The music for Lloyd Webber's version was composed specifically for the voice of his then-wife Sarah Brightman.

The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group and opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on October 9, 1986, where it still runs as of 2007. The original cast included Michael Crawford (the Phantom), Sarah Brightman (Christine), and Steve Barton (Raoul), all of whom reprised their roles in the Broadway production, which opened on January 26, 1988 at the Majestic Theatre, where it still is running as of 2007. It is now the longest-running Broadway musical of all time, breaking the record held by Lloyd Webber's Cats on January 9, 2006 with its 7,486th performance.

Major Characters

• The Phantom of the Opera (tenor/baritone) — The genius composer and musician who lives beneath the opera house. Facially deformed from birth, the Phantom hides behind a white mask and is known to the managers and actors as the "Opera Ghost". His name is given in the novel as Erik. The role of the Phantom was first performed by Michael Crawford, with over 1,300 performances in London, New York, and Los Angeles. Although the role of The Phantom is normally played by a tenor, he has been played by baritones numerous times, including Gerard Butler in the film version and Howard McGillin who holds the record for most performances in the role on Broadway (over 1,300).

• Christine Daaé (soprano) — A chorus girl at the Opéra Populaire, and the daughter of a prominent violinist. Although talented, she lacks focus until the Phantom takes her under his wing and teaches her to sing. The role of Christine Daae is generally shared by two performers; the regular actress performs six times a week and the alternate performs at the other two performances. This practice was started by the original London and Broadway Christine Daae, Sarah Brightman, ostensibly due to the vocal demands of the role.

• Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny (tenor/baritone) — The patron of the Opéra Populaire and a childhood sweetheart of Christine's, who rediscovers her singing at the Opéra.

The haunting theme song of The Phantom of the Opera

Brad Little, playing Phantom in this clip, was the Phantom that we saw in Singapore. He's the Phantom with an expressive voice and some even feel that his fingers are "sexy".

Music of the Night

Did you notice that this is a direct continuation of the previous clip? It's just that the cast is different ie. the "Phantom" and "Christine" are different.

This is still "Music of the Night". But this clip is significant as the Phantom here is Michael Crawford, who was the original Phantom in the 1986 London play, inspiring the many Phantoms after that. His style of acting, body movements and voice expressions are still seen in many Phantoms even till today.

All I Ask of You (Reprise)

This is Brad Little again. You can't help but feel sorry for Phantom when he slowly revealed himself from behind the statue. Apparently, he had saw Christine and Raoul singing "All I Ask of You" on the rooftop of the opera house and how we wished he had not seen it. Knowing that he saw it made us all pity him.

The Point of No Return

I find that the arrangement of the "The Point of No Return" sounds a bit like tango in the beginning. This scene is really the climax of the whole musical. Phantom posed as Don Juan in the opera he wrote, which was supposed to be played by Piangi, a flamboyant Italian-accent actor. However, Phantom killed Piangi and assumed his role as Don Juan, acting with Chrsitine without her knowing. Climax comes when Piangi was found dead on the set, and Christine revealed the hood of Don Juan to find the deformed face of Phantom. This is the first time audience get to see the face behind the mask after so long into the musical.