The Phantom of the Opera

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by William A. Everett

The Phantom of the Opera (1986) is one of the most popular musicals of the late-twentieth century. Andrew Lloyd Webber's haunting musical score includes such classic musical theater songs as "Think of Me," "The Phantom of the Opera," and "Music of the Night." More than a decade after its premiere, the musical continued to play to sellout audiences in both London and New York. Similarly, numerous other productions also played to packed houses worldwide.

Perhaps Lloyd Webber's most famous work, The Phantom of the Opera opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London (the edifice of which strongly resembles the Paris Opera House) in 1986. Charles Hart was the lyricist, and additional lyrics were provided by Richard Stilgoe. Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe based their libretto on Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel and cast Michael Crawford as the mysterious Phantom, Sarah Brightman as the opera singer Christine Daae, and Steve Barton as Raoul, Christine's suitor. The three singers recreated their roles when the musical opened on Broadway in 1988. Hal Prince's imaginative and impressive staging captivated audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.

The familiar tale of the disfigured, masked Phantom who lives in the lake below the Paris Opera House and is obsessed with the beautiful young soprano Christine Daae and takes her from chorus girl to diva is told in an intensely romantic and operatic style. The Phantom teaches Christine to sing and secures for her the lead role in his opera, Don Juan Triumphant, by terrorizing all who would stand in his way, including Raoul, Christine's true love. At the end, the Phantom kidnaps Christine and when she kisses him without being repulsed by his physical appearance, he disappears and leaves her to be with Raoul.

Among the show's most inspired songs are "Think of Me," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Angel of Music," "All I Ask of You," "The Music of the Night," "Masquerade," "Prima Donna," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," and "The Point of No Return." The music is decidedly operatic in style, as befits the story. Rock elements permeate much of the score, whether in a hard style as in the title number or in a gentler vein as in "All I Ask of You." Lloyd Webber recreated the atmosphere of nineteenth-century operatic Paris and made it accessible to audiences of the twentieth century.

Spectacular visual effects fill the show, as in the climatic end of the first act when the chandelier rises above the audience during the overture only to be cut down by the Phantom and plummets to the stage. Other lasting images like the grand staircase filled with chorus members and mannequins in the "Masqerade" number at the beginning of the second act and the ghostly candelabra on the Phantom's lake prove that, in Phantom, the visual is equal to the aural.

The Phantom of the Opera is representative of two dominant trends in the musical of the 1980s and 1990s: the sung-through musical and the mega-musical. The former type is a musical in which spoken dialogue is minimalized and generally replaced by operatic recitative (speech-singing). The second descriptor refers to a show in which sets, costumes, and special effects are as important to the dramatic narrative as are the traditional coupling of music and words. Every aspect of the work is meant to dazzle the audience.

Lloyd Webber's musical is not the only adaptation of Leroux's novel. No less than five film versions of Phantom have been produced. Perhaps the most famous is the first, Lon Chaney's 1925 silent classic. Other musical theater reworkings of the tale include those by Ken Hill (1984) and Mary Yeston (1990).