The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe. Based on the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux, it tells the tragic story of beautiful soprano Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious and disfigured musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opera House.
The musical opened in London's West End in 1986 and on Broadway in New York in 1988, in a production directed by Harold Prince and starring English classical soprano Sarah Brightman as Christine Daaé, screen and stage star Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and international stage performer Steve Barton as Raoul. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, with Crawford winning the Olivier and Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. A film adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, was released in 2004.
The Phantom of the Opera is the longest running show in Broadway history, and celebrated its 10,000th performance on 11 February 2012, becoming the first Broadway production in history to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap. With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion, The Phantom of the Opera was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014. By 2019, it had been seen by over 140 million people in 183 cities across 41 countries.
The original West End production at His Majesty's Theatre, London, ended its run in March 2020 due to the shutdown of theatres resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. A scaled-down, revised staging opened in the same theatre in July 2021, with a "smaller orchestra and redesigned set". The original Broadway production played its final performance on 16 April 2023.
Synopsis
Prologue
In 1919, the Paris Opéra House hosts an auction of theatre memorabilia. Among the attendees is Raoul de Chagny, who purchases Lot 665, a papier-mâché music box with a monkey figurine. He cryptically observes that it appears "exactly as she said". The next lot – Lot 666 – 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 Opera, a mystery never fully explained". He commands the auction assistants to turn on the chandelier. As the overture plays, the chandelier flickers to life and ascends to the ceiling, a transition back in time restoring the opera house to its former grandeur.Act I
In 1881, the cast of a new production, Hannibal, is rehearsing. Carlotta, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donna, begins performing an aria when a backdrop falls from the flies, causing anxious chorus girls to shout, "He's here! The Phantom of the Opera!" The new owners, Firmin and André, downplay the incident, but Carlotta storms offstage. Madame Giry, the Opéra's ballet mistress, suggests that Christine Daaé, a chorus girl and orphaned daughter of a prominent Swedish violinist, has been "well taught" and can sing Carlotta's role. As their only alternative is cancelling the show, the managers audition her, and discover that she is indeed talented. As Christine sings the aria during the evening performance, the Opéra's new patron, Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, recognizes her as his childhood friend and playmate.File:PhantomoftheOpera-BoatScene.PNG|thumb|left|250px|Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the title song
Backstage after her triumphant debut, Christine confesses to her friend, Madame Giry's daughter Meg, that her singing has been inspired by an unseen tutor she knows only as the "Angel of Music". Raoul visits Christine in her dressing room and the two reminisce about "Angel of Music" stories that her father used to tell them. Christine confides that the Angel has visited her and taught her to sing. Raoul indulges what he assumes are fantasies and insists on taking Christine to dinner. When Raoul leaves to fetch his hat, Christine hears the Phantom's voice and entreats him to reveal himself. The Phantom appears in her mirror. Christine is hypnotized and drawn through the mirror to the Phantom, who leads her into the shadowy sewers below the Opéra house. The two board a small boat and cross a subterranean lake to his lair. The Phantom explains that he has chosen Christine to sing his musical compositions. A mirror reflects an image of her in a wedding dress; when the mirror image spreads its arms towards the real Christine, she faints. The Phantom lays her on a bed and covers her with his cloak.
As the Phantom composes music at his organ, Christine awakens to the sound of the monkey music box. She slips behind the Phantom, lifts his mask, and beholds his disfigured face. The Phantom rails at her prying, then ruefully expresses his longing to be loved. Moved by pity, Christine returns the mask to the Phantom, and he escorts her back above ground.
Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand, regales the ballet girls with tales of the "Opéra Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso. Madame Giry warns Buquet to restrain himself. Arguments break out in the managers' office between Firmin, André, Raoul, and Carlotta over notes sent by the Phantom, including a demand that Christine replace Carlotta in the starring role of the new opera, Il Muto. Firmin and André assure Carlotta that she will remain the star.
The première of Il Muto goes well until the Phantom enchants Carlotta's voice, reducing it to a frog-like croak. Firmin rushes to defuse the situation by announcing to the audience that Christine will take over the starring role; he instructs the conductor to bring the ballet forward to keep the audience entertained. Buquet's corpse drops from the rafters, hanging from the Punjab lasso. Mayhem erupts and the Phantom's sinister laugh is heard throughout the auditorium.
Christine escapes with Raoul to the rooftop and tells him about her encounter with the Phantom. Raoul promises to love and protect her. The Phantom, who overheard their conversation, is heartbroken and swears revenge. In the auditorium, the chandelier crashes onto the stage during the Il Muto curtain call.
Act II
Six months later, the Opera house hosts a masquerade ball. The Phantom, who has been absent since the chandelier disaster, appears in costume as the Red Death. He announces that he has written an opera entitled Don Juan Triumphant, and demands that it be produced with Christine, who is now secretly engaged to Raoul, in the lead role. He pulls Christine's engagement ring from the chain around her neck before vanishing in a flash of light.Raoul accosts Madame Giry and demands that she reveal what she knows about the Phantom. She explains that the Phantom is a brilliant scholar, magician, architect, inventor, and composer, who was born with a deformed face. Feared and reviled by society, he was exhibited in a cage as part of a travelling fair until he escaped and took refuge beneath the opera house.
Raoul plots to use the première of Don Juan Triumphant to trap the Phantom, knowing he will attend the debut. He begs Christine to help lure the Phantom into the trap. During rehearsals, Piangi, the house tenor, sings his role incorrectly, causing chaos. The piano suddenly plays by itself, with the entire cast singing in harmony. Torn between her love for Raoul and her loyalty to the Phantom, Christine visits her father's grave, begging for his guidance. The Phantom appears atop the mausoleum. Christine begins succumbing to the Phantom's influence, but Raoul arrives to rescue her. The Phantom taunts Raoul, hurling fireballs at him until Christine begs Raoul to leave with her. Furious, the Phantom declares war upon them.
Don Juan Triumphant premieres with Christine and Piangi singing the lead roles of Aminta and Don Juan. During Don Juan and Aminta's duet, Christine realises that the Phantom has replaced Piangi. She calmly removes his mask, revealing his deformed face to the horrified audience. Exposed, the Phantom drags Christine off the stage and back to his lair. Piangi's garrotted body is revealed backstage and the opera house plunges into chaos. An angry mob, vowing vengeance for the murders of Buquet and Piangi, searches for the Phantom. Madame Giry tells Raoul how to find the Phantom's subterranean lair and warns him to keep his hand at the level of his eyes to avoid the magical lasso.
The Phantom forces Christine to don a wedding dress. Raoul comes to the rescue but is ensnared in the Punjab lasso. The Phantom offers Christine an ultimatum: if she will stay with him, he will spare Raoul, but if she refuses, Raoul will die. Christine tells the Phantom that he is not alone and kisses him.
Having experienced kindness and compassion for the first time, the Phantom frees Raoul. He tells Christine that he loves her before she exits the lair with Raoul. As the mob closes in, the Phantom huddles on his throne beneath his cloak. Meg is the first to enter the lair. She approaches the Phantom's throne and pulls away the cloak, finding only his mask.