17 Phantom Of The Opera Facts You Haven't Read Before!

In the original 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical, Steve Harley was asked to portray the phantom, however, the creative team later removed the rock edge of Phantom by casting Michael Crawford.

In the 2004 movie, the sound of the crash of the chandelier is the original recording of the chandelier's crash in the stage show. The replica of this chandelier is composed of 6,000 beads with 35 in each string.

Gaston Leroux, a French author, wrote 'Le Fantome De L'Opera' or 'The Phantom Of The Opera'. Le Gaulois, the French newspaper, was the first to publish it as a serial between September 23, 1909, and January 8, 1910. Pierre Lafitte also published it later one in the form of a volume in March 1910. The 19th century Paris opera events partly inspired the author to write this book. The most notable adaptation of this novel was the 1925 movie starring Lon Chaney and the 1986 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Gaston Leroux was a reporter with a daily newspaper, 'L'Echo De Paris'. He critiqued and wrote both dramas and about courtroom reporters. He later became a writer. As he was fascinated with the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe, in 1907, he wrote 'The Mystery Of The Yellow Room'. Leroux eventually wrote the hit, 'Le Fantome De L'Opera' after four years.

Phantom Of The Opera Facts

The story is set in Palais Garnier, the Paris opera house. Gaston Leroux heard a rumor that after the opera 'Helle - Act One', a fire on the roof melted the wire that acted as a counterweight for the Paris Opera House Chandelier, which crashed and killed one person and injured many others. Leroux wrote 'Phantom Of The Opera' by pairing the rumors of ghosts and the accident in this opera house.

• This Phantom musical has been performed in 15 languages. The play has been translated into Russian, Estonian, Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese, Korean, Dutch, Hungarian, Castilian, Swedish, Polish, Danish, Japanese, English, German, and French.
• The 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical has won more than 70 esteemed theater awards, including five Outer Critic Circle Awards, seven Drama Desk Awards, seven Tony Awards, and three Olive Awards.
• In the West End, there have been more than 13,000 performances of the 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical.
• The latex prosthetics used on the face of the Phantom were created in London. The Phantom wears a clouded lens on one eye and blue on the other.
• It takes almost two hours to create the Phantom's makeup, but only around half an hour to remove it.

Facts About The Musical

Andrew Lloyd Webber co-wrote the music libretto for the 'Phantom Of The Opera' with Richard Stilgoe. Charles Hart wrote the lyrics. The plot focuses on Christine Daae, a lovely soprano and masked musical genius inhabiting a hidden labyrinth under the famous Paris Opera House.

• The box office revenue of this musical is higher than any stage play or movie of all time, including 'Star Wars', 'ET', and 'Titanic'.
• The 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical has been seen by 140 million people with a total worldwide gross of more than $6 billion.
• The 'Phantom Of The Opera' musical has been played in 30 countries and 151 cities across the world.
• On January 9, 1988, this musical opened at New York's Majestic Theater and on September 27, 1986, it opened at Her Majesty's Theater in London. This was the original version.
• Every performance uses 281 candles, 230 costumes, 22 scene changes, 120 automated cues, and 551.1 lb (250 kg) dry ice with 10 smoke and fog machines. In every performance, the Phantom uses over 10 smoke and fog machines and 500 lb (226 kg) dry ice.

Facts About The Movie

The American silent horror movie adaptation of 'Phantom Of The Opera' with the same name was released in 1925. Lon Chaney portrayed the role of the disfigured phantom and Rupert Julian directed the movie. The movie is most popular for the self-devised appalling makeup of Chaney, which was a secret until the premiere of the movie.

• A memorable scene in the 2004 movie is associated with a doll in the Phantom's lair, resembling Christine. Initially, they planned to make a hyper-realistic doll of Emmy Rossum, but the eyes did not look real. So, Emmy Rossum played the doll instead.
• In the movie, although the Phantom is a title character, he only has 14 lines of dialogue.
• Gerard Butler did not take any singing lessons for his performance in the 2004 movie.
• The first movie of the 'Phantom Of The Opera' was released on November 15, 1925.
• The 'Phantom Of The Opera' movie of 1925 only entered the United States' public domain in 1953 as the copyright was not renewed on its 28th year after production.

Facts About The Cast

The Phantom in the Paris Opera House is named Erik in the novel. However, there is only limited information about the past life of Erik in the novel. However, the novel confirms that Erik learned various sciences and gained an interest in art as he traveled to places like northern Vietnam, Persia, Russia, and France.

• The female protagonist, Christine Daae, was born in a city close to Uppsala in Sweden.
• In every performance, there are 130 orchestra members, crew, and cast involved in the play.
• Several actors including John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Antonio Banderas, and Heath Ledger auditioned for the role of the Phantom in the 2004 movie.
• It is said that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was a fan of this Broadway show and wanted to play the lead, Phantom.
• 2004 movie was also looking to cast Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley.
• The cast recordings of the songs from 'Phantom Of The Opera' were the first in the history of British musical theater to become number one on the charts. This album is even successful today with over 40 million album sales so far.