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Tuesday 7 February 2017

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.Song from September 23 1909 to January 8, 1910.  It was published in volume form in late March 1910 and an English edition came out the following year.

Cover of the 1921 edition of Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927)

The story was partly inspired by historical events at the Paris Opera during the nineteenth century and the legend that a ballerina’s skeleton was uncovered and used in Carl Maria von Weber's 1841 production of Der Freischütz.

Movie versions include one starring Lon Chaney in 1925, one from 1943 with Claude Rains, and another from 1962 with Herbert Lom.

The earliest movie memory of Gregory Peck was being scared by The Phantom Of The Opera when he was aged nine.

The book was adapted to a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It received its first performance at Her Majesty's Theatre in London on October 9, 1986.

Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the title song

Each of the performances of the Phantom of the Opera musical uses 230 costumes, 281 candles and ten smoke machines.

The Phantom of the Opera became the longest-running show on Broadway on January 9, 2006, surpassing the previous record holder, Cats, with its 7,486th performance. It held the title for 17 years until its final curtain call on April 16, 2023.

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