With direction by Hal Prince and design by the wonderful Maria Bjørnsson, Phantom opened in 1986 in London starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine, and Steve Barton as Raoul.

(Apparently Lord Webber had some insecurity issues, which he has since attempted to make up for through excessive wealth, mostly by being a notoriously greedy bastard.) The musical, originally intended as something of a rock opera, gradually transformed into the unabashedly romantic show we have today, although traces of its roots still remain in the cheesy 80s synthdrum in the title song. Along the way he wound up writing the part of Christine explicitly for the voice of Sarah Brightman, then his wife, and more subtly adding autobiographical elements to the character of the Phantom. Webber stumbled upon the story, was intrigued enough to want to write a musical about it, and employed the help of lyricist Charles Hart for his new quest. Of course, despite its many adaptations, it probably wouldn't have filtered in there in the first place without the help of one Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Even if you don't recognize any of the music, the story in some variation or basic form has filtered into the collective unconscious of pop culture: hideously deformed musical genius in a mask falls in love with a young soprano while terrorizing an opera house. Even if you've never actually seen the show, the five descending chromatic minor chords of the title theme are instantly recognizable, and, if hummed, likely to provoke falsetto outbursts of 'In sleep he sang to me.' or, more often, 'The Phaaaaaaantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind!' from several people in the general vicinity. You know you've heard at least some of it before. Despite the occasional bit part in Little Shop of Horrors or Camelot, I'm really not a theater person and I don't care. Take that as you will, but please don't attempt to convince me that from a theatrical standpoint the musical is crap. I love Phantom to death, despite how much Sondheim fans try to hammer it through my skull that it's glammy 80's mega-musical schlock and nothing more, and furthermore I've always approached the musical from the perspective of a Phantom fan, not a theater geek or Broadway aficionado. For more info on other versions, and for a full online version of the book that started it all, check out The Phantom of the Opera.įYGPD: I make no claims to being unbiased. As the node title might suggest, this is not a general Phantom node, but one pertaining specifically to the musical, more specifically to the musical created by the much-loved, much-hated Andrew Lloyd Webber.

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