The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. It was inspired by a different musical version of the same story, by Ken Hill, which Andrew Lloyd Webber saw at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1984. The music for Webber's own version was composed specifically for the voice of his then wife, singer Sarah Brightman. The lyrics were written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe. During the writing stage, many other rival productions were started, which had not occurred in any other stage show since the early 20th Century. The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, on October 9, 1986, where it still runs as of 2005. The show was taken to Broadway, where despite early negative reviews (including a pan by Frank Rich in the New York Times) it is still running today. The show won a Tony Award for Best Musical, Michael Crawford won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of The Phantom and Judy Kaye won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Carlotta Guidicelli. The show also won Tonys for its sets, costumes, lighting and Director (Hal Prince). In his staging of the title song, Hal Prince required lip-syncing to pre-recorded music (Christine's part of the song is extremely difficult to sing) and employed doubles for cast members.

Songs

• "Think of Me" is an aria from the fictional opera Hannibal, attributed to Giacomo Meyerbeer in the show.
• "Angel of Music" is sung by Meg and Christine and reprised by Christine and the Phantom.
• The title song, "The Phantom of the Opera", is sung as a duet by the Phantom and Christine during their travel to his lair beneath the Opera House.
• In "The Music of the Night," the Phantom seduces Christine by singing to her about the bond they share through music.
• The romantic duet "All I Ask of You" is sung by Christine and Raoul on the roof of the Opera Garnier, where they express their love for each other. The song is afterwards reprised by the Phantom, who, enraged at what he considers Christine's betrayal, drops the chandelier during her Il Muto performance.
• "Masquerade" is sung at the opening of the second act by the entire chorus at a masked ball, or a bal masque, is sung by the full chors with solos by Christine, Raoul, Firmin, Andre and several other characters
• "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is sung by Christine during her visit at her dead father's grave in Perros.
• "The Point of No Return" is sung by Christine and the Phantom during the fictional opera Don Juan Triumphant. It culminates in Christine unmasking the Phantom in front of the audience.
• "Down Once More" Contains most of the climax of the musical and ends with the resolution of the musical. It is sung mostly by The Phantom, Christine, and Raoul but the Mob and Mme. Giry also have small parts.