The London production celebrated its 10,000 th performance in 2010, and is only surpassed by “Les Misérables” (which opened in 1985) and Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” (1952). “Phantom” opened in London’s West End on Octowith Michael Crawford in the title role, Sarah Brightman as Christine, and Steve Barton as Raoul. The British composer later commented, “I was trying to write a major romantic story, and I had been trying to do that ever since I started my career. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who already had great successes with “Evita” and “Cats”, thought “The Phantom of the Opera” would make a good musical. The most important adaptation of Leroux’s story came two decades later. Fans of “The Pink Panther” movies will remember him as the twitchy-eyed Chief Inspector Dreyfuss who Peter Sellers (as Inspector Clouseau) unwittingly taunted. The title role was played by Herbert Lom. Its success led Universal to create a series of classic horror films, including “Frankenstein”, “Dracula”, “The Wolf Man”, and “The Mummy”.Ī second film of “The Phantom of the Opera”, released in 1962, did not garner much critical acclaim. These were the last years of silent films, and four years later the studio dubbed, added music, and re-shot portions of the movie. The first successful adaptation of Leroux’s “Phantom” was in 1925 when Universal Studios produced a silent film with Lon Chaney. The book did not sell well, and has even been out of print several times. Over the next four months, the complete “Le Fantôme de l’Opéra” appeared in print, and then it was published as a novel. In September 1909, The French newspaper “Le Gaulois” published the first chapter of a new story by Leroux. Approaching bankruptcy, Leroux needed a job, began work as a journalist, and eventually started writing fiction. He then inherited millions of francs and went on a reckless spending streak. Gaston Leroux was born in Paris in 1868 and graduated with a law degree when he was 21. From newspaper to novel to film to two different stage versions and finally to film again, let’s look at the various ways this timeless tale has been told. We all know “The Phantom of the Opera” as a great show on Broadway and other well-known stages, but the story began long before it became a long-running musical.
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