The Phantom Of The Opera Tickets

?ABOUT PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 French novel of the same name, Phantom of the Opera is a stage musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe. Premiering in London's West End in 1986 it came to Broadway in New York in 1988. The production was directed by Harold Prince and starred English classical soprano Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's then-wife) as Christine Daaé, and Michael Crawford as the Phantom. The production won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, with Crawford winning the Olivier and Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. A film adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, was released in 2004. Phantom is currently the longest-running show in Broadway history, and on February 11, 2012, it became the first ever production to celebrate its 10,000th Broadway performance. After 35 years, Phantom of the Opera will close on Broadway on February 18, 2023.

?SYNOPSIS

The year is 1919 and at the Paris Opéra House, the elderly Viscount Raoul de Chagny attends an auction of old stage props and theatre memorabilia. The Viscount is the main bidder and purchases lot 665 a papier-mâché music box with a monkey figurine, which he looks at with sadness and murmurs that it looks “exactly as she said.” The following lot, number 666, is an old chandelier that has been refitted with electrical wiring. According to the auctioneer, the chandelier is connected to the mysterious tale of the Phantom of the Opera and a disaster that happened nearly 50 years ago. As the room is darkened and the auctioneer’s assistants light the chandelier, we are transported back to 1861 and the former opulence of the opera house as it was. Carlotta Giudicelli, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donna, is rehearsing for a new production of Hannibal.

During her aria, the stage’s backdrop comes crashing down, causing the chorus to scatter, shouting that it is the work of the Phantom of the Opera. A frightened Carlotta storms off stage, refusing to perform that night. The Opéra's ballet mistress, Madame Giry, suggests that Christine Daaé should sing the part. Christine is an orphan and chorus girl, the daughter of a prominent Swedish violinist. As that evening’s show is sold-out and not wishing to cancel, the producers of Hamlet hear the gril sing and find to their delight that she is talented indeed. That night, during the show, a young Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny and recent patron of the Opéra House, recognizes Christine as his childhood friend.

With her debut triumphant success, an excited Christine chats to her friend Meg (Madame Giry’s daughter) after the show and confesses that she has been taught by a mysterious voice – an unseen tutor who she knows as the ‘Angel of Music’. Christine is visited by Raoul and the two reminisce about her father and the ‘Angel of Music’ that he used to tell her stories about. She confides in Raoul that this angel has visited her and teaches her to sing. Raoul, believing this to be fantasy, indulges Christine. Before he leaves, he invites Christine to supper. When she is alone, the jealous Phantom speaks angrily to Christine and she asks him to reveal himself. Upon seeing his reflection in the mirror, she is drawn to it. Reaching out his hand, the Phantom pulls her through the mirror and guides her to the sewers below. He leads her onto a small boat and they traverse a subterranean lake to his lair. There, he divulges that she is chosen to be the singer of his musical compositions and, as she is shown in another eerie mirror image, his bride. Overcome by what she sees in the reflection, Christine faints in shock. The Phantom tenderly lays her upon a bed and covers her with his cloak.

When she awakens, the Phantom is composing at his organ and she can hear the monkey music box. Christine sneaks behind the Phantom, lifting his mask to reveal the disfigured face below. Furious and mournful, he laments that he is not loved. Feeling pity for him, Christine returns his mask and the Phantom delivers her back to the Opéra House above.

Concurrently, the chorus girls are being regaled with tales of the "Opéra Ghost" and his terrible Punjab lasso by Joseph Buquet, the Opéra's chief stagehand. After Madame Giry admonishes Buquet, in the manager’s office, she reveals a note from the Phantom – a demand that Christine replace Carlotta as the Countess in the new opera, Il Muto ("Notes"). As Carlotta fumes,  Firmin and André assure her that she will not be replaced.

Il Muto goes ahead with Carlotta in the starring role. The show begins well, until suddenly Carlotta’s voice breaks and she begins croaking like a frog, enchanted by the Phantom. To placate the audience and rescue the show, it is announced by Firmin that Christine will take over Carlotta’s role. As Firmin directs the orchestra to bring forward the ballet, Joseph Buquet’s corpse drops down over the stage, hanging from the Punjab lasso. Everyone is panicked and horrified and the Phantom’s laugh can be heard ringing through the rafters.

Raoul helps Christine escape to the rooftop, slipping out as mayhem ensues all around. Christine tells Raoul of her experience with the Phantom in the sewers. Although Raoul is somewhat skeptical, he comforts her and promises that he will love her and keep her safe. Upon overhearing their conversation, the Phantom swears revenge in a broken-hearted, jealous rage. As the curtain call for Il Muto takes place, the chandelier comes crashing down from the ceiling onto the stage.

Six months have passed and the Opéra is holding a masquerade ball. No one has heard from the Phantom since the night that the chandelier fell, but now he returns, dressed as the Red Death. He presents the score of a new opera, Don Juan Triumphant, and announces that Christine (who has secretly become engaged to Raoul) is to perform in the lead role. He snatches Christine’s engagement ring, which was hanging on a chain around her neck, and with a flash of bright light, he disappears.

Angered and afraid, Raoul interrogates Madame Giry about the Phantom. She hesitantly reveals that he is an accomplished scholar, magician, architect, inventor, and composer. A birth defect left his face disfigured and he was captured and forcibly displayed in a cage by a traveling fair. One day, he made his escape and has since lived beneath the Opéra House, away from society.

Certain that the Phantom would attend the première of Don Juan Triumphant, Raoul plots his downfall, intending to use the opening night as a trap. He begs Christine to go along with his plan, where she will be used as bait. Scared and unsure, she visits the grave of her father, seeking comfort and guidance. Instead, she feels the pull of the Phantom once more, as he begins to enchant and mesmerize her. However, Raoul arrives at the mausoleum just in time to break the spell and whisk her away to safety. As they leave, the Phantom attacks Raoul with fireballs and, seeing Christine’s loyalty to her love, threatens vengeance upon the two of them.

It is opening night of Don Juan Triumphant and Christine and Piangi, the house tenor, singing the respective lead roles of Aminta and Don Juan. Whilst performing their duet, it becomes apparent to Christine that the Phantom has switched places with Piangi and it is he that is on stage with her. Showing no fear, she removes his mask to reveal the Phantom’s disfigured face before the audience, who are aghast. The uncovered Phantom balks and steals Christine away with him. Piangi’s lynched body is found backstage and, once again, the Opéra House is plunged into chaos. A horde forms, swearing revenge for the murders of Buquet and Piangi. Cautioning him to be careful of the Phantom’s magical lasso, Madame Giry divulges to Raoul the way to the Phantom's subterranean lair.

Meanwhile, Christine is forced by the Phantom into a wedding dress. As Raoul arrives to rescue her, he is ensnared by the lasso. An ultimatum is forced upon Christine: she must vow to stay with the Phantom or watch the death of Raoul. Spurred on by a combination of pity and terror, Christine kisses the Phantom, telling him that he is not alone.

The extension of kindness and compassion that Christine’s kiss represents is enough to soften the Phantom, who relents, letting them both go. As they leave, he tells Christine that he loves her. The baying crowd closes in upon the Phantom, but as he huddles beneath his cape, he somehow disappears, leaving only his mask behind...

?REVIEWS

"I found my expectations upended, my jaded armor melting away...I found myself with a new appreciation for this beloved show’s gothic theatricality; the waltzing sweep of Harold Prince’s direction; the grandly soaring melodies of its most celebrated songs...'Phantom of the Opera' certainly remains a grand, lavishly decked-out galleon of a show, surging on into the 21st century showing few signs of decay." Charles Isherwood – New York Times

“Andrew Lloyd Webber has taken the Gaston Leroux potboiler about the love-crazed disfigured genius who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera and fashioned it into a thrilling and musically rich mass legit entertainment. The 19th century period spectacle, scenic legerdemain, soaring melodies and exceptional singing are at the service of an involving and piquantly offbeat love story, all of it staged with brilliantly organized flair by Harold Prince, back in top form.” Richard Hummler – Variety