THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Adaptation and Choreography by Darren McIntyre

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA HISTORY

The Phantom of the Opera (French: Le Fantôme de l’Opéra) is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois from September 23, 1909, to January 8, 1910. Initially, the story sold very poorly upon publication in book form and was even out of print several times during the twentieth century; it is overshadowed by the success of its various film and stage adaptations. The most notable of these were the 1925 film depiction, Ken Hill’s 1976 musical at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, followed ten years later by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical that in turn inspired the 2004 film adaptation directed by Joel Schumacher.

ACT ONE

Our story opens in the dark alleyways of the cold streets of Paris. A young, deformed man named Erik is trying to find solitude in a quiet place after being threatened by a group of people who find his hideous deformity appalling.

Meanwhile, a group of school children are on their way home after an excursion to see a performance of the world-famous Paris Opera Ballet. Several of the children stumble upon Erik in hiding. In the darkness they approach him, unaware of his deformed face. When the children catch a glimpse of it, they panic. Out of fear and terror a stampede of chaos begins to take place. Madame Giry, Ballet Mistress of the Paris Opera, appears and sees past Erik’s horrific scars. Wishing to help Erik, she hands him a mask and shows him an old secret passage to the underground sewers of Paris. Erik is touched by Madame Giry’s kindness. As he begins to thank her, the children assume their chaotic stampede, forcing Erik to run to the underground sewers. There, he sheds his identity of “Erik” and becomes the Phantom of the Opera.

Back at the Paris Opera, the Prima Ballerina, Carlotta, is having a tantrum of epic proportions due to a costume malfunction. She threatens to not dance and demands that the performance be cancelled, just as the curtain is about to go up. In a mad panic, with a full audience waiting for the premiere, the Opera Ballet’s Artistic Director tries to convince Carlotta to still perform. However, Carlotta is not satisfied. In a rage, she storms out of the theatre threatening to never perform with the Opera Ballet again. Madame Giry immediately informs the Opera Ballet’s Director that the understudy, Christine Daaé, can step in and dance the principal role. Although not completely certain that this young, corps de ballet dancer can live up to the high expectations of the eagerly awaiting public and Carlotta’s fans, they realize that they have no choice and agree that Christine will dance.

Christine’s performance is a triumph and she receives a standing ovation! After her curtain call, Christine returns to her dressing room. She receives a visit from Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny, who has been completely entranced by her performances. Raoul invites Christine to accompany him to dinner and she accepts. He then leaves her dressing room to fetch the carriage for their evening together. As Christine finishes getting dressed to meet Raoul, the Phantom appears in her dressing room mirror. Unbeknownst to Christine, the mirror is actually a secret passageway to the Phantom’s underworld, leading to his lair. The Phantom enters Christine’s dressing room to congratulate her on a marvelous debut. He, too, has been entranced by her dancing. Just as Christine notices him, she startles and faints. The Phantom, hoping to procure Christine’s affections, takes her into his lair. Raoul returns to collect Christine and finds that she is missing! Alarmed by this discovery, he summons the inspector and thus the search for the Ballet Opera’s new star begins…

Christine awakens in the Phantom’s chamber and finds herself in unfamiliar territory. She begins to explore the lair and notices that her abductor is playing the organ. The Phantom feels Christine’s presence, approaches her, and promises that he has no intention to harm her. He tells her to rest after her exhausting debut and goes back to composing his music on the organ. Christine, curious as to who this man is, asks him why he has brought her to the lair and why he wears the mask. The Phantom, reluctant to tell Christine about his deformity, tells her that he is her “Angel of Music”. His desire is for her to be the Prima Ballerina of the Opera Ballet and dance to his music for which she is the muse. He encourages her to rest and continues composing his music. Christine does not heed his order and keeps exploring the lair. Becoming more intensely curious about the Phantom’s mask, she catches him off guard and removes it. Christine is horrified by what she sees. The Phantom curses her and tells her that she now belongs to him after having seen his true identity. He will only allow her to go into the world above to perform in his ballets. Christine goes into shock and faints again. The Phantom lays her out on the bed to finally rest…

Madame Giry believes that the Phantom has taken Christine. Knowing his whereabouts, she goes into the underworld to retrieve her. She finds Christine exactly where she had suspected. The Phantom gives Madame Giry approval to take her so that she can get ready for the evening’s performance.

In light of Christine’s disappearance, the director and premier danseur, Fabrice, beg Carlotta to come back to the theatre as the Prima Ballerina. Carlotta accepts and returns. Christine, believing that everything was a dream, arrives too late and is placed back in the corps de ballet while Carlotta dances the coveted principal role. The Phantom attends the performance and becomes enraged that Christine is not the Prima Ballerina. In an angry fit, he kills a stage crew member and cuts the rope holding the chandelier. It, then, comes plummeting down on the stage during the curtain calls. The Phantom then disappears back into his lair.

ACT TWO

Several months pass by and the Phantom remains in hiding. At the Opera Ballet’s annual Masquerade Ball, Raoul decides to propose to Christine. Christine joyfully accepts and the two young lovers share the happy news with everyone. An unknown attendee dressed as the Red Death Ghost appears and shares his disapproval of their engagement. A struggle ensues and the Red Death Ghost kidnaps Christine. Raoul and the Inspector begin an investigation to find Christine. Back at the Opera Ballet, they are preparing the evening’s performance. Carlotta refuses, once again, to perform. She is terrified that the same awful events will take place again. The Opera Ballet finds themselves in yet another difficult situation without Christine and Carlotta. They decide to promote Meg, Christine’s best friend, to Prima Ballerina for the evening’s performance.

Raoul and the Inspector figure out that Madame Giry knows the Phantom’s whereabouts since she was able to bring Christine back after her first disappearance. Madame Giry hesitates to tell them at first but then realizes that she fears for Christine’s safety as well. She agrees to show them how to get to the Phantom’s underworld through Christine’s dressing room mirror.

As they enter the underworld, they become disbanded in the tunnels and chambers. The inspector stumbles upon the Phantom by himself. They fight, but the inspector is no match for the Phantom’s strength. In the heat of the battle, the Phantom kills the inspector just as Madame Giry enters. Having witnessed the horrific crime, she is completely astounded and now fears the Phantom. Fleeing from the scene, she understands that the mutual respect between them has been demolished. The Phantom is no longer the scared young man that she once helped.

Christine awakens and stumbles on the Inspector’s body. She then tries to flee the scene as well, but the Phantom brings her back. Raoul then enters the lair and the struggle for Christine begins. As the Phantom is about to take Raoul’s life, he decides to make a compromise with Christine. If she will agree to marry him, then he will let Raoul live. Christine agrees to the marriage proposal to save Raoul. To seal the engagement, she kisses the Phantom. At that moment, the Phantom realizes that Christine does not truly love him. Rather than forcing her to stay with him, he decides to let her go as she would never truly be his. Raoul and Christine leave the underworld to return to the world above. Suffering from a broken heart, the Phantom realizes that no one will ever be able to love him and see past his deformity. The pain in his heart is so immense that he cannot bear to live with it anymore and takes his own life.