I have been obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera ever since I bought the CD “Sarah Brightman: The Andrew Lloyd Webber

Her Majesty’s Theater in London where Phantom debuted in 1986. credit: commons.wikimedia.org

Collection,” many years ago. The first song on the CD was the theme song from The Phantom of the Opera, which immediately made me a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sarah Brightman. I finally saw the show The Phantom of the Opera twice, once in December 2010 and again in March 2011. I  listened to the show’s soundtrack incessantly, but it wasn’t until about a month ago that I realized The Phantom of the Opera started out as a book by Gaston Leroux. Soon after, I began reading the novel, knowing that it was likely to be very different from the show.  In fact, the book illuminated several key points of the Broadway production, and made my love of all things “Phantom” even greater.

Several characters in the book were either taken out or combined with another character for the musical. For example, in the book, a character called the Persian, who has knowledge about the mysterious Phantom, was combined with the character Madame Giry  in the show.  Madame Giry exists in the book, but her role, job, and some aspects of her personality are completely altered on the stage. The book portrays her as a concierge in charge of the Phantom’s box of seats at the opera. Every so often, she is instructed by the Phantom to give him twenty-thousand of the Opera House’s francs. However, in the show, she is actually a choreographer for the Opera who gives the character Raoul information about the Phantom of the Opera.

Sarah Brightman, from commons.wikimedia.org, by Eckhard Pecher

Even the hair color of Christine Daaé, one of the main characters in both the book and show, morphs from its initial blonde to dark brown. This was probably only because the show was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his then-wife, the brunette Sarah Brightman, who originated the role of Christine.  However, Christine’s blonde hair was actually an important detail in the book. When Christine was young, her father used to read stories about a girl named Little Lotte to her and her friend Raoul. Little Lotte was a beautiful girl with blonde hair, who became a musician upon hearing the “Angel of Music.” Christine had blonde hair as well and wished to hear the Angel of Music like Little Lotte; as a result, Raoul nicknamed her after the character. The fact that she looked similar to Little Lotte was a major part of Christine’s longing to be like her, but she also wanted to become a talented musician like her violinist father.  Because of Christine’s enchantment with the Little Lotte story, her father promised to send her the Angel of Music after his death so she could become her favorite childhood character.

Her father does eventually die, and afterwards a mysterious, brilliantly musical man visits Christine to give her singing lessons. Christine believes that her father fulfilled his promise of sending the Angel of Music; however, this man is really the Phantom of the Opera, or Opera Ghost, as he is known at the Opera House where Christine has become a star singer (the Phantom is known as both the Phantom and the Opera Ghost; in the novel’s original French, the Phantom was called the fantôme – which means both phantom and ghost). Her affiliation with the Phantom thrusts her into a violent and terrifying adventure, in which the Phantom becomes obsessed with her and reveals the reason behind his mysterious nature, living in areas hidden below the Opera House: he is ashamed of his hideous physical deformity. Christine considers this deformation one of the scariest aspects of the Phantom, and as she slowly falls under his power, she becomes too frightened of him to escape. Instead, she relies on Raoul, her childhood friend turned love, to save her.

My copy of The Phantom of the Opera

This is the same main storyline of both the book and the show versions of The Phantom of the Opera; however, I found that the book provided much more detail to parts of the story that were only briefly mentioned in the show. For instance, in the show, Raoul decides to venture into the areas below the Opera House to find the Phantom and Christine. Madame Giry, who has knowledge about the Phantom, warns Raoul to keep his hand at the level of his eye. This doesn’t make much sense based solely on the context of the show, but the book offers more detail. In the book, the Persian assists Raoul in his journey to find the Phantom: he is the one who tells Raoul to keep his hand at the level of his eye. The Persian elaborates, explaining to Raoul that  the Phantom’s best weapon is a rope, which he uses to hang people. The skillful Phantom ties the rope into a noose and then lassos it onto a person’s neck in order to suffocate the victim. However, if you keep your hand at the level of your eye, the rope will go around both your neck and your hand, giving you a better chance of getting out of the noose and attempting to escape.

Aside from offering clarification for the show, the book itself is an amazing piece of writing. The story has several discrepancies from the show, but still remains extremely intriguing and brilliant. Leroux is a fantastic storyteller, writing from the point of view of a man who has been given information about the incidents with the Phantom of the Opera and is telling and explaining this information to the reader. In addition, there are also several chapters written from the point of view of the Persian, which gives the reader an interesting narrative. This shift in point of view also gives the reader an inside look of what it was like to be affected by the Phantom and deal with all his traps and schemes.

I absolutely adored the book. The wording was beautiful and clear for the brilliant storyline, resulting in The Phantom of the Opera‘s residence in my ever-growing list of favorite books. I highly recommend it, but I suggest that you read the book before seeing the show; this way, you’ll really understand The Phantom of the Opera in all its richness as well as prevent confusion about anything during the show.

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