By: Julia Aidan
Submitted: 2009-08-03 20:10:04 | Word Count: 518
The Phantom of the Opera is a classic story of love, passion, jealously, cruelty of the protagonist "The Phantom" or otherwise known as the Opera Ghost. It also shows how love triumphs at the end. A single act of love showed by his beloved at the end changes the scheming man overcome with emotion and to allow the girl to marry the person she loves. This musical play is adapted from the 1909 novel "Le Fantome de l'Opera", produced and exhibited by Ken Hill in 1976 with moderate success in Britain and USA.
Erik, the protagonist is an architect, designer, music composer and magician all rolled into one. He is a genius with facial deformity and to hide himself, he lives in the cellars beneath Paris's Opera Populaire. He is shown as a bitter man, known as the Phantom of the Opera or Opera Ghost.
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His companion Christine - who is a young talented singer, was picked up by him from among the chorus girls and tutored her in music. This training catapults young and beautiful Christine to be the Soprano or lead singer of the Opera. Unknown to her the Opera Ghost is madly in love with her. But Christine's affections lie elsewhere. She is in love with Raoul, her childhood friend whom she meets, on the first night she takes stage, in the Opera, as the lead singer.
Erik comes to know of Raoul, he is overcome with jealousy and kidnaps Christine. Raoul and his friend come to rescue her, but the obsessive Erik will not let them go and plans to torture them. To save them Christine unwillingly agree to marry the ugly Opera Ghost and kisses him. After the kiss, there is a change in Erik and he is overcome with emotion and weeps. He then allows her to marry Raoul.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, the famous musical producer being inspired by the Ken Hill production of 'The Phantom of the Opera', reproduced the musical with lyrics by Charles Hart and brought to West End in 1991. It received instant public ovation and was acclaimed as a masterpiece.
The cast and crew, famous musical score, dramatic romance and high standard of production have all contributed to the phenomenal success of the Opera and shall continue to entertain people all over the world. Last, but not the least, it is the whole gamut of human emotions depicted in the drama, and the change of heart of a cruel, scheming villain; who after a single act of love overcomes with kindness and weeps as an act of penance.
These ordinary human responses of the lead characters in the Opera, perhaps attracts the spectators and sub-consciously they are able to identify themselves in them. This along with the musical score has contributed to the fantastic success of the Opera worldwide
The success of the West End show created ripples in Britian, on Broadway and in twenty other countries around the world, creating box office records and becoming a phenomenon in musical history.
