Based on Gaston Leroux’s horror novel, The Phantom of the Opera tells the enticing story of a disfigured Phantom who haunts the depths of The Paris Opera House. Mesmerized by the talents and beauty of the young soprano Christine, The Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. The Phantom's obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide. Audiences are in for a thrilling night of spectacle and romance, accompanied by Broadway’s most unforgettable score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, including "Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," and "Masquerade." Directed by the late Harold Prince and produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group, the musical opened on Broadway on January 26, 1988. It won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and became the longest-running show in Broadway history on January 9, 2006.
The London audiences aren't wrong. 'The Phantom Of The Opera' is romantic musical theater hokum in the grand manner - hokum cordon blue - and it justifies the feverish buildup that has given it a $16,500,000 advance. It's good for a Broadway run of several years. 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.
It is a spectacular entertainment, visually the most impressive of the British musicals. Perhaps the most old-fashioned thing about it is it's a love story, something Broadway has not seen for quite a while. To say the score is Lloyd Webber's best is not saying a great deal. His music always has a synthetic, borrowed quality to it. As you listen you find yourself wondering where you've heard it before. In this case you've heard a lot of it in Puccini, in the work of other Broadway composers and even the Beatles. Nevertheless he seems to be borrowing from better sources, and he has much greater sophistication about putting it all together. There are some droll opera parodies, several beautiful songs, an impressive septet and a grand choral number, all richly orchestrated.
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