When did the Phantom of the Opera debut?
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The musical opened in London's West End in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. It is the longest running show in Broadway history by a wide margin, and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on 11 February 2012, the first production ever to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after "Les Misérables", and the third longest-running West End show overall, after "The Mousetrap".
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
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Schumacher and Lloyd Webber restarted development for "The Phantom of the Opera" in December 2002. It was then announced in January 2003 that Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group had purchased the film rights from Warner Bros. in an attempt to produce "The Phantom of the Opera" independently. As a result, Lloyd Webber invested $6 million of his own money. "The Phantom of the Opera" was produced on a $55 million budget. A further $15 million was used for marketing, bringing the final budget to $70 million. Warner Bros. was given a first look deal for distribution; the studio did not sign on until June 2003, when the principal cast was chosen.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
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Three months later, in 1871, at a New Year masquerade ball, Christine and Raoul announce their engagement. The Phantom crashes the ball, who orders his own opera, "Don Juan Triumphant", be performed. Upon seeing Christine's engagement ring, the Phantom flees, pursued by Raoul, but Giry stops him. Giry explains when she was a child, she met the Phantom, a deformed young boy, billed as the 'Devil's Child' in a freak show and abused by the owner. When the Phantom rebelled and strangled the man to death, Giry helped him to evade the resulting mob and hid him within the opera house. Christine visits her father's tomb, the Phantom posing as his angel to win her back, but Raoul intervenes.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
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In 1984, Hill revived his musical version of "The Phantom of the Opera". This time though, he wanted to add the kind of music that would have been heard at the Opéra Garnier in the late 19th century. Consequently, he discarded the modern score by Ian Armit and wrote original English lyrics that told Gaston Leroux’s tale. By placing them to opera arias by Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Weber, Mozart, Donizetti, and Boito, he created a musical that reflected the era in which the original novel was written. This updated version of "The Phantom of the Opera" was produced in a joint production by the Newcastle Playhouse and the Theatre Royal Stratford East, and premiered at the Newcastle Playhouse on 3 April 1984, before shortly moving to the Theatre Royal Stratford East. In between, the show had two very brief runs at the New Tyne Theatre in Newcastle and the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton - neither of those productions did very well. When the show got the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Sarah Brightman, who created the role of Christine in the Lloyd Webber version, was famously asked to perform the role of Christine in the 1984 cast but she turned it down, leaving the role for the opera singer Christina Collier.
Phantom of the Opera (1976 musical)
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After "The Phantom of the Opera" became a smash hit in London in 1986, Lloyd Webber announced a Broadway production, and Yeston's Broadway investors backed out. Yeston, Kopit and Holder reluctantly shelved their plans for "Phantom" and went their separate ways for a time. When Kopit saw the Lloyd Webber version of "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway, he realized that the approach he and Yeston had taken was fundamentally different and that it could still work on the musical stage. A few years later, Kopit wrote the NBC miniseries "Hands of a Stranger", which was successful enough that NBC approached Kopit again. Kopit rewrote the script outline of his unproduced musical "Phantom" into a teleplay for a four-hour two-part miniseries entitled "The Phantom of the Opera" and sold it to NBC, with Yeston's blessing. It was filmed at the "Opera Garnier", and the only music used was opera music. It starred Charles Dance, Teri Polo and Burt Lancaster and premiered on television in 1990. Kopit said, "I told Maury to hold on. Maybe someone would see the miniseries, think it would make a good musical we'd be ready."
Phantom (musical)
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In 1999, Stanley starred in a Toronto production of "The Phantom of the Opera", in which he played the role of the Phantom. He appeared in the musical from May 25 to August 1, and again that year from September 30 to October 31, 1999. Stanley made his debut as a painter in 2006, exhibiting and selling original works of art. Stanley collaborated with Boston-based power pop group Click Five on their hit single, "Angel To You (Devil To Me)".
In the past, Stanley has been asked to produce albums for Poison but he was never able to commit due to his work on Kiss projects. However, Stanley did produce a debut album for an up-and-coming band called New England. The first single from that album in 1978 was called "Don't Ever Wanna Lose Ya" and went on to become a Top-40 hit in 1979.
Paul Stanley
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Universal first announced a remake of "The Phantom of the Opera" in 1935. This version would have been set in contemporary Paris, and would have portrayed the Phantom as a psychologically wounded World War I veteran who was physically unharmed, but imagined that he was disfigured. The screenplay lingered in development until 1941, when Henry Koster was brought on board to direct. Koster discarded the previous screenplay, and envisioned a new version of the story in which the Phantom was Christine's father. Producer George Waggner ultimately fired Koster from the project and replaced him with Arthur Lubin.
Phantom of the Opera (1943 film)
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By the time Leroux published "The Phantom of the Opera", he had already gained credibility as a crime mystery author in both French and English speaking countries. He had written six novels prior, two of which had garnered substantial popularity within their first year of publication called "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" and "The Perfume of the Lady in Black". Although previous commentators have asserted that "The Phantom of the Opera" did not attain as much success as these previous novels, being particularly unpopular in France where it was first published, recent research into the novel's early reception and sales has indicated the contrary. One book review from the New York Times expressed a disappointment in the way the phantom was portrayed, saying that the feeling of suspense and horror is lost once it is found out that the phantom is just a man and not a real ghost. The majority of the notability that the novel acquired early on was due to its publication in a series of installments in French, American, and English newspapers. This serialized version of the story became important when it was read and sought out by Universal Pictures to be adapted into a movie in 1925.
The Phantom of the Opera
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In 1991, "Phantom of the Opera" returned to the United Kingdom where it embarked on a national tour produced by Stewart Macpherson and then transferred to London’s West End. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 18 December 1991, with a similar cast to the 1984 production - Peter Straker was The Phantom and Christina Collier as Christine. But despite positive reviews, the West End production did poorly at the box office at the time of IRA bombings, and closed earlier than expected, on 11 April 1992. However, the production was nominated for two Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and Best Director of a Musical, the latter of which placed Ken Hill against Simon Callow and Judi Dench. It left the West End to commence the first of several Japanese, Asian and Australasian tours all produced by Stewart Macpherson.
Phantom of the Opera (1976 musical)
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Andrew Lloyd Webber, who at the time was married to Brightman, and Cameron Mackintosh attended a performance of Ken Hill’s "Phantom of the Opera" at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Prompted by the good reviews, they approached Hill about the possibility of their collaborating on developing a grand scale version of his Phantom in the West End, and offered to produce it. In fact, Hill and Lloyd Webber had worked together earlier on a revival of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Winchester Theatre. Lloyd Webber and his producer, Cameron Mackintosh, had been highly enthusiastic when they broached Hill about his Phantom of the Opera. But in the end, Lloyd Webber chose to pursue the musical without Hill.
Phantom of the Opera (1976 musical)
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The film was announced in 1989 but production did not start until 2002 due to Lloyd Webber's divorce and Schumacher's busy career. It was shot entirely at Pinewood Studios, with scenery created with miniatures and computer graphics. Rossum, Wilson and Driver had singing experience, but Butler had none and so had music lessons. "The Phantom of the Opera" grossed $154.6 million worldwide and received mixed to negative reviews from critics, but was very well received by audiences. Critics praised the visuals and acting (particularly Rossum's performance) but criticized the writing and directing.
The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)