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Who Wrote the Phantom of the Opera Musical?

The Phantom of the Opera evolved over many years to become the well known musical that is loved by fans all over the world. A number of authors and composers looked at previous efforts and added their own touches to make an entertainment event that is more popular today than it was when it first appeared.

  1. Identification

    • The Phantom of the Opera musical was based on a book written in 1911 by a french novelist named Gaston Leroux. It was originally a serial Leroux wrote for a newspaper in France. It was the subject of many books, movies, and musicals before it inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber to compose music for the musical that became famous in 1984.

    Features

    • Andrew Lloyd Webber, inspired by a musical version of The Phantom of the Opera by Ken Hill, asked Jim Steinman to write lyrics for his music, but he was working on a Bonnie Tyler album and didn't have time. Andrew Jay Lerner agreed to take on the task, but he died. Richard Stilgoe was hired, but Lloyd Webber didn't think the lyrics were romantic enough. Charles Hart rewrote the lyrics for the final version, but some of Richard Stilgoe's lyrics were still included when the show opened in 1986.

    History

    • The Phantom of the Opera musical opened in London in October of 1986 starring Michael Crawford as the Phantom, Sarah Brightman as Christine, and Steve Barton as Raoul. The Broadway productionopened in January of 1988 with the same leads. In spite of bad reviews, it won the Olivier Award and the Tony Award for best musical debut in London and New York.

    Considerations

    • Pink Floyd is considered by some fans to be contributors by composing part of the musical themes. Roger Waters of the band Pink Floyd believed they could have successfully sued Andrew Lloyd Webber for plagiarism. The title song from Phantom of the Opera is similar in structure to Pink Floyd's 1971 song "Echoes" and has the same notes and time signature. Andrew Lloyd Webber said that the title song was "rock and roll . . . masquerading as opera."

    Effects

    • The success of The Phantom of the Opera led Andrew Lloyd Webber to begin a sequel to the show. The working title is Phantom: Once Upon Another Time and is loosely based on "The Phantom of Manhattan" by Frederick Forsyth, which was published in 1999. Delayed when Lloyd Webber's cat erased the compositions from his digital piano, the sequel's planned release is not set for November of 2009. Glenn Slater is working on lyrics.

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