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.
Technically it is a piece of impeccably crafted musical theater, with theme, music and staging in perfect accord. They combine as a total statement that depends for its potency more on the sum of its parts than on the strength of any individual component.
To look on the bright side first, The Phantom of the Opera is a terrific technical achievement. If you want scenery and costumes, sight gags and sight thrills, they're all there—$8.5 million worth of them—on the aptly named Majestic stage. And who doesn't want to see candles sprout all around an underground lake (even if it does not make technological sense) and a giant chandelier almost crash into the audience below (even if it looks more like a giant balloon changing courses in midair)? It is good, mindless fun, and costs less than a trip to Disney World... The only areas in which The Phantom of the Opera is deficient are book, music, and lyrics.
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