The Phantom of the Opera: The Novel, the Musical, the Myster

When Gaston Leroux published his novel, the Phantom of the Opera, as a serialization in French magazine Le Gaulois, it took the novel some time to gain much notice. But when it did, this classic work became one of the most popular pieces of literature ever written… and one of the most widely adapted. After all, what’s more fascinating than a dramatic mystery/love story/tragedy that’s actually based on something that happened (sort of, anyway) in real life.

In the early 1900’s Leroux spent some time in the Paris Opera House, researching the events that took place there during the century previous. The basic story for the Phantom of the Opera came from the Opera Garnier in Paris, and revolved around a real-life mystery there of an “opera ghost.” That, combined with reading another work detailing the many mysteries of the Opera Garnier, inspired Leroux to write what would become his master work… a book that would enthrall audiences --of both the reading and viewing persuasion-- for decades to come.

The story revolves, of course, around the mysteriously deformed Phantom of the Opera and his love, Christine. It’s a story full of complex characters and complicated emotions, and the Phantom of the Opera is tortured by his ugliness and rejection. But while he may be strange and deformed and a little vicious, the phantom does know opera. With his help, Christine becomes one of the most incredible singers in the Opera Garnier. But even though he helps her out, the beautiful young opera singer doesn’t love the Phantom of the Opera in return… she loves her childhood sweetheart, a young man named Raoul-- a fact which becomes a big problem as the story goes on.

The Famous Musical

The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted more times than you’d want to count. The first adaptation (now lost) is believed to have been filmed in 1916, starring Swedish and Norwegian actors. The most recent was a 2004 film directed by Joel Schumacher. But the most famous adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera is and will always be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s incredible musical. The Phantom of the Opera musical premiered in London in 1986, and as of January, 2006 became the longest running Broadway production of all time.

There's plenty of mystery wrapped up in the Phantom of the Opera story-- the real one, and the fictional. To learn more about the man behind the Phantom of the Opera and about the music he loved, visit the Smithsonian Magazine website at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/