Phantom of the Opera

Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber, an English composer who has published his first composition piece at the age of 9. He has composed several musicals and film scores, receiving a handful of Awards and recognitions for his musical genius. The Phantom of the Opera is based on the novel by Gaston Leroux, Le Fantome de l’Opera. The story revolves around the story of Christine, a soprano, who in the course of the story becomes the loving obsession of the mysterious Phantom of the Opera.

The play is divided in two Acts, with a short prologue opening with Raoul at the Paris Opera House, buying off an auctioned item from the dilapidated Opera House. The scene then goes back to 50 years later, when the Paris Opera House was still in its full glory. The theatre musical portrays the one-sided love affair between the Opera Ghost, Erik, and the stage actress, Christine. Conflict arises when Christine’s childhood friend Raoul returns. The Phantom, possessive of the girl, finds Raoul as a rival for her heart.

He does his best to get Christine’s affection, finally resorting to abducting her to win her over to his side. In the end however, after a dramatic exchange of words with Raoul and after seeing the strong bond of love between Christine and the other man, Erik ultimately decides to let the two lovers go, while he himself escapes, never to be heard from again in the Opera House from where he lived most of his life. II. Communicating the Tragedy The characters from Leroux’s novel seemingly come alive in its theatrical adaptation.

Each character has been given their own sets of “attitudes,” characteristics unique to each of them that they per se have given life to the musical. The stage actors have portrayed their roles beautifully, sang their pieces with exquisite elegance and professionalism. No wonder they were the ones chosen for the role. The “Christine” character has been the very person I was looking for when I imagined the part. She gave justice to the rather tragic story of the Phantom.

After watching the production, I guess one of the ideas that it presents is the difference between true love and lust. True love is the one between Raoul and Christine: proof of this would be the scene where Raoul willingly offers to give up his life just to save Christine. Even going after her into the Phantom’s dark lair at his own risk is enough to show that Raoul loves Christine more than his own life. Lust, on the other hand, is shown in the Opera Ghost’s actions.

He convinces himself that he so loves Christine, that he would help her to greatness, overlooking the fact that he’s projecting a lustful attitude towards the girl; that what he wants is merely “the joys of the flesh. ” Another idea that the production company is trying to convey is the fact that we people tend to shun away others from society when they appear to be different from us; just like in the case of Erik, who was forced to hide in the depths of the Opera House just because his face was deformed.

He grew up hating the world, not knowing how it was to be truly happy and to be truly loved. That he grew up to be that twisted genius who would do anything to get the girl he wants for himself, the one whom he thought would be able to save him from his solitude. He did not care if he killed people along the way, for his heart and mind had become cruel and twisted when the world his parents included, shunned him away. III. Production in a Specified Sense The best production aspect that carried out the theme was the actors’ and the actresses’ performance.

As a part of the audience, I was able to feel the different emotions that’s been underlain in the production¬¬—love, hope greed, frustration, and many more—through the superb acting. This gave the elegant touch the production needed to become a success. Of course the set was ideal, the costumes excellent, and the music moving; without the very good actors and actresses, however, the musical would be nothing, and it wouldn’t have been as beautiful as it is. Word Count: 731 words.

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