The Phantom of the Opera

Details of The Book

Title: The Phantom of the Opera
Author: Gaston Leroux
Publication: first published in France in 8 January 1910

About The Author

Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 1868 – 15 April 1927) was a French journalist and detective fiction writer. He is famous with his works The Phantom of the Opera and The Mystery of the Yellow Room.

Main Characters

• Erik: The Angel of Music and the Opera Ghost. He always wears a mask because of his physical defects. He tutors Christine and is obsessed with her.
• Christine Daaé: A young Swedish soprano at the Paris Opera House.
• Vicomte Raoul de Chagny: Christine’s childhood friend and falling in love with Christine .
• The Persian: A mysterious man from Erik’s past.

Background Of The Book

The setting of the story is based on Palais Garnier, an actual Paris opera house. With the rum ours about some details of the opera house and the accident happened before, Leroux wrote down the novel. That is also why we can find that many details in the story is closely related to the facts.

Musical

Based on the novel, musical is created with the same title by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe. Its first stage was on 9 October, 1986, with Michael Patrick Smith and Sarah Brightman as the main actors. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical. Until now, the musical is act in more than 140 cities all over the world.