LE FANTÔME DE L’OPÉRA Samantha Pike (Sophie) Elementary French 1 – Fall 2011
Transcript
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LE FANTME DE LOPRA Samantha Pike (Sophie) Elementary French 1
Fall 2011
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WHERE IT ALL BEGAN Story published in weekly increments
starting in 1909 Published as a full novel in France - 1910
Translated to English in 1911 Based in the famous Palais Garnier
opera house The numerous passages beneath the opera house inspired
the author to write the story
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GASTON LEROUX Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux Born on May 6 th, 1868
in Paris, France Had a degree in law always loved writing more Died
in 1927 at age 59 Wrote over 60 novels none of which were
successful during his lifetime (only two were successful after his
death)
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THE CHARACTERS Main characters: Erik (The Phantom) Christine
Daa Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny Other important characters include:
The Persian, Comte Philippe de Chagny, Madame Giry, Moncharmin,
Richard, Debienne, and Poligny
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THE STORY Christine, a talented young opera singer, receives
visits from an invisible Angel of Music (The Phantom) The masked
phantom lives underneath the famous Paris opera house sabotages the
opera that is playing so that Christine can play the lead role
Raoul and the Phantom are both madly in love with Christine The
Phantom gets jealous and kidnaps Christine to his house on the
underground lake where he shows her the man behind the mask Raoul
goes to save Christines life with the help of one of the opera
house workers (The Persian)
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THE CONTROVERSY Lerouxs realistic writing leads readers to
believe the story is true, but it is really? Paris opera house was
rumored to be haunted Skeletons found around the huge underground
lake Strange occurrences and a mysterious fire aroused
suspicion
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OTHER BOOKS The Canary Trainer by Nicholas Meyer (A Sherlock
Holmes imitation the character of Erik is used) The Phantom of
Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth (Elaborates on the original story)
Phantom by Susan Kay (Eriks background is formed)
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MOVING TO THE SCREEN The Phantom of the Opera 1925 American
silent horror film - Starring Lon Chaney Pushed the almost twenty
year-old story into the spotlight Chaneys self-designed makeup had
quite the effect on the audience Part of the film set still stands
inside soundstage 28 in Universal Studios almost 8 decades
later
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SPIN-OFF MOVIES Song At Midnight (Chinese Horror Film) - 1937
The Phantom of 42 nd Street - 1945 The Phantom of Hollywood - 1974
Phantom of the Paradise - 1974 Opera (Italian) - 1987 The Phantom
Lover (Hong Kong) - 1995 Phantom of the Megaplex - 2000
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TAKING IT TO THE STAGE Ken Hill was the first person to take
the story to the stage in 1976 Found the novel in a junk shop and
was instantly inspired Original score/book written by Hill himself
Updated and revived the musical in 1984, making it truer to the
novel original production was more successful Once Andrew Lloyd
Webber took Phantom as his own, Ken Hills version flopped after a
few years
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ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER Webber attended one of Hills performances
of Phantom and wanted to re-invent the musical as his own Andrew
cheated Ken Hill, basically stealing his show Wrote a different
score/book with Charles Hart New musical opened in 1986 Most
memorable version currently in its 25 th year on Broadway
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STAGE ADAPTATIONS Phantom by Mary Yeston - 1991 -- Based on
original story -- Same characters, different plot, simliar music
Love Never Dies by Andrew Lloyd Webber 2010 -- Sequel to stage
production started in 1990 -- Christine and Raoul 10 years
later
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25 TH ANNIVERSARY FACTS Longest-running Broadway show in
history Has been produced in 27 countries Grossed over $5.6 billion
worldwide Box office revenues higher than any other film or stage
play in history (including Titanic, ET, and Star Wars). Won over 50
major theatre awards (7 Tony Awards)
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EVEN MORE FACTS Has been translated to at least 15 languages
Cast album has gone 6 time platinum in the US There are 130 cast,
crew & orchestra members in each performance. Each performance
has 230 costumes, 22 scene changes, 281 candles and uses 250 kg of
dry ice.
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"Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He
asked only to be someone, like everybody else. But he was too ugly!
And he had to hide his genius or use it to play tricks with, when,
with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most
distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the
empire of the world; and in the end had to content himself with a
cellar. Surely we must pity the Opera ghost! - Le Fantme de lOpra
Gaston Leroux
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REFERENCES Chandler, David. "What Do We Mean By Opera,
Anyway?." 21.2 (2009): Web. 20 Nov. 2011.