As someone who read the book first, I was confused by the sequence of events in the musical, but I really enjoyed it.

I think they gave Christine and Erik more development than in the book—which is a good thing—but I was sad they left out the Persian; he was a much more interesting character than Madame Giry.

What about you? What did you think of the changes made from the book to the film?

Looking for a fanfic on behalf of a friend. These details may not be perfectly accurate. Any info appreciated!

• This was actively being written around 2013-2016. Uncertain if AO3 or FF.net.
• At least 60 chapters.
• Time period was horse and buggy range, possibly Victorian.
• Erik is a count or similar distinguished/aristocratic title.
• Raoul is also well off but less rich than Erik. He lives with a family member, possibly a sister, not too far from Erik's estate.
• Christine is poor and ends up at Erik's estate looking for work, possibly a maid or nanny. She ends up sleeping on the same floor as Erik. She's worried he has ulterior motives, but he denies this.
• Erik has a child/ward, a boy 6-8ish. Unlikely his biological son but was taken in when his mother died.
• He has a library/office. He is an artist and Christine gets him colored pencils for his birthday.
• At some point she "borrows" a book on sex acts because she's either interested in or afraid of Erik's sexual intentions (or both). She may have been a mistress/companion, and she assumed sex might be involved.
• The unmasking scene (half mask) occurs when Erik is playing with his "son" in the child's bedroom. Christine runs away to Raoul's house and takes comfort in Raoul's sister.
• Erik goes to a bar to purposefully get beaten up.
• Christine moves back in with Erik while Erik courts a rich woman. She uncovers a ballroom for a ball.
• Later, he confesses he was not interested in the rich woman and only had eyes for Christine.
• Erik is arrested for a murder he did not commit.

The search for this fanfic has been ongoing for a year. Any info is helpful, even a confirmation that it isn't available. Author info is especially appreciated, to be able to thank the author and hopefully get a copy of the work.

Thank you!

I always liked the musical play the phantom of the opera, the phantom of the paradise, and the charles dance version, and i have an au but i dont know if people would like it as its way off course in comparason to most of the structures. Would you guys like to hear about it?

My fav phantom of the opera musical character has to be the auctioner. Hes just awkwardly trying to do his job properly. Like, after roauls little monologue about the monkey figurine hes just like "... ok, then. Chandelier-" bless him lmao. Whats yalls fav character?

⚠️THIS IS AN OPINION. I HAVE ONLY SEEN THE FIRST MUSICAL. DONT GET INSULTING ON MY OPINION BUT IF YOU RESPECTFULLY AGREE/DISAGREE THATS A-OK! ⚠️

Ok, so in terms of characters, they are mostly confusing in terms of motivations except christine as shes 16 and doesnt know what shes doing. She just wants to sing better, and thats great! But is now confused and scared, which is valid.

The phantom is the weirdest in terms of motivation because he wants love and acceptance but does that... by causing horrific scenarios to take place? Like, im sure if he just went up to them and explained hed like to be a part of the opera house and talk to others, theyd be ok with that BUT NOT ANYMORE.

Roaul de changy is one of the most frustraiting because couldve just called the police after seeing buffents (i believe thats his name) unalived self and having a witness, suspect, and even forensics as hes that rich but no. Because of corse not. We forgot they were in a opera house so its fine apparently 😑.

Meg is one of my favs, until the end because wth was that stunt she just pulled.

Madam giry- GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! are you with the phantom? Against the phantom? Not with the phantom? WHAT SIDE ARE YOU ON!?

The managers are so stupid i mean like... your casts saftey and yours is being hindered, surely its time to call the cops. But no. Again, opera house.

Carlotta, yeah i get why she left, good for her. But WHY WOULD YOU COME BACK FOR GOODNESS SAKE?!

So yeah. Thats my little rant. What do you all think?

(Sorry for bad photo it was taken from my TV)

I know alot of Phans hate the 2004 film but I haven't really got an issue with it. Until I realised her grave.

She's a countess? How?

Raoul throughout the entire musical and film (and technically book but we'll get onto that) is a Vicomte. He is Vicomte Raoul de Chagny. Christine marrying him wouldn't make her a Countess it would make her a Vicomtess.

In the book it says Raoul is (still) a Vicomte because his older brother Philippe is a Comte simply because their father died and he had been a Comte. But I am pretty sure (I may be wrong on this) that just because your brother was a Comte/Count (whichever way you choose to spell it as Its both in the book translation I own) you weren't a Vicomte. But in Leroux/Phantom lore im going to guess you were.

So even if Philippe isn't in the musical lets say in the world of the musical he still exists (as this would be the only way for Christine to become a countess) and he dies that would make Raoul a count making Christine a Countess.

That would be the only way Christine's grave could be right.

But Philippe isn't in the musical so how on earth did she become Countess.

(Plus technically at this point French Nobility had been destoyred)

I am so sorry if not of thst made sense but now that I've noticed it I am curious.

This and many other reasons is why im a firm beliver in Philippe (and other cut characters) should be in the musical.

So obviously Christine is journeying to the cemetery, and the Phantom takes the place of the carriage driver. I really love when Emmy sings the "In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came" verse. She sounds so mournful and innocent, and then next we get the swell of music and the cymbals crash. It really gives me the vibe that the Phantom has taken and corrupted her grief, and it's a wonderful reminder that even now she's still in his cage. It feels like he's an all consuming presence, looming around her. The crash of the cymbals really adds to how it feels like something terrible has happened here.

It goes from just the violins and Emmy to the rest of the orchestra coming in, and it feels like he's overtaking this intimate moment of hers, because he definitely is but I think the music is just so amazing in communicating that. That even in the Phantom's own pain and grief, he's still terrible for the things he's doing to her. I really love the orchestration of the movie, I think it has some good elements and intensity that have been lacking in the play productions.

Hello everyone, it's been a while i'm not writing in here, but i didn't stopped searching for this holy movie, no in fact, the search has been going on, i do search almost everyday, but today is different, today it's time i uncover the true history of this movie that for over a century has been eluding the radars of many fans and historians, are you ready to travel to the Phantom's Lair once again? So, let's go and remember to keep your hand up to face level!

As per usual i will write this as "chapters", this is just for making for everyone easier to read and follow.

I- Die Schwarze Maske oder Das Phantom der Oper

For start, it's better to clear this enigmatic misleads once and for all, the title Das Phantom der Oper is the official title of the movie(it appear at the first ever premiere at the Marmorhaus), there is no "Das Gespenst im Opernhaus(in years i never ever come across this title so, if it exist it's a late edition title or a ghost-title).

The fact is while Das Phantom der Oper is the official title, the movie travelled with a lot of different ones as well, among these we found:

• Die Schwarze Maske(The Black Mask)
• Der Mann mit der schwarzen Maske(The Man with the Black Mask)
• Fantom der Oper
• Fantom
• Das Phantom der Grossen Opera

And many more titles in different countries such as:

• FANTASMA!(Italy)
• Svarta Maska(Possibly, Sweden)
• Het Spook in de Opera/Het Spook van de Opera(Holland)
• UPIÓR PODZIEMI(Poland/in some places)

And there's sure many others that i still haven't found out(yet).

II- The Leroux dilemma

There is a constant rumor that this movie was just like Nosferatu with Stoker—an unofficial bootleg—and that Leroux himself sued Greenbaum. However, this is likely false. According to the original Marmorhaus advertisement that I found (image above), Gaston Leroux was clearly credited as the author of the original novel. It makes absolutely no sense for a company that stole an idea to print the original author's name in black and white for everyone to see.

So, the only logical conclusion is that, no, this movie was 100% legit and officially recognized as an adaptation of the novel. Most likely, Leroux himself knew about it as well.

III- Who is the Man under the Black Mask

For over a century, everyone(and my fault, in the past i did the same!), from the simple blog to official movies books kept listing Nils Olaf Chrisander as the Phantom, but the only real truth is that, no Nils Chrisander never ever had that black mask(and the death's head/Totengesicht make up), but was instead Dr. Prasch, an actor sadly mostly forgotten today.

So, the correct cast is this:

Aud Egede-Nissen: Cristina Daaè

Dr. Rolf Prasch: Eric the Phantom

Nils Olaf Chrisander: Raoul de Chagny

Ernst Matray: The Persian Daroga.

There is also a "ghost-actor" listed on some famous encyclopedia and books, an actor named "Araschu" which simply never existed, i don't really known where they did found that name, but no, not a single ad from the time ever mention an actor with such name or surname, so don't fall for the "Punjab lasso of the lost media"!

IV- Does the movie still exist today or other photos actually exist?

The answer is not easy to give, but with logic we can find the most probably answer among these two eternal questions:

First thing first:

-Does the movie could still be somewhere waiting to be found again?

Actually while i can't be sure at 100%, the answer is most likely a yes! It could be very well hidden in an archive under a different name!

Let's be clear here, while there is no "Das Phantom der Oper" in any archives, no one ever looked for the other "official" titles that the movie went by, this mean that it might be still very well fully visible today, hidden in some archives under one of the different titles(in Germany or in one of the other countries the movie was release).

-Do other images of the movie still exist?

This is the easiest question to answer, and it's a good one! Yes, of course other stills surely exist. I found the first official (and for now, only) still of the movie. The fact that this specific one was published means that Greenbaum absolutely distributed other stills to newspapers and journals of the era, most likely including the one featuring the Totengesicht (the skull-like face).

-FINIS?-

For now this is all i had to share, but the search keep going on!

First time i saw Phantom, I saw it at the Pantages in 98. I want to go see it again, possibly go solo. Should I wait close to show time to buy tickets? anyone know of a site or marketplace to get them cheaper? Ballin on a budget here lol. Thank you!

I just finished a POTO fanfic, and I finally worked up the courage to share it.

It's about a young mermaid who makes a bargain with a witch, gains human legs, and eventually falls in love with Erik.

The story is based on Leroux's version of Erik (probably the only major canon divergence is that I made him younger), and it's much darker than a typical mermaid AU. It deals with themes of guilt, loneliness, devotion.

Content warnings for sexual assault (prior to meeting Erik), kidnapping, self-harm, suicide, and murder. It's definitely on the literary side and heavy angst with fluff.

I know OC-centric fics aren't everyone's thing, but I poured my heart into this one. Now that it's finally complete, I wanted to share it with people who might enjoy this sort of story.

If this sounds like your kind of fic, let me know in the comments!

For my fellow pocket camp players, there’s gotta be a few of you here.

SWM has confirmed he will be staying another year!

(Sorry for the previous delete, mods— wanted to be more clear in the title)

Confirmed for Wuhan, Chengdu, and Shanghai.

I finally finished my epic Reread of Gaston Leroux’s Novel, I took about a week long break to gather my thoughts because their is a lot I want to talk about when it comes to one of my favorite books, and I’ve got about two notebooks worth of notes that I took this go around to delve into. 😆

So their will be several Parts to this, but to start it off I just wanted to take a minute to gush about how much I love this book, I don’t understand when people say it’s boring or badly written. I love Leroux’s writing, I love his sense of humor and how he builds atmosphere and suspense, all the while making you forget at times that the entire story is being told through one big unreliable narrator.

And that’s not even mentioning Leroux’s prose, the way that he describe things or paints a picture is beautiful, sure I was reading Coward which is one of the best if not the best translations but I really don’t think Leroux gets enough credit for how beautiful some of his writing is…he is by no means a bad writer, and I will fight anyone who says he is. And love him or hate him you definitely can’t say his characters aren’t memorable…Erik especially, I‘m going to do a whole post dedicated to Erik alone, because my what a character that Leroux created! 💀

So yeah, when was the first time you read Gaston Leroux’s Novel? What Translation did you read, and what do you love about it, or dislike about it? I look forward to reading your thoughts. 🌹

I haven’t read the book but i am aware that the other manager is named armand moncharmin and not gilles andre. Why did they change his name? I thought this would be a common question but it seems like no one has asked it before. Does anyone know exactly why?

Hello! Here are two Playbills. The McGillin one seems to be from August 1999 (lol I would have been 5), but I have conflicting info on when Adrienne McEwan was Christine.

The Panaro one seems to date to some time between September 2003 and November 2004, but I would love to narrow it down more.

This kind of reasoning isn’t the kind my brain is best at, and conflicting sources don’t make it any easier! Interestingly, the one that seems to be older is in much better shape than the “newer” one!

TYIA!

Hi. So I've been trying to find any semblance of a certain production I rented on VHS from a public library in either Rhode island or Massachusetts in the early 2000s that I saw as a kid. All I remember is what I believe is the opening scene of the show where Christine loses her scarf and raoul goes to get it. I don't remember any dialogue or singing, it felt like a dance or theatre production. I remember the background was painted light blue and the sea was represented not actually showing a beach or anything. I remember it felt pretty abstract, and I think after this scene it became more grounded as if that scene was a flashback or something. Pretty sure it was titled "phantom of the opera" because I went to the library specifically to look for phantom movies and I also got the 1960s movie where the phantom is disfigured by acid on the same visit and the VHS tapes were next to each other on the shelf. I don't think it was a local production but I can't rule that out. If anyone knows anything about this I would love to know if I imagined the whole thing or not.

I wish there were more recordings of them like this. This felt very immersive for me.

Can anyone tell me what their experiences with the grand circle were? I have booked seats for central grand circle, row b- but I am a bit worried as my group is rather short and I've heard mixed things.

I chose them as they were also good for my budget but I want to make sure it wont impact our experience too badly

I stumbled across this novel online by director Nicholas Meyer, which, judging by the synopsis, combines the investigations of Sherlock Holmes with our Phantom of the Opera: "The Canary Trainer".

From https://www.nicholas-meyer.com/the-canary-trainer

"Located by a computer in the bowels of a major university where it had collected dust for over half a century, this missing manuscript by the biographer of Sherlock Holmes reveals for the first time a hitherto unknown episode in the life of the Great Detective. Holmes, master sleuth, was also an accomplished violinist. Following his discharge from therapy with Sigmund Freud (see The Seven-Per-Cent Solution), we now learn that he journeyed to Paris and there found employment as a pit musician at the Paris Opera. The year is 1891, Paris is the capital of the western world, and its opera house is full of surprises. First and by no means least is the sudden reappearance of the great love of Holmes's life, an accomplished singer from Hoboken, New Jersey. Second is the series of seemingly bizarre accidents—each more sinister than the last—allegedly arranged by the "Opera Ghost, " an opponent who goes by many names and is more than equal to Holmes. Alone in a strange and spectacular city, with none of his normal resources, Holmes is commissioned to protect a vulnerable young soprano, whose beautiful voice obsesses a creature no one believes is real, but whose jealousy is lethal. In this dazzling, long-awaited sequel to The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, the detective pits wits against a musical maniac, and we are treated to an adventure unlike any other in the archives of Sherlock Holmes."

Has anyone here read it? Would you recommend it?

Just what the title says. Name a song and the character who would sing it - from any of the books, the musical, etc.

I’ll start: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Listen to her Heart” - hard to decide between Erik and Raoul, but the reference to the other man having money pushed me over the edge for it to be sung by Raoul (yes, Erik has his 20k francs/month but that’s how I made my choice)

Addition: what would Aisha from the Kay novel sing from Cats?