Compare/Contrast: Phantom of the Opera novel vs. musical
The original story of the Phantom begins in a novel by author Gaston Leroux.
Read this summary of his novel:
When Leroux began his research in Paris for his novel, Phantom of the Opera, he said he went through the
archives of the National Academy of Music to investigate the story of a kidnapping. A great singer, Christine
Daae had been kidnapped, her rescuer, Vicomte de Chagney, had disappeared, and the Vicomte’s brother,
Count Philippe, had died. Leroux interviewed a “witness” to all this. This “witness” was known as “the
Persian.” The man told Leroux he had spoken with a ghost who lived in the Paris Opera House. The Persian
also claimed to have found a skeleton in the cellars of the Opera House which he claimed belonged to a
mysterious phantom that lived and roamed around the opera house. Based on his research and interviews,
Leroux decided to write a novel about the “phantom” and the mysterious “Persian” and the kidnapping and
disappearances possibly linked to the phantom
Chapter 1: The book begins with the ballet girls at the opera house discussing the rumors about a ghost. Ballet
dancer Meg Giry tells how the ghost sits in Box 5 in the opera house for every performance and watches from
the shadows. Meg’s mother, Madame Giry is in charge of the auditorium for the opera house. Madame Giry
tells the girls how, Buquet, a stage-hand and scene-changer for the performances, was recently found hanged
beneath the stage.
Chapters 2 – end of novel: The lead singer at the opera house is Christine. She is loved and admired by
Vicomte Raoul and his brother Philippe, the Comte de Chagney. The other lead singer, La Carlotta, became ill,
and Christine had to perform in her place. Raoul is deeply smitten by Christine although he is 20 years younger
than her. After the performance, Raoul goes to see Christine & reminds her that he first met her when he was
a little boy and he rescued her scarf after she dropped it into the sea. She tells him she doesn’t feel well &
ends their conversation.
The new managers of the Opera House, Mr. Richard and Mr. Moncharmin, find out that the opera ghost has
been 20,000 francs a month and always has Box 5 reserved for him at the performances. They also think
Buquet’s death was somehow caused by the ghost. They begin to get letters from the Opera Ghost (O.G.)
demanding that Christine keep singing as the lead singer. The managers decide to sell the ticket for Box 5 at
the next performance, and when the performance occurs the audience hears some crazy laughter in the
auditorium. The managers consult Madame Giry about what she knows about the ghost but she refuses to tell
anything. The managers fire her.
Christine, confused, decides to go visit her father’s grave in a city close to Paris. Raoul dashes after her. He
sees her in the graveyard, in a trance, moving toward her father’s grave while strange music can be heard.
Raoul is attacked by some kind of ghost wearing a skeleton mask. He wakes up the next day in a hotel. The
opera ghost sends more letters to the managers with more demands. He says if his demands are not met
there will be a curse on the opera house. Then the managers discover that their prize horse, Cesar, is missing.
They believe the “phantom” has stolen it. Raoul gets a message from Christine asking him to meet her secretly
at the Opera’s masked ball. After the ball, Raoul hides in Christine’s dressing room. He hears her talking to
someone and then sees her disappear through a mirror in her dressing room.
The next day Christine meets with Raoul on the roof of the opera house to talk. She tells him she can’t see him
anymore. She explains that she has been meeting with a man named Erik, her Angel of Music, who has been
giving her singing lessons. She says he has taken her to the cellars of the opera house where he lives.
Meanwhile, the Phantom has been hiding behind a statue & listening to everything they say. When Christine &
Raoul leave, the Persian is standing at the foot of the stairs and tells them to go a different way.
At the next performance, Carlotta loses her voices and begins to sound like a frog croaking. The audience
laughed. Then they heard laughter coming from the ceiling. The Phantom caused the chandelier to break and
it came crashing onto the stage below. The newspapers reported that hundreds were wounded and one
person was killed. The woman who was killed was the woman hired to replace Madame Giry. Raoul meets
with Christine and proposes marriage to her which she accepts. But Raoul’s brother, Philippe, tells Raoul NOT
to marry Christine. Philippe believes that Christine has gone crazy or is mentally disturbed because of all the
ghost stories she tells. During the next performance, Christine mysteriously vanishes on stage before the
audience. The managers discover that money is being stolen out of their office. The police arrive to investigate
the stolen money & the disappearance of Christine. The Persian appears and tells them that Christine is with
Erik, somewhere in the opera house. He suggests they all get pistols and follow him.
The Persian leads them to the dressing room where he shows them how the mirror is a door that leads to
secret inner passageways in the opera house. They all go down to the cellars. They encounter a man whose
head appears to be on fire. He is the rat-catcher who uses fire to draw the rats away from people and toward
himself so he can lead away. But Raoul and the Persian are swarmed by thousands of rats who begin to crawl
up their legs. The rat-catcher finally lights sticks on fire to draw the rats toward him and tells them, “don’t
come after me! Let me pass with my rats.”
Later, thinking they have reached the Phantom’s lair, Raoul and the Persian get caught in a torture chamber
and can’t find their way out. They hearing voices next door and discover Christine is trapped in the Phantom’s
quarters next door. They talk to her through the wall. The Phantom turns up the heat in the torture chamber
and the men almost die, but the Persian finds a secret way out of the room. Then they discover they are in a
room with barrels of gunpowder. Then the Phantom floods the room and the men almost drown. Christine
begs him to let them go. The next day the Persian and Raoul are found in their homes but they don’t know
how they got there. Philippe is found drowned in the opera house lake.
The Phantom meets with the Persian and tells him that Christine is now his wife. He also says that he is dying.
He says Christine convinced him to release Raoul and she has now disappeared. Erik agreed to give the Persian
all the papers and belongings of Christine since he is about to die. Three weeks later the Phantom’s death is
announced in the papers.
Summary of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical:
Prologue: In the Paris Opera House, an auction is being held to sell some things that belonged to the opera
house. The opera house is closed and no longer has performances. Raoul and Madame Giry are old now and
they attend the auction. The chandelier is about to be auctioned and it turns on, comes back to life, and the
opera house goes back in time.
Act I: The ballerinas and opera singers are now rehearsing for a new opera performance. The new managers,
Mr. Andre and Mr. Firmin, are introduced to the opera cast by the retiring opera manager. While La Carlotta
is singing, a backdrop crashes to the floor and the ballerinas scream, claiming it was the “opera ghost.” On the
night of the performance, Carlotta becomes ill and Madame Giry, the ballet mistress, suggests that Christine
Daae take her place. Christine is a ballerina and a shy girl who does not believe in her talent. But Madame Giry
knows that Christine has been taking singing lessons from the mysterious “Angel of Music,” a.k.a the
Phantom. After the performance, Raoul shows up at Christine’s dressing room to tell her he saw the
performance. He reminds Christine that he knew her when they were younger and he rescued her scarf when
it was blown into the sea. Raoul asks her to go to dinner with him but she refuses. She tells him her “Angel of
Music” is very strict and she has a lesson with him. The Phantom becomes angry at Raoul’s advances toward
Christine, so he appears in her dressing room behind a mirror and takes her to his labyrinth below the opera
house. The Phantom sings to her and seduces her with his strange organ music and song. He sings her a
haunting love song and Christine faints at the sight of a wax figure of herself in his lair. The next morning she
wakes up and is very frightened. She tries to remember how she got to this place and then notices the
Phantom. She pulls off the Phantom’s mask & sees his horribly disfigured face. He becomes angry at this and
takes her back up to the opera house theater. The managers, Carlotta, Raoul, and Madame Giry are discussing
notes they have received from the Phantom, demanding things from all of them. The Phantom says in his
notes that if they do not follow his instructions “a disaster beyond their imagination will occur.” Carlotta is
outraged at the Phantom’s demands. The managers assure her she will have the lead in the next
performances and the Phantom is very displeased. During the next performance, Carlotta loses her voice.
When she tries to sing, a sound like a frog croaking comes out of her mouth. The managers stop the
performance and get Christine to sing her part. Before the performance ends, the dead body of the stage
hand, Buquet, falls on the stage – hanged. The Phantom causes the chandelier to fall from the ceiling to the
stage, and the performance is ruined.
Act II: Christine and Raoul are now engaged. There has been six months of peacefulness at the opera house
with no notes or signs of the Phantom. The chandelier has been repaired, and the opera house is celebrating a
re-opening with a masquerade ball. During the opening song, we learn that Christine wants to keep her
engagement to Raoul a secret. But the Phantom appears at the Ball and is clearly upset. He is dressed a
skeleton, all in red. He hands the managers a copy of an opera he has written – “Don Juan Triumphant.” He
reminds Christine that she is still bound to him and rips her engagement ring from a necklace she is wearing.
During rehearsal, everyone complains about how horrible the new opera is. Raoul has come up with a plan to
trap the Phantom while the cast performs his new opera. Christine is afraid something will happen to Raoul
and she is also afraid to sing the lead part in the Phantom’s opera. She leaves the opera house and goes to
visit her father’s grave. The Phantom appears in the graveyard and tries to win her back. But Raoul shows up
to rescue Christine & gets into a fight with the Phantom. Raoul is able to free Christine and take her back to
the opera house. Madame Giry tells Raoul what she knows about the Phantom’s past. When the performance
begins, the Phantom kills the lead tenor singer, Piangi, and takes his place on stage. When Christine realizes
the Phantom is now singing with her on stage, she gets close to him and pulls off his mask, revealing his
disfigured face to the audience. Enraged, the Phantom drags Christine off the stage and down to his labyrinth.
Raoul once again goes to rescue Christine and Madame Giry leads him to where the Phantom’s lair can be
found. Raoul has to swim across an underground lake and when he is underwater he gets trapped. The
Phantom releases him, but Raoul comes to the surface and is behind a gate, unable to reach Christine who is
with the Phantom. What happens next? I’m not going to reveal the exciting ending to this great musical. Just
wait and see.