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The Phantom of the Opera (2004) More at IMDbPro »

Film libretto? http://www.theatre-musical.com/phantom/mlibretto.html

Stage libretto http://www.theatre-musical.com/phantom/libretto.html

Lyrics: http://www.stlyrics.com/t/thephantomoftheopera.htm

Sheet Music (for purchase): http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/

http://musicnotes.com/

PotO for:

Piano: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2872652

Flute: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2981491

Violin: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2981552

Alto Sax: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2981512

Clarinet: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2981503

Trumpet: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2981526

Viola: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_detail.html?cart=3337532229936040&item=2980601

A. The phantom likes to hang people with his "magical" lasso. If your hands are at the level of your eyes, you will be able to block the rope from going around your neck.

B. The Phantom is known for strangling his victims. By keeping your hand at the level of your eyes, you create a space between the punjab lasso (noose) and your neck allowing you to escape and rendering the rope useless.

C. They had the scene between Buquet and Madame Giry to illustrate the use of the lasso. You know, the one where she ropes him, tells him to shut up and keep his hand at the level of his eyes.... Joseph Buquet (to the the ballerinas): "You must be always n your guard or he will trap you with his magical lasso." (putting the lasso around his neck, with his hand in place to prevent strangling). Madame Giry: "Those who speak of what they know Find too late that prudent silence is wise. Joseph Buquet, hold your tongue! **slap** Keep your hand at the level of your eyes!" (as she throws the noose over his head)

Visual demonstration (from another film) here: http://s46.photobucket.com/albums/f116/PhantomPhans/HandAtTheLevelOfYourEye/

No, Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd-Webber is a musical set in an opera house.

The auctioneer quite clearly calls them Vicomte de Chagny and Madame Giry.

From the POTO Film Companion Book:

There is one old woman, Mme. Giry, who stands a little apart. She is dressed in black, her hat covered in black veiling like a widow. Her years as a dancer and Ballet Mistress assist her elegant and perfect posture.

Later on that same page:

Mme Giry remains stoic -- mysterious; barely needing the black cane by her side. She turns to see whose POV she is. Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny in the wheelchair, guided by his Nurse/Nun. Although fifteen years younger than Mme. Giry, he does not enjoy her good health. He seem small and fatigued in his beautifully tailored clothes, a cashmere throw around his barely functioning legs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who are the two old people at the beginning of the movie? This is according to the moderator at the official movie website: Madame Giry and Raoul. The filmmakers have said it is Madame Giry in the script in the "Phantom Companion" book. Also, I attended Q&A where Joel talked about the makeup for Patrick and Miranda. He talked about the flashback to start from the two of them and yes it was Madame Giry. Yes Meg would have become Madame Giry at a later age, if she did not marry. But the flashbacks are about Raoul remembering what happened and Madame Giry and he knew about all that happened. If it were Meg they would have put the makeup on Jennifer (and make her look older) rather than Miranda. UPDATED 1/30 - Thanks obsessedoperafan for posting this response: Given the amount of conjecture on these boards about whether the woman at the auction is Mme Giry or her daughter Meg, last Friday I emailed Really Useful Films (Andrew Lloyd Webber's company, I believe) (I found their contact deteails on their website) to ask if they could shed some light on whether it was intended that the woman is Mme Giry in later years, or whether she is supposed to be Meg. My email is copied below (with the reply I received today from Really Useful Films appearing at the top):

"We believe it to be Mme Giry - not Meg."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

by - wildwoman (Mon May 23 2005 01:09:21 )This is the official answer to the 'Who is the old woman ' question. It was posted on the R U G board by the Forum Moderator.

Posted: 18 May 2005 15:27 Post subject: It is Madame Giry -- SPOILER I am not sure if it is mentioned in the DVD, but it is in the Phantom film companion book. I also know, as Joel S. stated it was Madame Giry. Yes, she looks younger. But everyone ages difererntly and Mdame Giry was a dancer. They are usually in very good shape. Older Raoul may have been in the war, etc. and aged badly. Yours, Carolyn

This film is an Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical based on the novel "Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston Leroux. As this is a musical be aware that most of the dialogue is sung.

Yes. Everyone in this movie does their own singing, except Minnie Driver, who plays the over-the-top diva Carlotta. Why? Because although she can sing, she can't sing over-the-top opera. Margaret Preece does Carlotta's singing, she has played the role on stage in London. Gerard Butler trained for months to prepare for this role, but had no experience beforehand. Who sang the role of Carlotta? Margaret Preece. She sang the role of Carlotta in the London production several years ago. (She also sang the role of the Confidante in the Il Muto part of the movie). So why was Minnie dubbed? This quote was Minnie's answer when a journalist from Biography magazine asked her why she chose to be dubbed: "That full sound is a lifetime's training. I could sing Chicago or West Side Story, but approximating Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner would have been arrogant. We all drive cars, but we're not all racecar drivers."

Minnie's singing voice can be heard during the end credits.

Although the rest of the cast sing their own roles, there is a certain amount of electronic augmentation of long notes.

He was born with a birth defect. Other adaptations have used other reasons, burns & acid. But in this version, "This face whch earned a Mother's fear and loathing." is a birth defect, as in the original Leroux novel.

That was a judgement call on the part of the production team. From the Q&A with Joel Schumacher on the official website: "Even though the make-up in the stage show is grotesque, and very much a copy of the Lon Chaney make-up, I felt the audience is smarter than a lot of obvious prosthetics. The Phantom is very disfigured and the right side of his face is quite tragic. Christine, however, always looks past that and views him with compassion. As she sings, "This haunted face holds no horror for me now / It's in your soul that the true distortion lies." I did not want to bring you "Freddy Krueger Goes to the Opera!"

This quote is from a costume designer in the Notes section of the official movie website: "Like the design of the Phantom's costume and mask, his underlying physical deformity had to be rendered convincingly, without alienating the audience in the process. "We didn't want his disfigurement to be horribly grotesque," Byrne acknowledges. "It was about trying to find the real person behind the mask. We want the audience to see his attractiveness, his anger and his vulnerability." Shircore, an Oscar winner in 1999 for her work on Elizabeth, based her design for the Phantom's disfigurement on a medical condition, underscoring the character's background as a misunderstood former sideshow freak. A life cast was made of Butler's face, from which gelatin prosthetics were created and then applied during a four hour process."

However, fans have pointed out that in that time period, far worse deformities would have been seen every day on the street, ranging from skin diseases to combat-related injuries to birth defects. And in the show, Christine sings of the Phantom, "Distorted, deformed, it was hardly a face," which some feel should have been rewritten or excised given the decision to minimize the Phantom's deformities. Scholars of circus and sideshow history have pointed out that such a relatively mild condition would in no way have qualified someone as a circus freak.

From the beginning of the movie, you can see his ear on the side of the mask, and there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with it, however in the end of the film, the ear is distorted. The same reason the huge clump of hair over his ear falls out.

The black hair was a wig, you can see the Phantom adjusting it before Don Juan Triumphant. What you see in the last 15 minutes is what he really looks like, no wig, no mask, no fake ear.

There is also a fake forehead used and a lot of make up it appears.

There is only one ring, the ring Raoul gave to Christine. According to the scene description in the script during the final lair scene - "He holds up the ring he tore from her neck." So yes, it is in fact the ring Raoul gave Christine which the Phantom then took from her during the Masquarade scene.

Joel Schumacher wanted to reduce the age of the characters for increased audience appeal. Crawford and Brightman were to appear in the film 15 years ago; as the character of Christine in the novel is 16 years old, Sarah Brightman is now too old for the part. Schumacher reduced the ages of the characters still further.

According to the scene desription in the script - "She calmly puts the ring on her finger and kisses him full on the lips. The Phantom is stunned. Then, she leans toward him and embraces him again. But this time the kiss is long and deep. A lover's kiss. As it ends, they look straight into each others' eyes. The Phantom is crying, devastated. He has never known human love. Christine's gesture - her sacrifice and at the same time commitment - are too much for this tragic man to bear."

It is because she chooses to marry the Phantom in order to save Raoul. The Phantom then lets her and Raoul leave together because he loves Christine so much, and she has shown him love when no other person in his life ever did.

Erik is the Phantom's name in the original Leroux novel, and in most adaptations of the story. However, in the musical version he is simply known as the Phantom.

Her stockings are off when she wakes up for "I Remember". Christine and the Phantom did not have sex after "The Music of the Night". When Christine wakes up and starts singing "I Remember" she's not wearing her stockings. It's just a continuity error.

The music box was something the Phantom made for himself (from the toy he had at the fair). It played for Christine when she woke up in the Phantom's lair, and it played for the Phantom after he let Christine go.

Opera Ghost.

In the theatre the ghost is the person who pays the wages. "When will the ghost walk" means "When will we be paid".

Please Turn Over

- Or, it can Ironicly stand for Phantom of The Opera (PTO)

In the movie, Christine was born in 1854 and died in 1917. The events of the story take place in 1870, making Christine 16.

They deliberately put the mask on that side for the poster/cover to make the layout work better.

The Special Edition has all of the music and some of the lead ins, as well as a small photo "book" section.

In the musical, the story occurs in 1881, the movie in 1870 (a historical fallacy, because that means France would've been in the middle of a war.)

In the movie the ages are all shifted closer to the book. On stage Christine and Raoul are in their 20's, Phantom in his late 40's-50's.

Mdm. Giry was never Christine's caretaker.

In "Think of Me", the backdrop falls, but it doesn't actually hit Carlotta, it just frightens her.

Almost all of the costumes are different. In the stage show, the Phantom himself always wears a white tie and tuxedo, but also wears a large black fedora, which is missing from the movie.

There's no horse in the underground scene (that was an additon from the book),

In the ballet scene of "Il Muto", the stage version has the Phantom's shadow behind the backdrop, scaring the dancers, the movie doesn't have this.

Many of the Phantom's actions in the stage show are not explained, giving him a more ghostly persona, however in the movie, most of his actions are shown/explained, to emphasise that he is simply a man, not a ghost, ie in the stage show, he 'magically' makes Carlotta sound like a frog, and laughs maniacly when Carlotta starts croaking, however in the movie, we are shown the Phantom swapping Carlotta's throat spray, in order to achieve this effect.

The chandelier drops after "All I Ask of You" at the end of Act 1 on stage, instead of at the end in the movie, this also prompts a lyric change in Masquerade from "to the new chandellier!" to "to our friends who are here!"

In Masquerade, the costumes are very bright and colorful in the stage versions, with people dressed as animals, clowns, and other creatures, wheras in the musical, the costumes are simplified, but more ballgowns than costumes. Andre and Firmin dress in skeletal costumes on stage, but in the movie dress in different costumes.

Also, a reprise of "Notes/Prima Donna" that takes place after "Masquerade" was edited down, and then rearranged throughout the movie, as were many other "Notes" scenes.

The Red Death costume on stage has a full skull mask, with moving jaw, and a big red fedora with a plume, this costume is also much more ornate than the movie version.

The mirrored room wasn't in the stage version, but another addition originally in the book.

The original reprise of "Notes" was combined with "Why so silent?"

A rehearsal scene of "Don Juan Triumphant", in which the cast go through their first play-through of the show, but dont take it seriously, and Piangi cant sing properly, until the Phantom posesses the piano, and everyone suddenly sings perfectly, was completely taken out.

In the stage version, of the cemetery confrontation, the Phantom conjures up lightning and shoots fireballs from his staff, instead of sword fighting with Raoul.

In "Don Juan Triumphant," the Phantom does not wear a stylised Latin outfit, but instead wears a cloak completely over his body and head.

There are no tango dancers in "Don Juan" / "The Point of No Return" in the stage version as the scene is set in a banquet hall with the cast wearing traditional costumes and sat around eating, wheras the movie version is set in a set which looks like Hades, and has a Latin feel.

The Phantom is far more deformed in the stage version than the movie. In the movie he has bumpy, discolored skin and thinning hair, wheras in the stage version he has giant cracks in his skull, whispy hair, one of his eyes is whited out, giant swollen lips, burns, cuts and generally more deformation.

When unmasked in "The Point of No Return", he runs off out of sight with Christine instead of dropping through a trap door.

Instead of smashing a mirror and leaving through a secret passage after Christine and Raoul leave, the Phantom sits in his throne, and covers himself with his cape. Meg is the first to arrive in the lair, and lifts the cape from thr throne, to reveal that the Phantom has disappeared, leaving only the mask.

Pandora plays an intriguing role in Greek mythology. According to the most well known legend, she was the first woman, created by the ruler of the gods, Zeus. Zeus was assisted in his task by other Greek deities, including Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, who used her powers to bestow upon Pandora grace and loveliness; Hermes, messenger of the gods, gave Pandora persuasion; and Apollo, god of music and the arts, favored the woman with musical skill. Because of the gifts of the gods, Pandora was very attractive - her name even means "all gifts".

However, Pandora had a flaw. She was curious. When she encountered a jar that belonged to Epimetheus, she could not resist learning about its mysterious contents, and so she therefore opened it. This jar contained all of the evils, which were then released into the world. The only thing that remained in the jar was hope.

She, as the first woman, created after man, is sometimes compared to Eve in Hebrew myth

Prometheus & Pandora, Bullfinch's Mythology: http://www.mythome.org/bfchapii.html

The story of Samson & Delilah... http://www.virtualchurch.org/samson.htm And... the story of Samson & Delilah illustrated with Legos: http://www.thebricktestament.com/judges/samson_and_delilah/jg16_04.html

Don Juan Tenorio is the subject of a morality play "El Burlador De Sevilla" by Tirso De Molina (1571?-1648), written to illustrate the mistake of too much faith. In the original play, Don Juan thinks he can do as he pleases, with plenty of time to repent and be forgiven before his death. This is a fatal miscalculation.

Don Juan has made more than a thousand sexual conquests, but while preparing to seduce Doña Ana, he is discovered by her father, the Commander, who challenges him to a duel. Don Juan kills the Commander and escapes. Don Juan later passes the tomb of Ana's father, graced by a statue of that dead commander. The statue speaks, warning Don Juan that he will be punished for his wickedness. The statue offers his hand and Don Juan, fearless to the last, takes it. The statue takes Juan's hand in an unbreakable grip. A fiery pit opens and the statue drags Don Juan down into Hell, with no time to repent.

The story has been retold in a play by Moliere (``The Stone Feast,'' 1665), a long poem by Byron (``Don Juan,'' 1819-24), an opera by Mozart (``Don Giovanni,'' 1787) and in a four-act play by George Bernard Shaw ("Man and Superman"). The third act of the Shaw play, frequently presented alone as "Don Juan in Hell" is the Shavian notion of what the main characters, Juan, Ana, and the Commander might discuss with the Devil.

Source: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~tacit/hell/djplot.html

Phantom originally started in London where it is still running. It is also running in New York, Australia, Sao Paulo, Budapest, Tokyo, Singapore, and a US Tour.

Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber has confirmed that he is working on a sequel adapted from Frederick Forsyth's novel Phantom of Manhattan: http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/sections/news/newsdb.php?article=50§ion=news.

There are several active message board threads on this topic.

- But now Andrew is drawing back from the idea since he believes it shouldn't be made.

Edit: 5/30/08 -

He said: "I have got my own new show coming on next year, which is my sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, which I think is going to be called Phantom: Once Upon Another Time. http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7426000/7426419 .stm

No, he isn't. During Down Once More, he sings, "This face that condemns me to wallow in blood has also denied me the joys of the flesh." He's a virgin.

Yes, she was. She was 17 by the time filming ended.

It means the Phantom is still alive and still loves Christine.

Our use of the term Code 77 refers to a thread or threads with fictitious high drama (grievous injury/death/abuse) created to gain attention/create excitement.

For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXUHy8vrVY0 or http://elonka.com/mirrors/CFT/coverstory.html

You can write to this address below:

c/o The Really Useful Group Ltd 22 Tower Street London WC2H 9TW United Kingdom

From Merriam Webster:

Pronunciation: \fäp\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English; akin to Middle English fobben to deceive, Middle High German voppen Date: 15th century

1 obsolete : a foolish or silly person

2: a man who is devoted to or vain about his appearance or dress