In 1910, French novelist Gaston Leroux published The Phantom of the Opera as an installment in Le Gaulois newspaper. The piece featured a hideous secluded man abducting a beautiful young woman in a Paris opera house.
It didn’t receive much attention until the silent horror adaption was released in 1925 featuring Lon Chaney as The Phantom. Chaney’s horrific make-up made this film so famous. This film follows an aspiring opera singer that discovers she has a secret admirer, the disfigured Phantom that lives under the Paris Opera house. He is intent on helping her succeed by secretly coaching her. He takes the opera singer prisoner in order to demand her devotion and affection. Her suitor sets out to rescue her. This adaption won awards in the national film registry in 1998 and the OFTA film hall of fame in 2019.
Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyricists Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, The Phantom of the Opera had its first performance in 1986. It won the Olivier Award for best musical in 1986. After opening on Broadway in 1988, the show won best musical at the Tony Awards. In 2006, it surpassed Cats as the longest-running Broadway show.
Debuting in London in 2010, Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyricist Glenn Slater composed the sequel, Love Never Dies. It was loosely adapted from the novel, The Phantom of Manhattan, written by Frederick Forsyth.
In 2004, Joel Schumacher directed the successful musical drama film with the assistance of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, this film received 7 awards and 39 nominations.
The De Carlini The Phantom Christmas Ornament is decorated in a white suit shirt, bow tie, black cape and white half mask.
