I like to believe it’s beyond reasonable explanation of how the “Opera Ghost” could perform such tricks and maneuvers within and below the infamous opera house.īut we all know there is magic in stagecraft. And as my tastes in literature lean towards magical realism and not just the stark facts of reality, I much prefer to read Phantom with the lens of supernatural leanings, and not just the logical Sherlock-esque clue-gatherings of illusion and facts and plausibility. Phantom’s author, Gaston Leroux, was a career journalist and an author of detective novels. But what I do appreciate, in most all versions, even as a fully-fledged grown-up now, is the mystery. And I personally take much more kindly to the (botched, as far as true-to-the-source-material) 1943 film version in which she leaves all bumbling suitors behind and pursues her career, instead.Īnd as I'd first read the book as a younger person, a lot of the insinuations of Christine’s “purity” and the “ecstasy” the Phantom was leading her to via her talents and song were lost on me. And I think I'm not alone at having been lead by Andrew Lloyd Webber into rooting for the inspiring Phantom over her mortal beau of Raoul. I remember seeing the musical and both times being utterly confused at the opening auction scene. And, because I've always been super-intrigued about where stories started, I had read the classic Gaston Leroux novel ( Le Fantome de L'Opera, first published in 1911) as well.īut of course, when you're doing research into a tale, you learn so much more that you hadn't noticed when 'merely' enjoying a story! I've seen the musical Phantom of the Opera live on stage (usually from the back row!) a couple of times. “the box was taken.” faerie tale feet painting inspired by gaston leroux’s 1911 novel, Le Fantome de L’Opera.

Original phantom of the opera