Why The Phantom Of The Opera Just Isn't A Believable Piece Of Theatre- Page 3

[ulkis]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 2:14pm

This discussion made me curious about the book, so I just started it-- I'm only on page 34, but I love how the author pokes fun at the characters. That doesn't transfer well to the stage, but there's no way it could.

Shmerg, have you ever heard Ken Hill's version? I think you would like it.

http://www.kenhillsphantomoftheopera.co.uk/show.php

[ulkis]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 2:24pm

sorry, double post Updated On: 6/19/09 at 02:24 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 1:53pm

During "Angel of Music" she states that her father told her he would send her an angel. She does not think it is her father, but the guardian that she thinks was sent to her by her father.

See, that's another thing...in the cemetery, Raoul tells Christine "This man...this thing is not your father!" So it is quite confusing for the audience. Especially when they forgot the original lyrics to Angel of Music because by this point in the show, they've heard it ten times already with different lyrics.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 4:51pm

Well, no explaining that one, other than the Phantom using his freaky Jedi mind-tricks on the weak-willed Christine.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/24/09 at 6:35pm

Raoul says "This thing is not your father" only in the London production. It was cut from all following productions.

[BroadwayAbridged]

Posted: 6/25/09 at 11:36am

So, off-topic-ish, there's this one oft-misheard lyric on the cast album,

"What a change, you're really not a bit
The gawkish girl that once you were..."

Which I and others always heard as

"You're really not a bitch... the gawkish girl..."

I just saw Phantom again and they changed those 2 lines entirely. Does anybody know what the new lines are? Any idea when they changed it? It's possible that they were always those two new lines on Broadway and I just have the London cast album in my head only.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 6/25/09 at 11:42am

According to the score I have the lyric in that line now reads as

"Long ago, it seems so long ago.
How young and innocent we were"

I would guess that the change was made during rehearsals for the Broadway production.

[BroadwayAbridged]

Posted: 6/25/09 at 11:53am

Makes sense, Gawkish is a strange word for Americans.

(But I still like the idea that they changed it to remove the words "you're really not a bitch.")

[broadway122]

Posted: 6/25/09 at 7:19pm

I too think that Erik is a genius and not a wizard.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/25/09 at 10:29pm

Just as a reference for those curious...

Scenes with major lyrical differences from the Original London production are:

"Think of Me" (nearly every verse was changed)
"Prima Donna" (initially, Piangi was never in this scene)
"Masquerade"
"Wandering Child" (unlike the London and Hungarian productions, all others have this as a duet, rather than a trio with Raoul).

There are several other more minor changes, such as in "Music of the Night", et cetera.