Do you know the background to the story of "The Phantom of the Opera" ? And there is a sequel to the story?

Question

The "Phantom of the Opera" have been playing in opera houses all over the world for nearly a hundred years. Do you know the background story ? And that someone wrote a sequel to the story and explained the background of the original story ?

Try reading Federick Forsyth's Phantom of Manhattan". It offers a fresh insight.

Answer 1

Just a few additions and corrections to what's already been said...

I think you're mixing up a couple things. "Phantom" was a novel set in Paris' Opera Populaire and first published in 1911. There've been many movie versions since then. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical adaptation opened in the West End in 1986 and was recently made into a film. "Phantom" has never been an opera.

Gaston Leroux (Phantom's author) never wrote a sequel. The story HAS been retold umpteen times, and those titles are easily found on google. Plus, there's a vast (and always-growing) world of internet "phanfic." Some of it is even readable!

Andrew Lloyd Webber has been saying for years that he has a musical "Phantom" sequel lurking somewhere in his composer's brain. He's actually written one song for it already, "The Heart is Slow to Learn," which soprano Kiri Te Kanawa has recorded. However, that's as far as he's gotten. No doubt it'd be a blockbuster if it's ever fully realized. "Phantom" is now the longest-running show on Broadway ever, and has been seen on stage and on screen by millions of people worldwide.

Answer 2

The Phantom of the Opera is a novel by Gaston LeRoux. If I'm not mistaken, LeRoux was given a tour of the cellars of the Paris Opera house which sparked his imagination and eventually led to the novel.

Many editions of the novel (widely and cheaply available in paperback) have an introduction which gives more detail.

I have read the novel and it is quite engrossing. The novel, itself explains everything so no sequel is needed to do that. I imagine someone has, indeed, written a sequel, but given how the novel wrapped things up, I imagine it would be boring!

Answer 3

Well, if you want the background to the story, read The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. That tells you the true story, if you believe it really happened like Leroux did. As for the sequel, you're probably talking about the book Phantom by Susan Kay. It tells you about the Phantom's life, but it is complete fiction. She has even stated that her story is a fictional account, as there is no way for her to know that anything in her story happened. She just wanted to give the Phantom a history, and she figured the Phans would like to read one.

Answer 4

Well Gaston Leroux's ORIGINAL Phantom of the Opera was indeed based off of some real events. Christine Daae's character is based off of a young swedish opera singer named Kristina Nillson who came to the Paris Opera house to sing. The Chandalier truly did crash at the paris opera. There ARE catacombs and water underneath the paris opera house and there was supposedly a skeleton found wearing a gold ring on it's finger, just like Erik at the end of Gaston Leroux's Phantom. I believe :)

Answer 5

Sequel is Love Never Dies

Answer 6

Everything you could possibly want to know about it is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_the_opera