Status Updates From The Complete Phantom of the...

Libretto notes:

- Be my guest, sir. is the original
- One by one I've watched illusions shattered instead of we had such hopes
- why this torment / when will you see reason? instead of who deserves this / why do you curse mercy
- "Now calmly facing him, she kisses him long and full on the lips. The embrace lasts a long time. Raoul watches in horror and wonder." AAAAAAAAAAA

Libretto notes:

- Get a player with tone instead of every note's overblown
- The original, superior lyric is far-reaching gaze and I will die on this hill
- Trio Wandering Child
- "How will I know [when to shoot the Phantom], sir?" "You'll know." I can't believe they still have this line- it's just such terrible advice, Raoul! No wonder he shot too early!
- Christine "quite calmly" unmasks him after PoNR

Libretto notes:

- Be still now after he'll kill me but before his eyes will find me
- We were robbed- there's supposed to be a dragon costume in Masquerade.
- it's a shame that Phantom fellow isn't here instead of pity that the Phantom can’t be here
- Let's not fight / You're free / Wait till the time is right before Let's not argue lines
- "Christine, almost coquetteish, almost jittery, goes from man to man."

Libretto notes:

- It emphasizes how cold his hands are and how she has to get used to it.
- "It's a scandal that'll pack 'em in the aisles" instead of have a hit
- "The Managers are beginning to tire of the intrigue."
- Midnight oil burned instead of meeting adjourned
- Piangi comforts Carlotta who is crying after the croak, saying "Cara, cara, I'm here, is alright." Did they cut this or have I somehow missed it??

Libretto notes:

"Ballet girls, from the wings, gush around Christine, who hands each a flower from her bouquet. [I don't think she does this anymore?] Reyer stiffly gives his approval."

- No "Rehearsals, always rehearsals" from Meg?
- "Where is your scarf?" instead of red scarf
- "Music shall surround you / Feel it, hear it, closing in around you" instead of caress/possess line in Music of the Night

Full copy of the libretto, nice. It says the prologue auction takes place in 1905 (when Raoul is seventy) and the actual story is set in 1881.

Some minor notes regarding script changes over the years- we have:

- "move to one side" instead of stand
- "When you find that once again you long" and "Gawkish girl" in Think of Me
- "Bravi"
- "Christine, you must have been dreaming ... you're talking in riddles" in AoM

It says that most of the cast have about seven costume changes per show, and that number seems accurate. For example, the Hannibal Princess, the ensemble track for the Christine understudy, has seven costume changes (six costumes- she changes back into the Hannibal Princess costume for the curtain call), iirc.

Multiple photos including my beloved Hannibal elephant yippee

Okay, so this edition is actually from 1991- post-Broadway opening.

Charles Hart wrote the new lyrics in three months??

Alan Jay Lerner of My Fair Lady fame was asked to revise Stilgoe's (admittedly kind of terrible) original lyrics and libretto, but turned it down even though he loved the material because he was too ill, and died shortly thereafter??

Yessss totally agree with how changing his deformity from something Erik was born with to an accident later in life warps his character to be more simplistic and almost unrecognizable in motivation. "[Erik's] psychological condition stemmed from his need to hide away from the real world and create an environment in which he can be the unchallenged master."

Extremely accurate and in-depth summary of the Leroux novel, until they claim that Raoul’s brother Philippe's death was an accident and that Erik had been trying to save him?? Erik *claims* it was an accident, but he was very clearly lying when he said Philippe "fell very awkwardly but simply and naturally into the lake!", trying to deflect the blame from himself and his traps.

Leroux celebrated finishing his manuscripts by firing a loaded revolver from his balcony??

The Palais Garnier had a staff of 1500 when it opened, and still has around 1000 employees today?? It has a dedicated library-museum wing??

It can't be a complete Phantom of the Opera while being published in 1987- the show didn't even premiere on Broadway until 1988, but we'll see how it goes. So far, it seems pretty thorough with the history- and I had no idea Meyerbeer did an opera in 1949 with a roller skating sequence??