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Published: October 4th 2009
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Phantom of the Opera
Phantom of the Opera “The Phantom of The Opera” US Tour arrives in Florida to kick off peak vacation season
by Dr. Anton Anderssen, eTurboNews special correspondent
“The Phantom of the Opera” makes a triumphant return to stages nationwide this fall, winding up in Florida just in time to kick off the peak vacation season. Cruise and vacation guests in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando will be delighted as Phantom blends a love triangle, the loss of a parent, murder, blackmail and extortion into one highly venerated musical. Indeed, there have been many incarnations of the phantom story, many films and stage shows - none of which can hold a candle to the Andrew Lloyd-Webber adaptation: a highly romantic, tragic love story with moving music. Leave your enchiridion at home; this show is easy to follow, easy to listen to, and easy to love.
Central to the storyline is Christine Daaé, protagonist in Gaston Leroux's novel “Phantom of the Opera”. The phantom, a genius of many fields, including music, architecture, magic, and science, is hopelessly infatuated by her, but her heart belongs to Raoul, Viscount de Chagny instead. Many literary scholars believe the character of Christine Daaé was based on real-life Swedish operatic soprano Christine Nilsson, who married Angel Ramon Maria Vallejo y Miranda, Count de Casa Miranda [whose descendent is Carlos Miranda y Elio, Spain’s Ambassador to NATO in Brussels.}
The Phantom story takes place at the Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra de Paris, and beneath its foundation lies a lake-flooded lair. In real life, the Opéra is built above a subterranean river that still feeds an artificial lake beneath it. Paris has huge subterranean cavities, and although 350 of them were converted to mass graves in 1785, there remain almost 200 miles of caverns all together, not all of them connected. A subterranean lake entrance to a hidden cavern does not require a far stretch of the imagination.
The Opéra has had its share of twisted tales. On January 15, 1875 the Opéra de Paris celebrated its inaugural, and in the years following, there were demands for money by some crazy French lunatic, including demands for box five. Some believe this is basis for the character Erik (The Phantom). Of course, raving lunatics demanding money are not unique to the French.
According to the novel by Gaston Leroux, Christine Daaé was born just outside the Swedish town of Uppsala. In real life, Christine Nilsson was born in the village of Sjöabol, near Växjö, in Småland, Sweden, to the peasants Jonas Nilsson and Cajsa-Stina Månsdotter. At the age of three, a provincial judge named Tornerhjelm forcefully manipulated custody of Nilsson from her parents to "begift" her a musical education. In the novel, Christina is an orphan, but the real-life Christina was effectively robbed at the cradle from her uneducated parents. Both Christines felt the anguish of familial loss. Tornerhjelm had a controlling infatuation with Nilsson, and for some time even presented her as Christina Tornerhjelm.
Tornerhjelm could have been the inspiration for The Phantom, as he virtually controlled her every movement. Maybe the most frightening concept in Phantom is that tales like this do happen in real life - I’m thinking of Jaycee Lee Dugard who was snatched from her parents and held captive for 18 years by Phillip Garrido, in an isolated hellhole. Probably a parent’s worst nightmare is that a debauched old man kidnaps a young daughter because he is obsessed by her beauty.
In the dark musical, Raoul tries desperately to free Christine from the Phantom’s control, who will stop at nothing to maintain his grip on her. In the end, the helpless damsel in distress is rescued by her Prince Charming, and the Phantom vanishes into a faded memory.
Still meaningful after all these years, Phantom reminds us that who we are as human beings goes far beyond our outward appearance. We are also confronted to acknowledge the pain of unrequited love, whether we have ever fallen desperately in love with someone who has no feelings for us, or if we fall the object of another’s obsession. One lesson is certain: you can’t help with whom you fall in love.
Thanks to the US Tour of the Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc. theatre aficionados can relive the magic that is The Phantom of the Opera. Fort Lauderdale dates are December 23, 2009 to January 17, 2010, continuing in Orlando from January 20 to February 14 2010. Pre-cruise passengers who love musicals will enhance their vacation by scheduling a theatre night to complement their day in the sun. Information for other cities and dates is available from the website at http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/us_tour/. Tim Martin Gleason gives a stellar performance as The Phantom, rendering the monster with unmitigated pathos. I’ve seen the musical at least twenty times, but still find “The Phantom of The Opera” is a stage musical to kill for!
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