|
:''Not to be confused with ''The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)'' ''Phantom'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit.〔 Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel ''The Phantom of the Opera'', the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas in 1991. Although it has never appeared on Broadway and has been overshadowed by the success of the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Yeston and Kopit's ''Phantom'' has received over 1,000 productions. ==Background== Yeston and Kopit had just finished the musical ''Nine'', winner of the Tony Award for ''Best Musical'' in 1982, when in 1983 they were approached by actor/director Geoffrey Holder to write a musical based on Leroux's novel. Holder had obtained the rights to musicalize the novel in America from the Leroux estate, making ''Phantom'' the only ''Phantom of the Opera'' musical to do so. Holder planned to direct. Initially, Yeston was skeptical of the project. "I laughed and laughed.... That's the worst idea in the world! Why would you want to write a musical based on a horror story?.... And then it occurred to me that the story could be somewhat changed.... (Phantom ) would be a Quasimodo character, an Elephant Man. Don't all of us feel, despite outward imperfections, that deep inside we're good? And that is a character you cry for."〔Vitaris, Paul. "The Unsinkable Maury Yeston." ''Show Music The Musical Theatre Magazine'' Spring, 1997: 17-23〕 In 1984, British producer Ken Hill revived his 1976 musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' in England. This was not a big threat to Holder, Kopit and Yeston, since their musical was intended to play on Broadway. The real threat emerged through an announcement in ''Variety'', where an article was published concerning plans for a musical production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The rights to the novel were in the public domain in Great Britain. Holder only held the rights for two years in the United States and Europe before the property became public domain there as well. Yeston had completed much of the score to ''Phantom'', and Yeston, Kopit and Holder were in the process of raising money for a Broadway production when the Lloyd Webber plans were announced.〔(Kalfatovic, Mary. "Maury Yeston", ''Contemporary Musicians'' (ed. Luann Brennan). Vol. 22, Gale Group, Inc., 1998 )〕 After ''The Phantom of the Opera'' became a smash hit in London in 1986, Lloyd Webber announced a Broadway production, and Yeston's Broadway investors backed out. Yeston, Kopit and Holder reluctantly shelved their plans for ''Phantom'' and went their separate ways for a time. When Kopit saw the Lloyd Webber version of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' in New York, he realized that the approach he and Yeston had taken was fundamentally different and that it could still work on the musical stage. A few years later, Kopit wrote the NBC miniseries ''Hands of a Stranger'', which was successful enough that NBC approached Kopit again. Kopit rewrote the script outline of his unproduced musical ''Phantom'' into a teleplay for a four-hour two-part miniseries entitled ''The Phantom of the Opera'' and sold it to NBC, with Yeston's blessing. It was filmed at the ''Opera Garnier'', and the only music used was opera music. It starred Charles Dance, Teri Polo and Burt Lancaster and premiered on television in 1990. Kopit said, "I told Maury to hold on. Maybe someone would see the miniseries, think it would make a good musical we'd be ready."〔 The Yeston/Kopit musical was finally produced by Theater Under the Stars in 1991 under the official title ''Phantom''.〔 The piece has since received over 1,000 productions around the world.〔 Yeston refers to ''Phantom'' as "the greatest hit never to be produced on Broadway."〔 Yeston and Kopit's ''Phantom'' is more operetta-like in style than Lloyd Webber's, seeking to reflect the 1890s period, and seeks to project a French atmosphere to reflect its Parisian setting.〔 Its story hews closer to the to Leroux novel and offers a deeper exploration of the phantom's past and his relationship with Gérard Carrière, the head of the Opera House. The character Raoul does not feature at all in the story.〔Robinson, Julie. ("What will the ‘Phans’ make of the UK premiere of Maury Yeston's ''Phantom''?" ), LondonTheatre1.com, May 14, 2013〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Phantom (musical)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|