It's thrilling to watch live, and it was inspired by a real tragedy at the Palais Garnier. The Act 1 finale, during which a one-ton chandelier comes crashing down onto the stage, is one of the most iconic moments in The Phantom of the Opera musical. The chandelier crash in Phantom was inspired by a true event. Read more below to find out what true (and ghost) stories inspired the record-breaking show, and see them on stage before The Phantom of the Opera closes.

For example, there was actually a devastating chandelier accident, and there are many rumors of a ghostly presence haunting the theatre. While everything in the musical did not actually happen, many elements of the show (and the novel it's based on) are taken from real stories of what happened at a Paris opera house. Yes and no - the plot of The Phantom of the Opera is fictional, but parts are inspired by true stories and legends. Is The Phantom of the Opera based on a true story? Get The Phantom of the Opera tickets now. While no one knows exactly how true these stories are, here's how they inspired Leroux to create the tale that haunts and thrills audiences over a century later, and how Webber made them his own.Įxperience these tales now before The Phantom of the Opera closes on Broadway. Others are probably not, but they're fun legends that Leroux immortalized and Webber later made famous with his iconic score.

Some of the stories of people, places, and events that inspired The Phantom of the Opera are true. And he based his novel on multiple spooky events in the Palais Garnier, the opera house where the Phantom book and musical are set. But stories of a chandelier crash and a ghost at the opera house in Paris circulated long before The Phantom of the Opera, now set to close in February 2023, became the longest-running Broadway show and third-longest-running West End show in history.Ĭompoer Andrew Lloyd Webber based the show on a 1910 novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux. The story of a masked, disfigured Paris Opera House dweller who puts an ingenue under his musical spell sounds like the stuff of myths. history book? He could be, or at least inside a book of legends. The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your.

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