Books to Music: The Phantom of the Opera

You will curse the day you did not do
All that the Phantom asked of you

Oh Phantom.  I think most everyone agrees this musical is great.  There is something about it that just resonates. But when looking at the book, it is interesting to see how Andrew Lloyd Webber was able to make this story work so well as a musical.  There are minor changes to the plot, but for the most part, the musical follows the story closely.  And taking the appeal of the Phantom (who's disfigurement isn't nearly as bad as in the book) out of the equation, I think the biggest reason this musical is so much more memorable than the book is the music.

Beautiful voices and beautiful music is a major plot point for the story, and although there have been some iffy choices voice-wise in actors to play the Phantom, generally the music is very difficult to sing, and requires actors with superb voice control.  And there have been many who have pulled it off so well.  There is a lot of power in these songs, from the pure singing side (there are many operatic passages) to the guitar riffs and the overpowering organ.  It brings a level of drama to the story that I don't feel is necessarily in the book (although I haven't read it in awhile) and heightens the tension and dark obsessive romance of the story.

The lyrics bring another side of gorgeous story-telling to the novel, because it highlights the emotions of the characters so well.  "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is a song that has never personally enthralled me, but when I took the time to really listen to the lyrics recently, I was struck by how well it captures Christine's inner turmoil and the cause of her character weakness.  So many great lyrics in this show that are able to tell the story and tell you more about the characters at once.

Song Spotlight: Music of the Night
I've youtube linked to the 25th Anniversary performance of Music of the Night where they had 5 Phantoms perform the song! Five awesome singers! What!  Anthony Warlow is my favorite Phantom for the record.  The thing I always think about when I hear this song is that it is hard to sustain a note with the E vowel and so when listening to the song I especially like to listen to how the singer sounds singing 'Let your soul take you where you long to be'.  Just a little thing I do.  This is my favorite song from the musical because I love the lilting seductiveness of the music and the lyrics and the poignancy in the Phantom's need for companionship.  It's so beautifully done just like this whole darn musical!