Consequently, he discarded the modern score by Ian Armit and wrote original English lyrics that told Gaston Leroux’s tale. This time though, he wanted to add the kind of music that would have been heard at the Opéra Garnier in the late 19th century.
In 1984, Hill revived his musical version of The Phantom of the Opera. It differed from the later version of Ken Hill’s musical, in having a modern musical score by Ian Armit (who also worked with Hill on his production of The Curse of the Werewolf) in addition to excerpts from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod. It was directed by John Blackmore, designed by Clare Lyth, with musical direction by Gary Yershon. This first production was produced at The Duke’s Playhouse in Lancaster on 26 July 1976, where it proved to be a hit. The show started off as a production at Morecambe Pier as the first staged musical version, but was also first staged when Hill was working as Director of Productions for the Newcastle Playhouse. Hill's musical inspired the award-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of the story, although he never received any formal royalty for it.Īs Ken Hill rummaged through a used bookstore, he picked up a copy of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera novel and eventually produced it as a stage musical. And we wouldn't have it any other way.Hill’s Phantom of the Opera was the first musical version of the story by Gaston Leroux and has enjoyed financial success.
Much of the music – especially the operas-within-the-musical – mimic the grand operas of the 19th century in their orchestration and style.īut the music makes completely different demands of its singers and the blockbuster songs of Phantom are custom-made for the powerful singers of the West End. It’s the longest-running show on Broadway, and in 2012 it celebrated its 10,000th performance! The Phanton of the Opera won a strong of awards including the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1988. The musical opened on London’s West End in 1986 and then on Broadway in New York in 1988. The original cast of the 1986 West End production included Sarah Brightman (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s then wife) as Christine and Michael Crawford as the Phantom. In fact, the story includes a number of made-up operas called Hannibal and the Phantom’s masterpiece Don Juan Triumphant. The style of Lloyd Webber’s music is deliberately operatic in style, while still remaining committed to its West End/Broadway origins. Lloyd Webber said: “I was actually writing something else at the time, and I realised that the reason I was hung up was because I was trying to write a major romantic story, and I had been trying to do that ever since I started my career. There had already been two film versions of the novel, but never a musical. The idea for Phantom came from Lloyd Webber, who contacted legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh and suggested creating a musical based on Leroux’s novel.
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