Literary Compare and Contrast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera Adaptations

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera has become quite popular both on screen and on Broadway. The tragic and romantic tale of unrequited love and enticed both moviegoers and play lovers alike. There are many similarities between the movie and the musical versions. However, there are many noted differences between the two as well.

First of all, the musical version came first. It is based on the book Phantom of the Opera by the French author Gaston Leroux. Of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber took several liberties with the classic tale to spin it all the romance and tragedy it needed to fare well on the stage and in the hearts of all of those who saw it enacted. The musical hit London in the 80s, whereas the movie first saw the big screen in the 2000s. The movie is an adapted form of the musical. It stays true to the overall theme and is basically the same, yet there are a few major changes.

They are both performed with singing almost the whole way through with just a few snippets of actual speech not through song. However, whereas the stage musical is presented in a much more operatic tone, the movie version is toned down a bit. It's not near as operatic in pitch or tone. It still carries the operatic theme, yet it's not quite as full-blown opera as the musical. The costumes, of course are also slightly different as well. For instance, whereas Christine wears a blue hooded cape during the "All I Ask of You" scene in the musical, she wears a red hooded one during the same scene in the movie. The props as well are allowed to be much more dramatic on the screen than in the musical as well. The special effects are also much more pronounced in the movie than in the musical too. One big change from the musical to the movie is that in the musical the chandelier crashes at the end of Act I right before the beginning of the Entr'acte, whereas in the movie, it occurs at the very end of the movie when Erik, the Phantom whisks Christine off to his lair in a desperate attempt to keep her.

They are both very noteworthy renditions of the classic tale both performed in the grand style of Andrew Lloyd Webber. And those are the major differences between the two. Many phantom of the opera fans favor one over the other but most will admit that they are both fantastic performances.