Phantom of the Opera

[Foxybox]

Having just seen the film, and having seen the stage version about a year ago I'm having a little difficulty comparing the two.

Specifically, in the stage version, the phantom crashes the chadelier at the end of act one, which doesnt occur in the film. Fair enough, he crashes it at the end which is much more exiting. BUT, does he also crash the new chadelier at the end of the stage version or does he total the theatre some other way. I can't remember and its really annoying me.

[Shire]

I have seen the stge show 3 times, and the chandelier definitely falls at the end of Act One, as at the begining of Act Two part of the lyrics to the "Masquerade" song have Andre and Firmin toasting ".....to a prosperous year, to the new chandelier". The chandelier does not get broken again, nor does the theatre get, as you put it, "totaled" at the end of the show. What happens at the end is that the Phantom takes Christine back down to his lair under the theatre, and Raoul and the men from the theatre follow them. After the Phantom tries to make Christine choose between him and Raoul, he instead lets her go, begging her not to let them find him. In the final scene, the Phantom sits on a chair and covers himself with a cloth - this is the only thing on stage until Meg Giry, (the daughter of the ballet teacher, and one of Christine's fellow chorus girls) comes along and takes the cloth away, revealing only the Phantom's mask left on the chair. The ending suggests that the Phantom's love for Christine overcame his desire for revenge, and he just wanted to be left in ppeace in his theatre.

[Foxybox]

Shire your'e a genius thankyou. All the stuff in the phantoms lair happens in the fim too, but they obviously moved the chandelier crash to make the ending more exiting. I did notice they had had to change the lyrics in Masquerade to "..to a prosperous year, to our friends that are here."