The Real-Life Tragedy That Inspired The Phantom of the Opera

This article is part of Yahoo’s “That Day” series

It has become one of the longest-running musicals in the West End and is known around the world.

But The Phantom of the Opera, which opened in London 35 years ago today – October 9, 1986 – is much more than just a fictional show.

The musical is inspired by a real tragedy that took place in a Parisian theater, resulting in one victim.

The incident occurred at one of Paris’ opera houses, the Palais Garnier, in May 1986, during a performance of the opera Helle.

As the first act ended, the counterweight of a chandelier plunged through the ceiling onto the audience, injuring several people and killing one.

The story inspired Gaston Leroux, a young journalist, who combined the story with rumors of a ghost wandering the opera house to create The Phantom of the Opera.

His story, that of a disfigured man who prowls beneath the opera house, terrifying all those there, was first published as a serial in Le Gaulois from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910, then was published as a volume at the end of March 1910 by Pierre Lafitte.

In 1922, Leroux gave a copy to the director of Universal Pictures while he was visiting Paris.

This resulted in the 1925 American silent film adaptation of the novel, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney.

Leroux’s original story inspired plays, films and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, which proved a hit with later generations.

According to the Phantom of the Opera website, Lloyd Webber’s version has been performed to over 140 million people in 35 countries and 166 cities worldwide, grossing an estimated $6 billion (£4.4 billion).

The show was performed in 15 different languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Danish, Polish, Swedish, Castilian, Hungarian, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Mexican Spanish, Estonian and Russian.

The Phantom of the Opera is the second longest-running musical in the West End, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running show in the West End after The Mousetrap.

Across the Atlantic, it is the longest-running show in Broadway history, celebrating its 11,000th Broadway performance on July 7, 2014.

The play has won over 70 major theatre awards, including three Olivier Awards, an Evening Standard Award, seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards and five Outer Critic Circle Awards.

But despite being one of the longest-running musicals in the world, even The Phantom couldn’t withstand the COVID crisis and was forced to close in July 2020 for the first time in decades.

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