The Phantom of the Opera VS The Phantom

Finally have a bit of time to blog.. Well, the latest show Ive watched(twice), was The Phantom of the Opera. The first time I came to know this show was the time when the first came to Singapore(more than 10 yrs ago). At that time, my sis's frd bought for her the T-Shirt and I was attracted to it by the mask on the shirt. For then on,I kept wanting to watch this show badly. I dont know know why, but jus felt attracted to it.

Never had a chance to watch as, at that point of time my parents felt Im so young, wont know how to appreciate.

June 2004, My taka buddies and I went to Japan for holiday and of coz, Takarazuka as our most impt stop. Happened that, The Phantom show was played by Sora Gumi. Through my manager's frd(helped us to queue for hours) got the tickets for us!We so excited and went to watch. This version of Phantom we watched is written by Arthur Kopit. Story is different from The Phantom of the Opera. In this version, The Phantom, Phantom lead a slightly better life than the phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.


Lets compare the 3 main characters of the two show:
Phantom
Andrew version: Phantom, abandon by his parents, grew up in circus freak before he escape and stayed underground of the opera house. Hes very lonely, and when Christine appears in his life, he claims hes the Angel of the music sent by her dead father to guide her through the mirror. Teaching her lesson and not letting her see him till Raoul appears. He was upset when Christine and Raoul progressed in their love of each other and forced Christine to his underground world and wanted to make her his bride. But eventually. he let her go when she kissed him on the account on trying to save Raoul.

Arthur version: This Phantom though disfigured since birth, but was tenderly loved by his mother. When mother past away. his father,Carriere(whom at first could not take the fact that his child is disfigured and went away), came back pretended to be an uncle and took care of him. He nv knew his face was disfigured till one day playing by the lake and saw his own reflection. Carriere gave him a mask to cover his face and he stayed underground of the Opera house(which Carriere is the manager.) Hes yearning for good voice and heard no good voice in the opera house, till Christine joined and he accidentally heard her sing. He gave her lessons and tenderly cared for her.

When he left his underground to get Christine back(after she saw his face and ran away). He was injured and Carriere tried to get him to safety. He asked Carriere,did he loved his mother? Is he his father?

Carriere said yes, and phantom said he had the feeling tt he is so. When they were caught up with the police, phantom had the feared of being caught into the circus, phantom called out to Carriere and he was shot dead by Carriere. Before he died, Christine gave him a kissed and he died with a smile on his face.

Christine:
Andrew Version: Christine was very attached to her father and when her father passed away, he promised her to send an Angel to teach her sing. She was actually a dancer of the Opera House.
She knew Raoul since young but only reunited when she had her first singing appearance at the Opera house and Raoul happened to be there for the show. She always thought Phantom was the Angel that her father sent. Shes in loved with Raoul and was afraid of Phantom. Asking Raoul to help her escape angers the Phantom and he caught her back into his world of darkness. Towards Phantom. she felt scared and no love feeling. When she sees Raoul is facing death by Phantom. she plucked up her courage and kissed Phantom. Though they were let free, but she talked frequently of him.

Arthur Version: Christine was actually a simple street gal that sells lyrics on the streets and of coz well liked by the people. One day, selling the new music score, Melody, Raoul passed by and heard her sing. Amazed by her voice, he gave her a name card and asked her to go to the Opera House to find the manager, Carriere, to get her a role to sing. So excited,she went. But Carriere had been sacked and the new owner's lover, commanded her to do work backstage.But she dont mind. She was singing to herself how happy she is to be in the Opera house and the Phantom heard her sing. She started taking lessons from him and soon theres a competition to see who can be the lead singer of the Opera house. She met Raoul again and he pushed her to compete with the Diva, Carlotta. Everyone felt so amazed with her voice and sang along with her.

Raoul later expressed his love to her, but she rejected him. She was given the contract to performed the next show only to be sabotage by Carlotta and she could not sing. Phantom brought her away from the stage and to his underground when he realise Carlotta wants to hurt her. She met Carriere at the underground and when she heard Phantom's story, shes determined to prove to Phantom that shes not afraid by his looks. But she ran away in shocked when she saw his face(this part is weird! she told him to show her, then ran away!) When Phantom was caught. she tried to stop everyone from hurting him. When he was shot, she ran and hugged him, took down his mask and kissed his face. She was sad that he died and she loves him(i tik).

Raoul:
Andrew Version: Raoul knew Christine when they were young and hes determined to get her away from Phantom. He expressed his love to her and Christine being in love with Raoul accepted it of coz. They were secretly engaged coz Christine is worried it might anger Phantom but he wanted badly to tell the world. When Phantom appears again and forcing the managers to follow his script, Raoul planned to catch "this friend". But Raoul planned failed and angered Phantom. When Phantom abducts Christine to his underground, he followed and determined to save Christine at the cost of his life. He urged Phantom not to be self absorbed to force Christine in lying that she love Phantom. After Phantom let them go, he and Christine went away from the Opera house and got married.

Arthur Version: (yeahhhh my aran!!) Ok. this Raoul... A little playboy at first, whenever he sees cute young gals, maybe dancing is good, cute smile etc, he will give his namecard and ask them to go try the Opera House(Carriere will accept them all... Faint). Same as the other version, hes the regular patron of the Opera House, but different, hes not Christine childhood sweetheart. They dont know each other till he heard her sing on the street. He fell in love with her when they met the 2nd time during the competition. He expressed his love to her, but she rejected him. When Christine went missing with the Phantom, he felt lost and determined to save her, but dont know how and where she is.
When Phantom appears injured, he tried to capture him but instead, Phantom caught him and tried to strangle him. Christine cries out begging Phantom not to kill anymore.
Raoul free himself and when Phantom was shot by Carriere, upon seeing how sad Christine was, he then realised the reason for her rejecting him. She loved Phantom more.
Not wanting to upset her, he stood behind her quiet, to give her the emotion support while she grieves over the death of Phantom. And he walked away quietly.

Conclusion: Both version have their unique side and its hard to say which is better. Of coz I think the Phantom in Arthur version is less "crazy".
But I think both displayed their special point and worth a A* for the story and effort.