The Phantom of the Opera: stage vs screen

Joel Schumacher's 2004 film of The Phantom of the Opera, produced and co-written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, starred Gerard Butler as the Phantom, Emmy Rossum as Christine, and Patrick Wilson as Raoul. It keeps nearly all of the stage score and follows the same story, but it moves some big moments, opens up the opera house in ways a theatre cannot, and adds a new song and a new final scene. Here is how it compares with the Broadway production that opened in 1988.

Stage

Broadway musical (1988)

Screen

The Phantom of the Opera (2004), directed by Joel Schumacher

1. The chandelier falls at the climax, not the end of Act One

On stage the chandelier crashes onto the stage during the curtain call of "Il Muto," bringing down the curtain on Act One. The film saves the crash for the climax: the Phantom sends it down during "Don Juan Triumphant," after Christine pulls off his mask, and it sets the opera house on fire as he drags her to his lair.

2. A sword fight replaces the fireballs in the graveyard

In the stage graveyard scene, the Phantom taunts Raoul and hurls fireballs at him until Christine begs Raoul to leave. The film turns the scene into a duel with swords among the tombs. Raoul gets the upper hand, and Christine stops him from killing the Phantom.

3. A flashback shows the Phantom's childhood

The stage show only touches on where the Phantom came from. The film shows it: Madame Giry tells Raoul how, as a young girl, she rescued a much-abused, deformed boy who was being exhibited in a traveling freak show and hid him beneath the opera house.

4. A new song, "Learn to Be Lonely"

Lloyd Webber and lyricist Charles Hart wrote "Learn to Be Lonely" for the film, and it plays over the end credits, sung by Minnie Driver. It is not part of the stage score. The song was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

5. An extra ending at Christine's grave

Both versions end in the lair with the Phantom vanishing and Meg finding only his mask. The film then returns to 1919, where the elderly Raoul leaves the Phantom's music box at Christine's grave and finds a fresh rose tied with the ring the Phantom once gave her, a hint that the Phantom is still alive and still loves her.

6. The story moves back to 1870

The stage musical sets its main story in 1881, framed by an auction at the opera house in 1919. The film keeps the 1919 auction but moves the main story back to 1870. The 1919 scenes are filmed in black and white, and color returns as the overture plays and the opera house is restored to its old glory.

7. Film actors, not stage voices

Schumacher cast screen actors and had most of them sing their own parts. Gerard Butler had no professional singing experience and took lessons before filming. Minnie Driver's Carlotta is the exception: her singing voice in the opera scenes belongs to soprano Margaret Preece, though Driver sings "Learn to Be Lonely" herself.

The Phantom of the Opera movie vs musical: FAQs