A dramatic, gothic tale of disfigured musical genius who is obsessed with an innocent chorus girl, smash hit show The Phantom of the Opera has been packing theatres around the world for more than three decades.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber tale is a work of fiction, based on the Gaston Leroux book written over 100 years ago, however some tantalising parts of the original story are likely inspired by real life.
Not only does a subterranean lake exist under opera house Palais Garnier in Paris, where the Phantom has his lair, part of a theatre light actually did crash down from a ceiling tragically killing a patron and perhaps inspiring one of the tale's most famous moments.
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Guy Simpson is the Opera Australia Musical Director and Supervisor and he is involved two lavish productions of the show Down Under next year.
He admitted the swirling rumours surrounding the story simply add to the experience.
"I think all these things add up to being intriguing snippets of information, that people like to embellish in their mind," Mr Simpson told nine.com.au.
Lake under an opera house
In the show, the Phantom resides in a candle lit lair on a lake under Palais Garnier, where he stalks chorus girl, Christine.
In one of the most famous scenes, he rows Christine across the water, singing the iconic song, The Music of the Night.
In reality, there really is a lagoon of water under the opera house, which was completed in 1875.
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The water fills tanks which were created at the time of construction when the building's foundations were flooded by a tributary of the River Seine.
These days they're used to train firefighters.
Dingy water tanks might not be quite as romantic as the show's gothic lagoon - but with a bit of imagination it's not hard to see what might have sparked Leroux's imagination.
"Straight away that provides a great idea, that this guy might live down there and might push his boat across the lake," Mr Simpson said.
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A chandelier tragedy
One of the most famous scenes in the show is when the menacing Phantom causes a chandelier to crash from the ceiling.
No doubt Leroux, whose novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, came out in 1910, was inspired by the 1896 tragedy at the theatre.
On May 20, during a performance of an opera called Helle, a fire caused a lighting counterweight to fall, crushing audience member Madame Chomette to death.
There's little doubt the author heard about the accident. The newspaper he worked as a journalist for wrote about it.
"I guess that became embellished into a chandelier," Mr Simpson, said.
"He was a theatre critic and an opera lover, I believe. His imagination could run riot."
And while there's no evidence of a disfigured genius existing, Leroux always insisted the Phantom himself was real.
And indeed, an architect who shared the Phantoms' name - Erik - is rumoured to have disappeared, saying he planned to live under the building.
The Phantom of the Opera is now the world's longest running musical after 35 years.
But Sydney is about to see it in a whole new way.
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Dramatic staging
Australian theatre fans can see the show next year in a never-seen-before on-water staging in Sydney Harbour, as well as a separate version inside the iconic Opera House, which will also play in Melbourne.
Delays due to COVID-19 mean both shows are now on just a couple of months apart.
Mr Simpson has been involved with the show since the late 1980s and travelled the world supervising productions from South Korea to Brazil.
He refused to reveal exactly how the on-water version will be done - but promised it's set to be spectacular.
"That might be letting out too many secrets," he joked.
Mr Simpson suggested the production may even bring composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to Australia.
"He does love coming to Australia," he said.
"I keep hearing these rumours that he might come."
He said either production will be a must-see - even for people not normally interested in musicals - simply because of the stunning music.
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"If you're going to see one musical in your life, it has to be this," he said.
"Audience members like a good tune.
"Boy, this show is absolutely full of them.
"And when you add to that the heightened things of mystery, the melodrama, the romance, it's got all these all these attributes that people find irresistible."
See The Phantom of the Opera at Sydney Opera House from August 2022 and Arts Centre Melbourne from October 2022, and on Sydney Harbour by Handa Opera from 25 March – 24 April 2022. Details: Opera Australia.
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