History Trivia / ThePhantomOfTheOpera

** When the Phantom takes off his cloak and fedora during the title song, he smooths his hair down. Once again, it came about because of Michael Crawford. During the first rehearsals his wig was less slick than it became later on in production, it got mussed up, and he smoothed it down while staying in character. Gillian Lynne, the original choreographer, noted how sensual the pose was and encouraged Crawford to do it again.

* CashCowFranchise: The London and New York productions have twice out-grossed all of the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movies ''combined'', with London's up and running since 1986 and New York's running from 1988-2023, breaking the record for longest-running musical there. Tours and foreign productions are similarly popular, and a lot of merchandise follows in their wake. In Vegas, there was [[http://www.phantomlasvegas.com/ a special condensed 95-minute version]] that retained most of the songs.

* FilmedStageProduction: ''The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall '' cut together footage of the October 1, 2011 evening performance and the October 2, 2011 matinee and evening performances of the Royal Albert Hall concert staging to mark the 25th anniversary of the original stage musical. It starred Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom and Sierra Boggess as Christine, who had originated the roles of their older counterparts in the infamous 2010 sequel, ''Theatre/LoveNeverDies''.

** Norm Lewis' casting was inadvertently this, as while it was likely not deliberately done to generate publicity, it happened anyway, what with him being only the second African-American--and Broadway's first--to play the role.

** A French production of the show was set to open in fall of 2016. Unfortunately, a few weeks before previews would have begun, a fire damaged the theater. The premiere has been postponed ever since.

** Ramin Karimloo wanted to be the Phantom since he was 12, and got the role in the West End production and the 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall. He also played Raoul in the West End production from 2003 to 2004, and a cameo appearance as Christine's father in the 2004 film.

** John Riddle first saw the show at age 4, when his father took the family to the Toronto production. After it was finished, he turned to him and declared "I'm going to do this someday". 30 years later, he played the part of Raoul in the Broadway production and was in fact the final actor to play Raoul when the show closed.

** When the Phantom takes off his cloak and fedora during the title song, he smooths his hair down. Once again, it came about because of Michael Crawford. During the first rehearsals his wig was less slick than it became later on in production, it got mussed up, and he smoothed it down in character. Gillian Lynne, the original choreographer, noted how sensual the pose was and encouraged Crawford to do it again.

** Ramin Karimloo wanted to be the Phantom since he was 12, and got the role in the West End production and the 25th Anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall.

** In the late 1990s, Antonio Banderas was being considered for the role of the Phantom in the film adaptation, perhaps alongside Kate Winslet as Christine.

* ActingForTwo: Teri Polo as Christine and Belladova in the [[Series/ThePhantomOfTheOpera MiniSeries]], even though they're never on screen together.

** On the movie side of things: Universal tried to make sequels to ''both'' of their adaptations of ''Phantom'', but neither time did it work out:
*** In 1929, Universal announced plans for ''The Return of the Phantom'', which would have featured sound and, astoundingly, full color throughout the whole movie! Plot details were never given, although Chaney wouldn't have returned (he had switched studios to MGM). In the end, Universal decided to go with the less expensive option of adding dialogue and new sound scenes to the original movie.
*** After the 1943 movie became a hit, they announced a sequel for 1944 called ''The Climax'', which would've presumably resolved the minor SequelHook at the end of the original and feature the return of the Phantom. ''The Climax'' actually did come out in 1944 as promised, but all ties to ''Phantom'' were dropped, as Claude Rains was unavailable to return. It did use the same sets, though.
** The 1925 film was originally much closer to the book, with scenes including Raoul's visit to Madam Valerius, the Perros graveyard scene, and Christine's kiss redeeming Erik, of which only still images remain. Unfortunately the director didn't like this ending (which was strongly supported by Chaney, who wanted to make the film as close to the book as possible), and neither did test audiences, so it was replaced with the mob scene.

** The German voice of the Phantom is Uwe Kröger, whose claim to fame was playing Death in the musical ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}''. Christine's "Think Of Me" costume is a WholeCostumeReference to the portrait of the titular Empress Elisabeth of Austria, which is recreated in ''Elisabeth'' in the act 1 finale. Death is another handsome figure dressed in black with a borderline CompellingVoice who relentlessly follows Elisabeth throughout her life, intent on winning her love, and has a hand in the death of at least one or two of her children. In that finale, Death sings to Elisabeth from within a portrait frame (a recreation of the Winterhalter painting), and later productions change the frame into a mirror, making it a Mobius strip shoutout.

** This was the first Broadway show that Emilie Koautchou saw while on a class trip. As of 2021, she's the production's first black Christine (first as the alternate, then as the main one as of January 26, 2022).

** Sluggish ticket sales coupled with rising production costs (roughly $1million/''week'') following the reopening after the pandemic-forced shutdown resulted in the producers making the sad decision to close the Broadway version of the show on April 16, 2023, shortly after it will have marked its 35th anniversary.

* CastingGag: In the Parisian French dub, Raoul and Christine were played by Damien Sargue and Cécilia Cara. Three years prior, they had originated the leading roles in ''Theatre/RomeoEtJulietteDeLaHaineALamour''. Given [[Theatre/LoveNeverDies what happened between Christine and Meg later]], the casting of Rachel Pignot as Meg is even funnier. Pignot auditioned for Juliette but lost the part to Cara, and was called back to play Lady Capulet and the Nurse.

** Sluggish ticket sales following the reopening after the pandemic-forced shutdown resulted in the producers making the sad decision to close the Broadway version of the show on April 16, 2023, shortly after it will have marked its 35th anniversary.

* John Riddle first saw the show at age 4, when his father took the family to the Toronto production. After it was finished, he turned to him and declared "I'm going to do this someday". 30 years later, he played the part of Raoul in the Broadway production and was in fact the final actor to play Raoul when the show closed.

* CashCowFranchise: The London and New York productions have been up and running since 1986 and 1988 respectively, and have twice out-grossed all of the ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movies ''combined''. Tours and foreign productions are similarly popular, and a lot of merchandise follows in their wake. In Vegas, there was [[http://www.phantomlasvegas.com/ a special condensed 95-minute version]] that retained most of the songs.

** Sluggish ticket sales following the reopening after the pandemic-forced shutdown resulted in the producers making the sad decision to close the Broadway version of the show on February 18, 2023, shortly after it will have marked its 35th anniversary.