In 1910 the mystery novelist Gaston Leroux working from scraps of historytheatrical lore and his own fertile imagination created a masterpiece in Lefantome de l... » 

In 1910 the mystery novelist Gaston Leroux working from scraps of historytheatrical lore and his own fertile imagination created a masterpiece in Lefantome de lopera the story of a disfigured composer who lives in thelabyrinthine depths of the Paris Opera. After the breathtaking debut ofChristine Daae the whispers of an Opera ghost seem to become reality as theyoung singer vanishes. As the Phantom strikes again and again targeting foesfrom a jealous diva to a romantic rival Leroux spins a thriller of obsessionand violence with at its center a tormented murderer who awakens our deepestfears and sympathies. The inspiration for Andrew Lloyd Webbers longrunningmusical Lerouxs novel is still more riveting than anything Broadway couldproduce. «