There are a few differences...Well the chandalier scene in the movie is after the song "Past the point of no return" when in the musical the chandalier fell during "poor fool he makes me laugh" after carlottas voice croaks lol...and the "phantom of the opera" song is shorter in the movie than the musical...

thanks.

Ask PhantasmicChild their mom works for the play

"the phantom of the opera" song is shorter? i thought it was longer. weird

Yes the "Phantom of the Opera" is shorter in the film. There's like a whole verse missing. And I'm a fan of that verse I love it!

Also if you ask me the phantom is way more of a sympathetic, romantic character in the film. In the musical he's more sinister and from my memory I swear Christine and Raoul do more kissing in the musical............

There's also another "Notes" scene in which "We have all been blind" and "Twisted Every Way" is included in. It's Firmin, Andre, Carlotta, Raoul, Giry and Christine trying to figure out what to do about Don Juan Triumphant. There is also a small rehearsal scene, which leads into "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again". In "Wandering Child" Raoul also sings, before the phantom kind of baits him with fireballs instead of a swordfight.

Um that's all I remember for now. :)

Yes my mother USED to work backstage there (little word of advice: NEVER ask about what happened backstage, because you will NOT get a load of theatrical moohaa, you will get quite a few stories that should come with a health warning: not for the faint-hearted ((seriously, I tell no lies, once, someone hated the theatre mistress so much that, during a party backstage, someone did a POO on the phantoms throne!!( there's a throne in the theatre show) they never found out who it was!!!))

The movie did a lot of kind of screwed up things to the play. Now just off of the top of my head I can give you this rundown.
The whole thing with old geezer Raoul was only in the Prolouge. He didn't keep cropping up, and there was no visit to Christine's grave in the show. It ended with the Phantom vanishing into his throne and Meg holding up the mask.
The Overture is pretty much just the chandelier being raised and some lights in the stage version.
The costumes are WAY the hell different in the stage version.
Raoul does not appear at the rehearsal in the stage version, the first time you see him is in the manager's box during Think of Me.
Christine doesn't end up in Carlotta's dressing room. The room with the awesome mirror was always hers. And it never mentions the ballet dormitories or the chapel. Angel of Music is performed entirely in Christine's dressing room. There's no flashback of Daddy Daae bringing little Christine to the opera, and in the stage version you get the impression that the lessons have only been going on for a little while (in the book I believe it was 3 months prior to her debut). Whereas in the movie version you have creepy pedophile Phantom hanging around Christine since she was like 8.
Also there's a LOT more rececitive which I missed a lot in the movie version.
And then we have the Mirror scene. In the stage version Christine is the one who locks the door to her dressing room after Raoul leaves. She's also dressed less like a slut.
There is a verse missing from the title song, and they lowered the final note for Emmy. It's supposed to be an Eb above high C.
Music of the Night is also much better in the stage version. There's a lot less feeling up of Christine and a lot more of Erik being sexy. And the portcullis. Oh GOD the portcullis!
The unmasking is also a lot better in the stage version. He freaks out just a tetch more.
And then we move on to Prima Donna, which in the stage version takes place entirely in the manager's office. They cut out the harmonies from the song which is really irritating. In the stage version it's far more impressive having 5 part harmonies bouncing off of each other. Also, Erik seems to take more of an interest in the stage version because at the end of the song he reminds them that a 'disaster beyond their imaginations will occur' as well as the voice over during the note reading being actually HEARD by the people on stage.
Then there's Il Muto. Piangi did NOT play Don Attilo in the stage version, it's a baritone/bass and he's awesome. There's also no sheep in the ballet, and we don't see Erik kill Buquet. Just the body dropping from the ceiling. Also Erik crops up during Carlotta's croaking fit and makes it clear that he's the reason why she's having problems. Also there's no atomizer to blame it on. It's Erik being an awesome ventriloquist.
And then there's the roof scene. THIS is where Erik looses his temper and after the All I Ask of You reprise he drops the chandelier.
Intermission.
Masquerade is 6 months after the chandelier falls and once again the costuming is drastically different, and in my opinion far better in the stage version. There's a chick dressed like the monkey music box. It's awesome.
There's no half-assed torture chamber (the hall of mirrors) in the stage version, and Raoul tracks Mme Giry down backstage to ask about Erik's past.
This is also radically different. I now give you the lines from the stage version:
Mme G: Monsieur please don't ask me! I know no more than anyone else!
Raoul: That's not true. You've seen something, haven't you? *she tries to bolt* Madame Giry for all our sakes!
Mme G: Very well. It was years ago. There was a travelling fair in the city. Conjurers, tumblers, human oddities.
Raoul: Go on.
Mme G: And there was--I shall never forget him!--a man. Locked in a cage!
Raoul: A cage?
Mme G: A prodigy monsieur. Scholar, architect, composer....
Raoul: ...and a musician.
Mme G: They boasted he had once built for the shah of Persia a maze of mirrors....
Raoul: Who was this man?
Mme Giry: (sung) A freak of nature, more monster than man.
Raoul: Was he deformed?
Mme G: From birth, it seemed.
Raoul: Oh my God, Christine!
Mme Giry: And then he went missing. He escaped! (sung) They never found him, it was said he had died.
Raoul: but he didn't die did he?
Mme Giry: I(sung)The world forgot him, but I never can, for in this darkness I have seen him again.
Raoul: (sung) And so our Phantom's this man.
Mme Giry: I have said too much, monsieur! And there have been too many accidents! *runs offstage*
I may have botched one or two words, but this is not on the cast album.
And then we move on to Notes 2, which is again in the managers office. At the end of this is when Twisted Every Way comes, and it's sung.
Then there's the rehearsal to Don Juan, Christine moves away from this and the scene changes to the graveyard and Christine sings a reprise of Little Lotte.
Then it's Wandering Child. No swordfight. Erik taunts Raoul and throws fireballs at him. "Bravo, monsieur. Such spirited words!"
And then there's the setup for Don Juan, Raoul and the managers have placed police around the house and there's a marksman in the pit, who is told to shoot the Phantom if he gets a clear shot, but "only when the time comes". Erik then throws his voice around the auditorium and briefly appears in Box 5, causing the marksman to fire at him. Raoul rebukes the man for shooting prematurely. Erik then taunts them all unseen. "No buts. For once, monsieur le vicompte is right. (sung) Seal my fate tonight, I hate to have to cut the fun short, but the joke's wearing thin. Let the Audience in, let my opera begin!"
Then we have the chorus and Piangi and Passarino, followed by Point of No Return. In the stage version Erik appears dressed in a long black robe that hides his face, and makes it a little more believable that nobody noticed the switch immediately. And there's no Dread Pirate Robert's Dance Squad. Instead of that bridge thing, there's the bench. And the bench is hawt.
After the All I Ask of You reprise again, she pulls off his mask. he has a WAY better defomity in the play, and he runs offstage with her. In the ensuing chaos, we see that Piangi has been strangled.
Down Once More is done in the boat, and then we're back at the lair.
Mme Giry leads Raoul to a point over the lake, points him in the correct direction and deserts him. Raoul then jumps into the lake and the next time we see him is in the lair.
The punjab lasso is used on Raoul in the stage version, which is suspended from the ceiling, thankfully depriving us of the homo-erotic bondage moment between Erik and Raoul. The show ends with the mob climbing down the portcullis, and Erik vanishing. And then there's the bows. Yay!
There's more, but that's the big stuff.

"Whereas in the movie version you have creepy pedophile Phantom hanging around Christine since she was like 8."
LMAO and since this was the first taste of Phantom I ever saw it sealed my fate as a diehard Raoul/Christine shipper. Who were childhood sweethearts. Kay.

"thankfully depriving us of the homo-erotic bondage moment between Erik and Raoul."
LMAO. I love the way you described that! XD

Wow! Velvet Fox, you really know your stuff! Dragon Rider, if you really want to see a different version of the story, rent the 1920's silent version. If you like the idea of Erik and Christine together, it will most likely change that idea. While in the musical versions there is a lot of symbolism to show who Christine is supposed to end up with, the symbolism is not needed in the older version.

God, I hate the "Dread Pirates Robert's Dance Squad"! XD

Well, I don't think there's anything for me to add that hasn't been said.

Oh, did someone mention that the Phantom can actually sing! (LOL, sorry. I'm so mean to poor Gerry. *stabs him*)

Well he can unless you're watching Paul Stanley in the role.... Also not overly crazy about Colm. All I hear is Valjean when he sings and it gets creepy fast.

Oh yeah....and Erik doesn't play with dollies in the stage version. Unless you count the Christine mannequin. Which ends up getting tossed across the stage in Final Lair. Final Lair is so much better in the stage show.

This is all interesting. I didn't know Gerald Butler sucked at singing. Whatever I like Steve Harley's singing voice.

Phantomess, ever heard of paragraphs? ;D

Anyway... "Whereas in the movie version you have creepy pedophile Phantom hanging around Christine since she was like 8."

But the film didn't claim The Phantom had felt the same way about her all those years.

Maybe it begun as a compassionate feeling towards a little girl who felt lonely and sad, like he did, and apparently had huge Daddy issues in the letting-go matters. Which all would be a reason for The Phantom to start hanging around her as the Angel her Daddy had promised to send her.

And then, when the little girl grew into a young, beautiful woman, those feelings could've easily changed/been added to, because they shared the bond and Christine was never really like a daughter to him but a student and friend.

I honestly never ever saw any creppy pedophilia aspect in the film.

And what bothers me most about the film VS. the stage versions, is the deformacy level of his face. The film version is NOT as bad as everyone in the film pretty amazingly well makes it seem like by their reactions. :D Heck, in the stage version it was truly HORRIGIC. Even part of his skull was showing...

I mean, the unnecessarely tame deformacy... especially as they also made him much more romantic and stabled in the film in personality matters. Seriously, I was all O___O when I first saw some of the stahe Phantoms in the Final Lair scene, while the ALW film had been my first touch with the ALW version.

But I llloooove the Gerry-Phantom to bits. I just always mentioned "but his face is more like the stage Phantoms's", in the author's notes of my fanfiction stories. :D In the end I even made a photomanipulation.

I'm feeling generous! (Or possibly vindictive against everyone who thinks GB can sing without having heard REAL singers...then again it may also simply be chalked up to the two delicious shots of 151 I just enjoyed) I therefore provide you all with video bootlegs of the stage show.
I think this one is Brad Little (if it isn't him it's MC. I really should have labeled this better)
link

Vegas "Spectacular" with Sierra as Christine
link


And for the sake of random:
Budapest non-replica production (If you ever wanted to know what Erik would look like with Edward Hyde's hair and leather pants.)
link

Warsaw non-replica (obviously influenced by the 2004 movie. The quality is crap, but full vids of this production can be very difficult to find)
link

Also proshot music vids. MOTN (MC), the title song (Steve Harley and Sarah Brightman), and MC and SB performing at the Tony Awards in '88, or was it '87...*shrug* Either way, enjoy.
link

There are many differences, but the main one is the moving of the chandelier crash from after "All I Ask Of You (Reprise)" to after "Point of No Return."