Erik (The Phantom of the Opera)
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Erik | |
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The Phantom of the Opera character | |
First appearance | The Phantom of the Opera (1909) |
Created by | Gaston Leroux |
Portrayed by | Lon Chaney Claude Rains Herbert Lom Colm Wilkinson Michael Crawford Dave Willetts Timothy Nolen Steve Barton Robert Englund Julian Sands Gerard Butler Charles Dance Robert Guillaume Paul Stanley Anthony Warlow Ramin Karimloo Ben Lewis John Owen-Jones Earl Carpenter Howard McGillin Anthony Crivello Brad Little Davis Gaines Norm Lewis Hugh Panaro Ben Crawford Laird Mackintosh |
In-universe information | |
Alias | The Phantom of the Opera Opera Ghost The Angel of Music |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Musician, Composer. |
Nationality | French |
Erik (also known as the Phantom of the Opera, commonly referred to as the Phantom) is the
Character history
In the original novel, few details are given regarding Erik's past. The novel confirms that Erik has traveled to multiple countries including
Phantom
Many different versions of Erik's life are told through other adaptations such as films, television shows, books, and musicals. One such popular literary adaptation is the Susan Kay novel Phantom (1990), a fictional in-depth story of Erik from the time of his birth to the end of his life at the Paris Opera House.
For the most part, Kay's novel stays in context with Erik's life history as laid down by Leroux. However, Kay (as explained in her Author's Note) changes and shapes the character to match her own vision, influenced by other adaptations besides the original. In addition, the ending/resolution is quite different from Leroux's. The story follows Erik through his entire life, starting with the night of his birth, and is told from different
Yeston and Kopit
The theatrical team of Maury Yeston (Music and Lyrics) and Arthur Kopit (Book) created a musical based on the novel, Phantom, which investors backed out of after Webber's version became a huge hit. In this version, Erik has spent his entire life living beneath the Opera. Over the years, he became possessive of the Opera, and the creative driving force for the company. No artistic decision is made without Gerard Carriere seeking his approval.[citation needed]
He offers to teach Christine Daaé to sing after hearing her working in the costume shop, and falls in love with her.[citation needed]
This storyline was also the basis for the 1990 miniseries starring Charles Dance, Teri Polo, and Burt Lancaster as Carriere.[citation needed] and the show has received over 1000 theatrical productions worldwide.
The Canary Trainer
In Nicholas Meyer's 1993 novel The Canary Trainer, Sherlock Holmes develops several theories as to the Phantom's identity:[1]
- Holmes first idea is that the Phantom is an employee of the Opera; however, when the Phantom's knowledge of the Opera becomes evident, Holmes then believes that he is Charles Garnier, having faked his own death. However, Garnier's corpse is conclusively identified.
- Holmes then theorizes that the Phantom was Edouard LaFosse, Garnier's (fictional) assistant, who designed much of the Opera's interior and who allegedly died after a building collapse. Holmes theorizes that he did not die, but was merely disfigured and therefore took to hiding in the Opera.
- When Holmes finally confronts the Phantom, however, he denies that he is Edouard LaFosse.
Holmes therefore admits that he is not sure how true any of the theories or claims of the Phantom's identity are. The Phantom never provides a given name in the novel; he only tells Christine that his name is "Nobody".
Regardless of his identity, the Phantom in The Canary Trainer is much more unhinged and bloodthirsty than in the original novel or play: for example, when killing Madame Giry's replacement with the chandelier, he kills "almost thirty men and women in the twinkling of an eye", just to ensure that he kills his main target.[1]
The Phantom is also more psychologically disturbed, to the extent that he tells Holmes that he has been "taught" not to speak without his mask, as his mother forced him to wear it whenever he wished to speak as a child. When Holmes knocks the mask off in their final confrontation he then only communicates in snarls and other animalistic sounds.[1]
The Angel of the Opera
In Sam Siciliano's novel The Angel of the Opera, Sherlock Holmes is brought in to solve the case of the Opera Ghost, and both Erik's and Holmes's stories unfold through the eyes of Holmes's assistant, Henri Vernier. Siciliano places Holmes and Vernier at several of the crucial scenes in Erik and Christine's relationship, and draws parallels between Erik and Holmes. Holmes sympathizes with Erik so much that after Christine leaves him, Holmes brings him back to England. One of the first people that Erik meets on his arrival is a
Erik's deformity
In the original novel, Erik is described as corpse-like and is referred to as having a "death's-head" (
.His mouth is never described in as much detail, but is referred to as a "dead mouth" by Christine, and Erik acknowledges that his mouth is abnormal when lifting up his mask to display ventriloquism. He is described as extremely thin, so much so that he resembles a skeleton. Christine graphically describes his cold, bony hands, which also either feel or smell like death. There is debate among both English and French speakers as to whether the original French word used here, sentir, was intended by Leroux to mean "smells like" or "feels like", as the French word is used for both feel and smell depending on the context.
Erik woefully describes himself to Christine as a corpse who is "built up with death from head to foot". According to the Persian, Erik was born with this deformity and was exhibited as le mort vivant in freak shows earlier in his life. Erik sometimes plays up his macabre appearance, such as sleeping in a coffin as if he is a vampire; he also costumes as the titular character from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" for the masked ball.[citation needed]
Several movies based on the novel vary the deformities. In
In
In the
The 1998 film adaptation starring Julian Sands as Erik is notable in that the character is not deformed and has instead a classically handsome face.
Performers
Film
Onscreen, Erik has often been cast as a
- Lon Chaney in the 1925 American silent version by Rupert Julian, The Phantom of the Opera, starring Mary Philbin as Christine Daaé and Norman Kerry as Viscount Raoul de Chagny.
- Claude Rains in the 1943 Technicolor version of Phantom of the Opera. In this version, his full name was "Erique Claudin".
- Herbert Lom in the 1962 version of The Phantom of the Opera. In this version, his name was "Professor Petrie".
- William Finley in the 1974 rock-musical version of The Phantom of the Opera, Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise.
- Robert Englund in the 1989 horror film version of The Phantom of the Opera. In this version, his full name was "Erik Destler".
- Julian Sands in Dario Argento's adaptation The Phantom of the Opera in 1998.
- Gerard Butler in the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage version The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
- Ramin Karimloo in the live stage to film recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
- Ben Lewis in the live stage to film recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies
Television
- Maximilian Schell as Sándor Korvin/The Phantom of the Opera in the 1983 television film The Phantom of the Opera .
- Charles Dance as Erik/The Phantom of the Opera in the 1990 NBC two-part television miniseries.
Theatre
- Edward Petherbridge, of the 1976 English play version.
- Peter Straker in Ken Hill's musical version in 1984.
- Richard White in Yeston/Kopit's stage version in 1991 and 1993.
- Robert Cuccioli in Yeston/Kopit's stage version in 1992-93 and 2007-08.
- Ben Forster in Ken Hill's musical version in 2024.
Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals
See main list: The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies
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References
- ^ ISBN 0-393-31241-0. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
From the memoirs of John H. Watson as edited by Nicholas Meyer
- ^ "Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera". Roger Ebert. December 21, 2004. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
- ^ "The World Today - Stage star stopped by stroke". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.