Here's my guide to visiting the glamorous Opera Garnier. The opera house is a must visit attraction in the beautiful city of Paris. This guide tells you everything to see at the Opera Garnier, from the Grand Staircase to the Grand Foyer to the Chagall ceiling.
Wax Work Phantom. MOVIE LAND The figures were not sold at the Movieland auction. Instead, they moved to the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. An alternate phantom figure did sell at the auction for $4,000, which was very high for a figure that was not from Movieland. The organ and props sold for $1,250.houseofwax.blogspot.com -Wax Museum Hollywood Phantom 80's Looking Christine lol Musee Conti Wax Museum--New Orleans---The Phantom of the Opera. -Hollywood Wax Museum Branson. phantom underground -Wax Museum Grand Prairie Texas. - Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum Bristol, Connecticut http://www.preservehollywood.org/DungeonWebNew/Dates.html - Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax located in Arlington, Texas.http://www.ripleys.com/grandprairie/your-visit/louis-tussauds-palace-of-wax/ -Louis Tussards in Blackpool.UK. (note sure which phatom? crawford?)http://www.louistussaudswaxworks.co.uk/tigerbiog.html -Hollywood wax museum. -Salem wax museum. -Laclede's Landing Wax Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. phantom underground -Unknown Museum ? -Museum Of The Weird Austin TXhttp://www.museumoftheweird.com/ -Nightmare Gallery Wax Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. http://www.yelp.com/biz/count-orloks-nightmare-gallery-salem-2 click link for details on Lon Chaney phantom mini in wax
Creating a spooky yard haunt isn't as hard as it seems with these scary DIY Halloween graveyard ideas that the whole neighborhood will love.
By: Abby Smith THE ARTFORM OF BROADWAY Musicals are one of the most beautiful forms of art because they have the power to transform you from...
New PHANTOM OF THE OPERA tour star Chris Mann just posted the first official photo of he and co-star Katie Travis as 'The Phantom' and 'Christine' onstage. Check it out below!
The story of the Phantom of the Opera was initially published in a series of articles in La Galois and then in a book in 1911 entitled, Le Fantôme de l’Opéra written by a French journalist, Gastón Leroux. When the story was first published, it was not popular, and the book went out of print. Leroux whose specialty was investigative journalism based his story on true-life events. In fact, many who have researched this subject believe with just a few exceptions the story has several elements that are true. The opera house in the story was based on the real Opera Garnier in Paris. The Opera Garnier does have underground tunnels, and it also has an underground lake. Leroux used this setting in several dramatic scenes in his story. Chandelier at Opera Garnier There was an incident where a chandelier did fall in the Opera Garnier setting the building on fire and killing a woman. Leroux used a falling light in his story as a distraction so his Phantom could kidnap Christine. The “romance” between the Phantom and Christine in the story is just a fantasy, but it is believed that Leroux based both characters on real people. The Phantom is based upon a man named Erik who was born in a small village in Normandy, near Rouen. He was born with a horribly disfigured face, so his parents abandoned him when he was eight. A circus basically took him, and for 7 years he was used as an attraction. He escaped in Persia and worked as an entertainer for the Shah. Later he worked as an architect’s assistant--he designed and built several harems, which gave him a greater understanding of architectural design. Paris' Opera Granier Now confident, he returned to France. In Paris, he so impressed Charles Garnier that he was signed on as one of the contractors that built the new opera house--the Opera Garnier. He worked 12 hour days until the project was completed. He was no longer the deformed child that had suffered cruelly. He now was a gentleman who wore a mask to hide his distorted face. He also wore a dress suit, a cloak, and a large felt hat. He was respected and earned enough money to live a comfortable life. Just as in the story the real-life Erik had his own personal "Box 5" at the opera house. He even had a hollow column built next to it where he could come and go without being seen. Erik did fall in love with a singer who performed at the Opera Garnier. But finding himself rejected he kidnapped this singer after an evening performance. She was found 3 weeks later, and shortly afterward she left Paris. After this, a legend was spread that Erik was so heartbroken that he walled up the door to his apartment beneath the opera house and died of starvation. Years later when the new Opera Bastille was built this small apartment was supposedly discovered by a workman who found a skeleton wearing a gold ring that Erik was known to wear. It is said Leroux used this “legend” about the real Erik as inspiration for his story. Under Opera Garnier The character Christine was based upon a soprano by the name of Kristina Jonasdotter. It is believed she was Leroux's inspiration because of the overwhelming similarities between her and his character. Jonasdotter was taught to play the violin by her older brother at a young age in Sweden. Her family was impoverished, which made it necessary for her to play this instrument on the street to earn money. She was sent to Stockholm and then to Paris to continue her lessons. Jonasdotter’s beautiful singing voice like the character in the story was discovered by accident. She started to sing at concerts and took the stage name, Kristina Nilsson in the 1860s. According to historians Nilsson had an incredible vocal range and was very beautiful with “a lovely figure and clear blue eyes.” The Haunting Another interesting fact about this story is that the Opera Garnier was considered to be haunted by a phantom--the French term for a ghost--at the time Leroux wrote his story. Leroux used some of these tales to inspire his story. The performers at the opera house firmly believed there was a ghost that haunted the building and the tunnels that lay below. These performers placed a horseshoe above the entrance to the right stage wing for good luck but also to protect them from a ghost they considered to be malevolent in nature. The Grand Staircase It was believed that someone was secretly living in the opera house and many felt it was the ghost of the real Erik. In fact, many claimed that near Box 5 they heard “ghostly’ voices and whispers when the area was unoccupied. Other witnesses stated that they saw this phantom running through various parts of the opera house. Even eerier these witnesses reported this figure wore a black cape and a mask over its face. Renata de Waele in 1993 wrote a narrative that compared the fictional to the real stories. She worked in public relations at the Opera Garnier for many years. Some of her speculations have been proven others have not. So reality is blurred with fiction which leaves the curious with an intriguing mystery.
I had a perfectly WICKED idea last week. I normally just throw a few pumpkins and fall leaves around the house in September and call that decorated until time for Christmas. But I have enjoyed my summer beach themed decor so much that I decided this year I would do some Halloween decorating. We're going out of town in a couple of weeks and when we return it will be October, so I decided we might as well get started - once those ideas start flowing it's hard for me to stop until I'm done. So here's what happened. I went to Ross looking for a few (cheap) Halloween decorations and I found this wicked witch's hat and this little green word - WICKED. NOW I was inspired. I took the hat home and added the black roses and the peacock feather from my stock of stuff crafty supplies. Then I revealed it to my daughter - a huge fan of the play. I suffered through this book hoping it would improve - it never did. How they got a great musical out of that book is way beyond my understanding. When I got Colleen involved she added a few items from her collection. Then I hit a couple thrift stores and various other places that sell such stuff like Marshall's and JoAnn Fabric. Here are the results! Vignette #1 - Wicked Then I got in THAT mode. The "what do I have around the house that we can decorate for Halloween with so we don't have to buy much stuff?" mode. As the wheels started to turn it became easier. My family loves books, movies and the theatre and my daughter has a "COLLECTION" of stuff. Vignette #2 - Harry Potter The candle and candle holder came from the thrift store. We made the labels for the bottles. The rest came from around the house (my daughter's room) and out of the cabinets. Vignette #3 - Pirates of the Caribbean For this one I first raided the costume box, we have a few pirates in the family from time to time. Then Colleen brought in her stuff. I bought the pirate skull salt and pepper shakers at Ross for 3 bucks. The "rum" bottle also came from Ross for 3 bucks! Vignette #4 - Phantom of the Opera So at this point my daughter was coming up with ideas as well as decorative contributions and she suggested Phantom of the Opera. She brought forth masks, a program and sheet music. I contributed a cape, a rose, a candelabra (another thrift store find) and fabric. I pulled out every piece of fabric in my scrap box that I could use to enhance our displays - I was surprised at the great stuff I found from all those years of making costumes. This may be one of my favorites! We're not quite done, we've still got a couple areas to decorate and we've still got a BIG mess in my dining room. I'll show you the rest when it's done and the mess is cleaned up. I hope you enjoyed seeing our ideas and are inspired. My daughter, Colleen, says we should just leave the house like this FOREVER - I'm thinking more like 6 weeks. Stop by and check out our cheesecloth ghosts too. Much Love & Laughter, Laura http://debbie-debbiedoos.com < http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net http://cedarhillranch.blogspot.com http://betweennapsontheporch.net http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/ http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
Arthur Lubin - Phantom of the Opera (1943)
