FILM 2261: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004)

TRIVIA: The doll in the Phantom's lair that is supposed to resemble Emmy Rossum is not actually a wax mold. It is Emmy Rossum. The production produced a mask of her face to use on the mannequin but when they put in the fake eyes it didn't look like her. She suggested to stand in as the mannequin instead. This was done by her being made up like a doll with waxy makeup on, and her standing very, very still.

The Phantom speaks only fourteen of his lines and sings the rest.

All of the principal actors sang in the film except for Minnie Driver. Most of the actors have a background in musicals or opera, but Driver (a skilled singer) had no experience in opera and was dubbed by Margaret Preece, a singing teacher from Solihull, UK. However, Driver did contribute the film's end title song, "Learn To Be Lonely," written specifically for the film by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Prior to the making of the film, Gerard Butler never had a proper singing lesson, so when he was recording "Music of the Night," he said, "it was quite difficult, considering how long you have to hold the ending note."

Charlotte Church and Kate Winslet were considered for the role of Christine Daae. It was offered to Anne Hathaway but she had to decline because the production schedule of the film overlapped with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Over the course of the film's development, John Travolta, Antonio Banderas, Meat Loaf, Heath Ledger, and Matthew McConaughey were considered for the role of the Phantom. Banderas actually spent several years in vocal preparation and sang the role of the Phantom in Great Performances: Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration(1998).

In Christine's debut performance as the star of the Opera House, she wears a costume that is an exact replica of the outfit Empress Elizabeth (a.k.a. "Sisi") of Austria wears in her most famous portrait. This includes the white diaphanous dress with full, billowing skirt, as well as the diamond star-bursts in her hair and earrings. This is not surprising when one considers the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most important collectors of artwork from this period, and would be familiar with the portrait in question.

In the "Masquerade" scene, there is a pan up the stairs. When it reaches the top of the stairs, opera patrons dressed in cat masks strike the pose that the cats on the show "Cats" pose in any promotional material. "Cats" is also an Andrew Lloyd Webber show.

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