The three operas of The Phantom of the Opera

While The Phantom of the Opera is a musical through-and-through, it draws an enormous amount of inspiration from the world of opera.

This story of a tortured genius, who lives beneath a Parisian opera house, and the young singer with whom he develops a dangerous obsession, is operatic in scale. And with its backstage setting, it needs a touch of opera to lend authenticity.

Throughout this grand, sweeping romance, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber threaded excerpts of three fictional operas, of different eras and styles: Hannibal, Il Muto and Don Juan Triumphant.

We asked Associate Director Seth Sklar-Heyn about the three operas of The Phantom of the Opera.

What role do the three fictional operas play in The Phantom of the Opera?

Seth Sklar-Heyn: Phantom is a backstage story that takes place within the famed Palais Garnier in Paris.

We think of it as a play with an incredible score attached to it and it’s specifically the operas within the production that help to locate us. It’s about the business of opera, the routines of a working theatre, a community of vivid individuals that inhabit all levels of the building, and it’s the opera productions and stage that are at the center of everything.

It’s on the stage that we meet the show’s key figures, then we’re thrust into the corridors, dressing rooms, offices, and even the subterranean lair of the Phantom filled with props, curtains, and scenery that he’s absconded with from the Opera House above.

How do the operas set the tone for an audience?

SSH: The operas are entertaining, but they are often interrupted, overtaken, and unsettled by unexpected forces from offstage. It’s within the operas when we are reminded that the stage itself can be a dangerous place


Things can go wrong and severe injuries, or worse, are possible. The theatre is also rife with superstition and when our story begins in rehearsals for Hannibal we quickly learn about the persistent threats by a rumored “opera ghost.”

What are the operas about?
Hannibal

Inspiration: This exotic epic is reminiscent of Verdi's Aida.

What happens? In Hannibal, by the fictional composer "Chalumeau", we’ve reached the great choral scene in which Hannibal (played by Piangi) and his army return to save Carthage from the Roman invasion under Scipio.

We join the opera towards the end of Elissa’s (Carlotta) aria. She is alone, holding a present from the approaching Hannibal: a bleeding severed head.

Il Muto

Inspiration: Early Classical operas, like Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

What happens? In Il Muto, we open on an ornate 18th century salon.

We meet a Countess (Carlotta), and the pageboy Serafimo (Christine), disguised as the Countess's maid. Various palace staff are gossiping with relish about the Countess’s current liaison with Serafimo.

Eventually, Don Attilio (the cuckolded husband) visits his wife’s salon to say goodbye before he journeys abroad. Suspicious of his wife, he hides and ultimately catches the Countess in bed with Serafimo.

Don Juan Triumphant

Inspiration: Composed by the Phantom, this opera draws on Mozart’s Don Giovanni in plot. It features a more modern sound akin to Schönberg and Prokofiev.

What happens? The curtain rises on a huge 17th century hall where a licentious nobleman, Don Juan (Piangi), and his servant, Passarino, are surrounded by a horde of ruffians preparing a feast for the two men. They are awaiting the arrival of Aminta, a peasant girl (played by Christine), who is expected presently.

Don Juan has plotted to seduce Aminta by disguising himself as Passarino.

How do you approach these operatic excerpts as a director?

SSH: We don’t think of the three pastiche operas within Phantom as send-ups or parodies. Instead, we approach and play them authentically.

These operatic scenes represent the varied repertoire of the Opera Populaire, the company in residence at our version of the Palais Garnier and are, in ways, referential to some real, traditional works audiences might recognise.

We encourage the company, singers and dancers alike, to perform with a conviction and a heightened delivery that supports the grand scale and style of the characters and design within each piece.

Sydney - Sydney Opera House
From 19 August 2022
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Melbourne - Arts Centre Melbourne
From 30 October 2022
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*Opera Australia