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My modest collection of vintage poets and poetry.

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*sigh* Back on my Phantom of the Opera bullshit.

I love and hate him, just a pathetic corpse man. 

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The model of the Opera Garnier at the Musée d'Orsay offers a unique view of the building's structure and also an impression of what it looked like in the past. The ceiling in the model still features the original art by Eugène Lenepveu, and you can still see the pulleys over the stage which have been removed from the actual building because they are no longer needed. The only thing that really seems to be missing here is the chandelier!

Full view of the building

The stage and auditorium

The upper area of the stage including the flies and pulleys that were used to move the props and backgrounds

The five cellars under the stage and the lake beneath the fifth cellar. The stage as well as the two first cellars are slightly tilted.

A closer view of the boxes and the original ceiling

The backstage area, including administrative offices, dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces and the Foyer de la Danse

The grand staircase

The Grand Foyer

Rear view of the Rue Gluck side

Front view

All pictures are mine. Please credit when using elsewhere. Thanks!

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The Phantom Timeline

The order of events in the Leroux novel can be a bit confusing due to the “puzzle“ style of the narrative, so I‘ve tried and listed everything with a chronological indication in the (hopefully) correct order and timeframe. Piecing everything together, it is quite amazing how quickly things happened…

Beginning of November, possibly late October ("a good 3 months" before Christine‘s first disappearance): Erik and Christine meet, Erik starts teaching Christine. Talk of the “Opera Ghost” also arises “several months” before the gala, so probably around the same time.

January 10: Gala night featuring Christine, departure of Debienne and Poligny, Buquet’s body is found, Moncharmin and Richard learn about the ghost. Raoul hears Erik‘s voice in Christine’s dressing room.

The anniversary of Christine's father's death and her trip to Perros take place at some point later in January.

January 25: a note from the opera ghost arrives, claiming Box 5. M and R reserve Box 5 for Debienne and Poligny, so it remains empty.

January 26: Thank-you note from the ghost arrives, Box 5 sold to the public, occupants thrown out. Erik‘s note also states that he will write to them soon concerning the payment of his salary.

January 27: Mme Giry interrogated

The Saturday after: Faust performance where chandelier falls. Erik brings Christine to his house, where she stays for 2 weeks.

2 weeks later (mid-February): Christine and Erik go to the Masked Ball. Christine meets Raoul and later returns to Erik for the night. He gives her the wedding ring and she returns home the next morning.

Next day: Raoul visits Christine at home and sees the gold ring.

Next day: Raoul sees Christine at the Opera and tells her that he will be leaving in 3 or 4 weeks for the North Pole. The engagement game begins.

1 week later: Christine runs off to Erik.

2 days later: Christine reappears in “La Juive”

The following days are not stated, but it seems to be about another week, possibly, until the rooftop scene. Maximum duration of the entire engagement episode: 3-4 weeks, so no later than mid-march. The evening of Christine‘s abduction coincides with the payment of the Opera Ghost‘s monthly salary.

Rooftop scene evening: Raoul shoots Erik on the balcony. Raoul and Philippe quarrel.

Next day: The supposed engagement of Raoul and Christine is announced in the newspaper. Raoul prepares elopement and goes to the opera house at 9 pm. Christine is abducted from the stage. Erik sets her an ultimatum until 11 pm the following night (24 hours). Second payment collected. Past midnight, Raoul and the Persian go off in search of Christine and fall into the torture chamber.

Next day, 11 pm: Ultimatum runs out. Christine turns scorpion. Raoul and the Persian almost drown, but are recovered by Erik and Christine.

The Persian is delivered back to his apartment probably 1-2 days later, depending on how long he slept. Erik lets Christine and Raoul go.

Shortly after: Erik comes to visit the Persian.

3 weeks later: Erik dies (end of March to possibly mid-April).

So Erik met Christine (and most likely started masquerading as the opera ghost) at the beginning of November, and died the following spring at the end of march, maybe mid-April at the latest. This means that the entire plot, from Erik‘s and Christine’s first meeting to his death, spans only 5 to 5 ½ months in total. Therefore, they knew each other for a much shorter time than commonly assumed, especially within the context of the ALW musical.

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I made Erik in Hero Forge! As it turns out, their male zombie model makes for a perfect Leroux Erik. Added some ALW Phantom elements as well :)

(When I made him his skin had more of an earthy tone to it, but this yellow works, too. I guess the colors got altered in the screenshots I took? Why are my computer's colors always a little off from how it looks when I post them on the internet??)

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I don't know what vibe this is giving me but it's got definite vibes

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sup guys

I’ve just reread Leroux POTO and wanted to capture this creepy uneasy gothic feeling of the novel.

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PotO locations - The Madeleine church (Erik's chosen wedding venue)

In Leroux's novel, Erik plans to marry Christine in the Madeleine church, a catholic church about 10 minutes walking distance from the Opera - so I dedided to let the wedding bells ring a little and pay the Madeleine a visit as well. If you thought that Erik would pick a small neighbourhood church that wouldn't attract much attention, this couldn't be much further from the truth because this church is huge. He admits to having a faible for the "grandiose" in the book, and his choice of wedding location totally confirms that. He really wanted to shout it from the rooftops!

One of its features is a big and very beautiful pipe organ, so perhaps that is why Erik picked it as the place to play his wedding march...

The pipe organ

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His Obsession, Her Promise by MannaKana.

“I give you back your liberty, Christine, on condition that this ring is always on your finger. As long as you keep it, you will be protected against all danger and Erik will remain your friend. But woe to you if ever you part with it, for Erik will have his revenge!”

-The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

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"Christine, I love you..."

Photo reference here

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they're all great at karaoke!!

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Happiness is drawing monsters

Dan Brereton

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Opéra Garnier - Box Five

Since about 2010, Box Five has been labelled with a small brass badge as „Loge du Fantôme de l‘Opéra“ („The Phantom of the Opera‘s Box“) - making it one of the few official tokens of recognition of the Phantom story. Unfortunately, we could not go in on this occasion, so I tried to take a photo through the window. I do have some photos of the interior of a very similar box on the other side of the auditorium here.

The design of the box doors inspired the design of Christine‘s dressing room door in the ALW musical.

The door to Box Five is right next to the entrance to Box 1-3 (the „Emperor‘s Box“. According to our tour guide, the Phantom wanted to be on the “same side as the Emperor“. Within the context of the novel, it is more likely though that Box Five was chosen for easy access from Erik‘s house, which presumably was also located towards the Rue Scribe side.

The marble pillar next to Box Five, inside of which Erik hid according to Leroux.

The velvet doors lead to a rather simple staircase to the upper and lower levels.

The hallway outside Box Five

The interior of Box Five, as seen through the window.

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Well at least we know the mirror bride dummy is alright

(Via Emilie Kouatchou’s Instagram story)

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"The whole night seemed to feel her".

—Charlotte Bronte, "Villette”

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That scene

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Opéra Garnier - In the cellars of the Opera

Being able to go down into the cellars of the Opera and seeing the entrance to the lake was probably the most exciting part of our backstage tour. Many of the features mentioned in Phantom - the stables, the heating furnaces, the „pipe organ“ - no longer exist, but great parts of the cellars are still in their original state. They look a little more modern than you‘d perhaps expect - but keep in mind that the building is actually only about 150 years old, so pretty modern by European standards.

This way to….E?

The cellars are still used as a storage for props - this cart is used in the ballet „Giselle“.

The cellars of the Opera still seem to be the go-to place for dramatic declarations of love!