This is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and stage play written by Arthur Kopit. Yeston and Kopit's wanted to find answers to two questions:“Why did Erik, the Phantom, love Christine?” and “How did they meet?”.
In the novel, Christine and the Phantom had already met and known each other for some time, and there was not an explanation as to why he loved her. Yeston and Kopit decided to move the story to an earlier period to the time of the actual meeting so that the audience could experience that moment. They also decided to place the Phantom in danger so that Christine could be his salvation. The Phantom's danger was that he had a life-sustaining need for beautiful music and could not exist without it. The conflict in the story comes two-fold: firstly, when Gérard Carrière loses his position as head of the Opera house and therefore cannot protect Erik anymore; and secondly when Carlotta, the new diva and owner of the Opera, starts to sing. She has such a terrible voice that the Phantom is in torment and his salvation must eventually come through Christine, whose voice is so amazing that he falls in love with her. The story also twists later on when it is revealed that Gérard Carrière, the previous owner of the Opera house, is actually Erik's father. Erik's worst fear is that he would be captured and treated like an animal in a zoo because of his horrendous face. Afer the chandlier incident, the police surround him. It is Erik's worst nightmare that he will be put on display like some circus freak, so he shouts out to his father for help. Carriere understands and he grabs a policeman's gun and aims at his son. He can't bring himself to do it, but Erik begs him. Carrière fires and the Phantom falls, calling out Christine's name.
