And you may have heard, this is not the Andrew Lloyd Webber pop-musical made famous in the 1980s. The music of the score by Maury Yeston emulates the style of turn-of-the-century operettas, traversing from the romantically ethereal to the mysteriously sublime.
Before they had ever heard of Sir Webber's version, composer Maury Yeston and playwright Arthur Kopit chose to adapt Leroux’s novel. Unfortunately for them, as they were finishing up their musical they opened up a Variety magazine to discover that Webber’s next extravaganza was none other than The Phantom of the Opera. (Simpsons fans would call this a “D’oh!” moment).
Yeston and Kopit’s financial backers did not want to compete with the man who brought the world Cats, so they abandoned the project. The Kopit and Yeston musical collected dust for a while, but in the early 90s they returned to the project and the result is a beautiful and tragic love story.
Many who have watched the Canyon Theatre Guild production have claimed that the Kopit & Yeston production is more exquisite than the Andrew Lloyd Webber version.
Come see our production and find out for yourselves!
Phantom
Book by Arthur Kopit
Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston
Based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Directed by Patti Finley
Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
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