By placing them to opera arias by Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Weber, Mozart, Donizetti, and Boito, he created a musical that reflected the era in which the original novel was written. Consequently, he discarded the modern score by Ian Armit and wrote original English lyrics that told Gaston Leroux’s tale. This time though, he wanted to add the kind of music that would have been heard at the Opéra Garnier in the late 19th century. In 1984, Hill revived his musical version of The Phantom of the Opera. It differed from the later version of Ken Hill’s musical, in having a modern musical score by Ian Armit (who also worked with Hill on his production of The Curse of the Werewolf) in addition to excerpts from the opera Faust by Charles Gounod. It was directed by John Blackmore, designed by Clare Lyth, with musical direction by Gary Yershon.
This first production was produced at The Duke’s Playhouse in Lancaster on 26 July 1976, where it proved to be a hit. The show started off as a production at Morecambe Pier as the first staged musical version, but was also first staged when Hill was working as Director of Productions for the Newcastle Playhouse. Hill's musical inspired the award-winning Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of the story, although he never received any formal royalty for it.Īs Ken Hill rummaged through a used bookstore, he picked up a copy of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera novel and eventually produced it as a stage musical. Hill’s Phantom of the Opera was the first musical version of the story by Gaston Leroux and has enjoyed financial success.
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