Todays review - The musical The Phantom of the Opera was created by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He composed the music and produced the original stage show.
The story is based on the 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.
The original London production opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1986 and has run there ever since.
in short: Andrew Lloyd Webber adapted Leroux’s story into the famous musical we know today.
So I went to into the West end sometime ago to watch The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre. I thought I would share, through my own christian eyes on how I viewed it (not the actors or creator of the opera but just spiritually speaking from my point of view ) just like I did with the Marie Antoinette article I wrote recently, truth be told I wrote this one before and left it sat in my drafts because I wasn’t sure if I was able to convey it properly or that I could really articulate it well, so I gave it a few months and thought who cares just publish it anyway : ).
So here we go……. I think the Lord at the time was showing me and opening my eyes in what I would watch or listen to also with people I knew at that specific time!, like how a parent teaches their child to talk or learn to read for the first time the Holy Spirit was training me, he did say I will bring to your remembrance all things pertaining to Christ and I believed him. Christ is ever patient and it’s true the more you draw close to him the closer he will draw nigh unto you! so I asked him in quiet prayer to show me things as you see them Lord and not through my own eyes or thoughts and this has been slowly happening, I say slowly not in an impatient way but in a way that Christ knows I a mere blade of grass would be to overwhelmed with much understanding comes much sorrow and that is an understatement to say the least.
I had never been to the opera before and this was a new experience for me, the theatre alone felt like I had stepped back in time centuries ago to the old beautiful opera house in Paris yet I was seated in London but the stage was set to show the Opera House in Paris back in the day. I was guided to my seat in the royal circle to which my eyes looked down upon the stage where the performance suddenly begins. My first immediate thought was and I will be honest… are you not entertained and a quick picture of the colosseum enters my mind as I look around at everyone seated.
The Phantom of the Opera is a dramatic story set inside the grand Opera House in Paris, where a mysterious, masked musical genius lives hidden beneath the theatre. From the shadows he secretly trains a young soprano named Christine, convincing her he is her “Angel of Music,” and that he’s there to help launch her career. But soon his guidance turns into obsession, he demands her devotion and grows jealous of her childhood friend Raoul, who happens to genuinely love her. What unfolds is a story of beauty and darkness intertwined, about longing to be seen, the difference between possessive obsession and selfless love, and the tragic consequences of trying to force someone to love you.
The Lights grow dim and I settle down in my seat.
The orchestra strikes the famous organ chord — violent, sudden, The chandelier begins to rise, piece by piece, glowing as if awakening from death, the dust disappears. The theatre transforms. The years literally roll back before my very eyes and yes i’m already entertained.
Gas lamps flare. Gold returns. Velvet deepens. The space becomes alive and opulent.
And we are all transfixed and no longer in the present.
When I first sat there and watched the opening of Phantom, I wasn’t thinking about theatre history or stagecraft. I was aware of something else — something almost spiritual in the room or within my own thoughts at least.
The lights dimmed and it opened in dust and the scene was set.
Then “Lot 666” is announced — the chandelier.
And obviously noooo, that number doesn’t just pass by me casually!! as i’m sure it wouldn’t have with you!. Scripture has trained my ears and eyes to notice it. Rebellion. False glory. The beastly imitation of what is holy and a whole lot more I could go on about with that number in mind.
And then the music erupts.
The past hasn’t been redeemed — it’s been re-staged and we know theres nothing new under the sun. The beauty is intoxicating the orchestra loud, but it’s fragile. It’s memory dressed up as glory.
And beneath it all, unseen, is…….the Phantom!.
He is hidden. He shapes events from the shadows. He offers elevation, brilliance, recognition — but through secrecy, manipulation, and control. He promises transcendence without truth my.
Watching it as a Christian, I couldn’t ignore the parallel.
How often does humanity long for lost splendour? came up within my thoughts, We ache for beauty, worshipping false idols and yes they come in all shapes and sizes sounds and colours . We crave transcendence spiritually and seem to rate who is holier than thou . We want to feel lifted out of the our everyday ordinary lives clutching on to our own vanity and decadent dreams. But will we accept counterfeit light if it dazzles us enough many are! and I pray Lord help me to not accept any counterfeit anything.
The opening scene felt like Genesis and Revelation colliding in the theatre to me . Created for glory. Fallen into decay. Fascinated by spectacle. Vulnerable to deception. I was thinking this as a member of the audience myself what voice am I listening too?, what is being projected from the stage to the mind of the masses who come to watch this , are the sheep in this theatre listening to Angel of Music ( and know that name is not lost on me either) Give them Bread and circus because time is of the essence and today is the day of salvation and am I wasting it here by watching this, I don’t quite know.
Why did I feel that draw to the phantom in this? is it because I have lived my whole life in deception in unbelief in the worldl before I was born again? ,it almost felt like a global stage production set for each of us individually and we all have the phantom roaring too and fro within our lives within our own minds and just as he did with Christine he wanted to do with us. To be our voice our actions our hands to sing his song through us and our mouths and we be his fallen vessel that he the phantom can use each and every day? like little puppets on fallen strings, is that what keeps us separated from God in the everyday moments the devil/phantom keeping us distracted with dreams and ambition we are bombarded with ideas marketing colours and sounds and socials all the day long are my thoughts my own our am I an instrument being played by the pied piper. The Prison we find ourselves in is comfort, numbness and comparison along with my own will, my own thoughts, my own imagination, wasting years upon years on my own multiple choice options, can self cast out self? can the ego free the ego how does the one who is deceived become undeceived we can’t do it in our onward strength. when your an unbeliever you don’t know that your dead spiritually just as Christine didn’t know she was dancing with the phantom/devil in my interpretation of events.
Isaiah 14:12–14, where the King of Babylon is described in language later associated with Lucifer’s pride:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon; I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
On the surface the Phantom offers Christine greatness. He tells her she is special. Chosen. Set apart. He nurtures her talent. He gives her music no one else can give. He positions himself as her “Angel of Music” — almost a divine intermediary.
But as I continued to watch I could see-
He wanted her devotion! her worship and more.
He wants to be the voice she trusts above every other voice. He wants access to her imagination, her loyalty, her dependence her now her minuets her hours, her days and her nights!. He doesn’t just want her to sing — he wants her to belong to him and then to be able to sing through her, like a puppet on a string my mind imagines the phantom the devil superimposing himself over her so you no longer see Christine so that if she were to sing or perform on the stage she is but a mere instrument or Christine looking in the mirror seeing not her own reflection but that of the phantom that he would be inthroned within her .
He positions himself as her saviour from obscurity — but he isolates her in the process, he uses the grief of her Father ( her father passed away at the beginning ) . He shapes her whole entire world so that she needs him and ultimately wants him. That’s not love. That’s possession don’t you think?.
Spiritually speaking, it’s the ancient pattern: “I will lift you up… if you bow down to me.”
Matthew 4:1–11
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow
The Phantom is wounded, rejected, cast out, desperate to be seen but hidden — he chooses control. He doesn’t want Christine flourishing and turning her head towards the light . He wants her orbiting him and him inhabiting her!! yes entirely inhabiting Christine.
So what is he offering? - well I saw death and separation from our creator the saviour, from true Love to the forefit of her birth right in Christ for carnality for the earthly life, but this offer is offered up as splendour and gifts talent and fame. Christine has the most beautiful voice and he sings through her, to us the audience! his songs and his own playwright ( i’m not sure if that’s what you would call it? but i’m trying to say he’s offering through Christine his own story ! not Gods original plan and purpose, not Christ so to speak, he’s a spirit and needs her physical body to project it and act it out)……Is anyone else seeing this spiritually through a similar lens as me?.
Colossians 1:27
“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
This directly names the indwelling Christ as our source of hope and transformation from children of God unto sons.
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Here, Paul emphasizes personal identification with Christ—His life animates the believer. We are a vessel so I think about how Christine is a vessel and start to see that i’m to put on Christ put of the old man, that Christ said about the father and I will come and make our abode in you. I firs see this visually through the phantom and Christine and then see it in the new creation Christ has been talking about.
Romans 8:10
“But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.”
And that’s why it unsettled me . Because beneath the romance and music, it exposes something very real: the temptation to trade freedom for significance, light for admiration, truth for enchantment. The Lord said test every spirit. you will know them by their fruits- ok so how I prayed???
The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5:22–23:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
The fruits of the flesh ( just laying it out, as it was for me)
Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
James 3:14–16 – “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
Ephesians 4:22–24
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:5–10
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. …You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
1 Peter 1:14
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
we can use this as our discernment in our everyday life and within our own motives what fruit is the tree producing?.
So back to the Opera, Raoul, in the performance had been with Christine as a child and loved her throughout, Raoul:
He pursues her openly, not secretly
Declares his intentions publicly
Is willing to risk his life for her safety
Does not try to isolate her from the world
Does not control her through fear
When he sings “All I Ask of You,” He’s promising Christine protection and his presence like our Lord. It’s almost pastoral. “Let me be your shelter.” That’s a very different tone from “You belong to me.”
I found I could see Christ in Raoul! and that all I thought before about the phantom and Christine was no different to when I didn’t know Christ, once the Lord had revealed himself to me and told me he too had been with me forever and that he never left me nor would he ever forsake me and the sacrifice he made I then had the scales removed from my eyes and new what true love was and is and its Christ in my mind I visualised that we have two voices as well as our own on the inside like Christine had in the Angel of Music, herself and Raul.
The phantoms one that obsesses! and critics and pulls and pushes and isolates her and yet it sounds just like Christines voice not the Phantoms when she sings all the people outside of her hear her yet as we know because of the play its not her voice . the other voice who gently reminds her your safe and reminds her to call out to him and to follow him the truth and anywhere Christine goes, he (Raoul) will go too and then theres Christines own free will her choice and whom will she choose.
Maybe the Lord was teaching me how to discern spiritually and apply it here in my own world whilst also showing me how to see through the things that captivated me and falsely comfort me? these are baby steps in my christian walk on learning I think.
Hebrews 5:14
“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
When I said I could no longer enjoy or even consider the things of the world as fun any more this is what I ment. I see everything differently and it can be very isolating very lonely but I guess that’s what being in the world and not of it means.
John 6:68
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
So that’s what my Christian new born eyes perceived from watching The Phantom of The Opera and I had much to unpack. I would listen to the songs occasionally after and from and earthly point of view yes the Phantom was exciting and romanticised in the play, that Rauol was steadfast and in love with her. I personally appreciated viewing it through these new eyes.
Let me know if you’ve seen the Opera, movie or book and what interpretations you had or have from a christian point of view.
I hope I was able to convey my thoughts ok, this all sounded much better in my own head and a little messy re reading but i’m sending it out to you none the less : )
To anyone who has made it this far down God Bless, thanks for looking and thanks for reading, and continue to seek the Lord even deeper especially in the times in which we live.
