FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Pam Slay, 818.755.2480
May 9, 2007
THE ANGEL OF MUSIC IN ALL HIS PHANTASMAGORICAL GLORY!
‘THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA,’
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MUSICAL OF ALL TIME,
BASED ON GASTON LEROUX’S 1911 PULP HORROR NOVEL AND ADAPTED FOR THE BIG SCREEN BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER AND JOEL SCHUMACHER,
IS ONLY ON HALLMARK CHANNEL JUNE 23
MOVIE PREMIERE INCLUDES NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE AND MEDIA RICH ONLINE PROGRAM CONTENT
Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Miranda Richardson and Minnie Driver Star; More Than 100 Million Tickets Sold As “The Phantom of the Opera” Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London – Also Broadway’s Longest Running Play; Nominated for three Academy® Awards
The music of the night soars, the chandelier plummets and dashing Raoul battles the tragic Phantom for the love of innocent Christine when Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” comes exclusively to Hallmark Channel Saturday, June 23 (8/7c). The best-loved rock opera of all-time will premiere with never-before-seen footage, a bonus song, and a media rich online experience for consumers.
Based on Gaston Leroux’s 1911 pulp horror novel and nominated for three-time Academy® Awards, “The Phantom of the Opera” – a motion picture from Joel Schumacher -- stars Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Miranda Richardson and Minnie Driver. Cherished by millions around the world, Broadway’s longest-running show, is also celebrating its 20th anniversary currently at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
Academy Award®-winner Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Evita”), composer of the top selling original cast album of all time, was also nominated for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original song for “The Phantom of the Opera” – an honor he shares with Charles Hart who co-wrote lyrics for “Learn to be Lonely.” “The Phantom of the Opera” is the heartbreaking story of a disfigured genius (Butler) obsessed by his love for a beautiful dancer (Rossum) at the Opera Populaire.
Posing as the Angel of the Music whom Christine’s dying father had promised would look over her the reclusive Phantom becomes her secret mentor and teacher. Two obstacles stand in the way of his plans to make her a star — La Carlotta (Driver), the Opera’s temperamental prima donna and the handsome young Vicompte Raoul de Chagny (Wilson), the theater’s patron, who is also in love with Christine. A more formidable challenge is the Phantom’s knowledge that his beloved would flee in terror if she were to see his face. His mounting passion and jealousy lead to terrifying events, reaching a life-or-death crescendo in the fantastic underground lair he has created far beneath the Opera stage.
Emmy Rossum was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, named Best Young Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and awarded the Best Female Breakthrough Performance Award by the National Board of Review for her performance as Christine.
Miranda Richardson plays Madame Giry, the Opera’s ballet mistress, the one person who knows the Phantom’s secrets. Acclaimed character actors Simon Callow and Ciaran Hinds play the theater’s new managers who invite calamity when they grossly underestimate the Phantom’s threats. British model. actress and singer Jennifer Ellison plays Madame Giry’s daughter Meg, Christine’s friend and confidante.
Playing off an urban legend that a huge underground lake was created by the construction of the Paris Opera House, novelist Gaston Leroux introduced the Phantom to his public in Le Fantôme De L'Opéra in 1909. The novel was translated into many languages, including English in 1911, and became a worldwide best seller. It subsequently was adapted frequently for the stage and screen. Webber’s musical, which made its world debut at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1986, retells Leroux’s horror story as a tragic tale of doomed love. “Phantom” opened on Broadway in January 1988 and is still playing to packed houses -- the longest running Broadway musical ever. The original cast album has sold more than 40 million copies, another record. In all, the producers estimate that 100 million people have seen a stage production in the 113 cities and 22 countries where it has played.
“The Phantom of the Opera” is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Odyssey Entertainment, of a Really Useful Films/Scion Films production of a film by Joel Schumacher. Schumacher directed from a screenplay by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Joel Schumacher. The music is by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Andrew Lloyd Webber is producer. Austin Shaw, Paul Hitchcock, Louise Goodsill, Ralph Kamp, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman and Keith Cousins are executive producers. Eli Richbourg is co-producer.
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of over 76 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation’s leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.
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