The Phantom of the Opera detective mystery entitled "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" in 1907, and four years later he published "Le Fantôme de l’Opéra". The novel was first published within newspapers before finally being published as a novel in 1911. The setting of "The Phantom of the Opera" came from an actual Paris opera house that Leroux had heard the rumors about from the time the opera house was finished. The details about the Palais Garnier, and rumors surrounding it, are closely linked in Leroux's writing. The underground water tank that he wrote about is accurate to this opera house, and it is
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) opening. The New York Times' Frank Rich writes: "It may be possible to have a terrible time at "The Phantom of the Opera," but you'll have to work at it. Only a terminal prig would let the avalanche of pre-opening publicity poison his enjoyment of this show, which usually wants nothing more than to shower the audience with fantasy and fun, and which often succeeds, at any price." Howard Kissel from New York Daily News commended the production, calling it "a spectacular entertainment, visually the most impressive of the British musicals", and praised Lloyd Webber's score despite its "synthetic, borrowed