All about Phantom of the Opera

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HISTORICALLY THERE were two different buildings that have housed the "Opera de Paris" at different times. The first, was located on the Rue Le Peletier and opened in 1822. It burned down in 1873 and Parisians had to wait until 1875 when the second "Opera de Paris" re-opened, this time in the building known as the Opera Garnier. Although many of the events described in Leroux's novel�not least of which is the burying of the time capsules�ostensibly took place in the Opera Garnier, there is some evidence that the Phantom may have been associated with the Rue Le Peletier house as well. In fact, given Leroux's predilection for combining several people and events into one character or one plot point, I think it likely he did the same with the two opera houses.
Leatha Ann Betts wrote:

Christine Nilsson sang "Faust" at the Rue Le Peletier Opera House in 1868 but never at the Opera Garnier. She was invited to the opening of the Opera Garnier and even actually contracted to sing for that evening, but then came up with several excuses and did not come back to Paris. Her husband refused to let her sing in France at all.
Regarding the grasshopper and scorpion, those may have been devices used by Leroux to hint at something that might have occurred at the Rue Le Peletier Opera. I do know one thing that was fascinating: a famous dancer accidentally caught her tutu on fire by getting too close to a gaslight and died on that stage. (Betts)

Other evidence for the melding of more than one opera house is in the melding of the two chandelier incidents. In 1896, it was the counterweight, not the entire chandelier that fell. See the description in the previous section. Still, the fact that the counterweight fell on a woman who worked as a concierge and the fact that this occurred at the Opera Garnier (both events detailed in Leroux's novel) make it clear that the 1896 accident is at least being alluded to. But in fact, there was an earlier chandelier incident that took place at a different Parisian Opera House, described by Leonard Wolf in his Essential Phantom of the Opera:

On Novermber 22, 1888, a man named Obrech was killed at a performance of a play called "If I were King" when a chandelier at the Theatre Lyrique fell and smashed his skull (Chadwyck-Healey, p. 5). "The Times" for that date reports that "the performance was continued by desire of the audience." (Wolf, 122)

Until I learned of this November 1888 incident, I'd always assumed that Leroux had simply turned the counterweight into a full chandelier for dramatic effect. At this juncture, however, I consider it equally likely that he got the idea from the actual event even though it took place in a different building.

Says Betts:

I hope I have given you a hint of the mysteries in Leroux's novel. With his being an in-depth reporter, it's possible that he combined many stories. (Betts)

I too feel that to be the most likely.

For More Information

Paris Opera - Le Peletier: This page, referred to me by Betts, includes Drawings, Engravings and one photograph of the Rue le Peletier Opera House.
Emma Livry (1842-1863): Article on the dancer who caught fire at the Paris Opera.

More Phantom History: This is a discussion thread started at GerardButler.net as a result of this article. Leatha Ann Betts has uploaded new photographs of Christine Nilsson and the Patti sisters and tells the story of her research into Phantom.