Cameron Mackintosh And The Really Useful Theatre ... - Telecharge

IDEAS FOR RESEARCH & DISCUSSION
� Research the creation of one of these famous buildings, or choose one of
your own:
- The Empire State Building
- The Taj Mahal
- Buckingham Palace
- The Parthenon
- The Coliseum in Rome
� Compare your findings. What were common problems, obstacles or
impediments that each building shared in its creation?
� Write a newspaper article from the time period of your research,
describing the difficulties in creating your famous building.
C
onstruction of the Opera House was interrupted in 1870 by the
outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, which saw the defeat of the
French army and the end of Napoleon III’s reign. As the Prussian army
surrounded Paris through a bitter 19-week winter, the working classes
rose up and declared a new government: the Paris Commune. The
Opera House performed the role of storehouse, arsenal, and later,
military prison. When the Communards were eventually broken by
government troops, ghastly legends of bodies left in the catacombs of
the Opera became a grisly legacy of the Commune.
It was not until 1875 that the Opera House finally opened. France’s Third
Republic had been declared and the people of Paris were eager to put
bloody times behind them. An era of culture, excess and the arts called
La Belle Époque had begun.
It was this time of refinement and pleasure, and the dark emotions that
often lay just underneath, that proved an inspiration to a young and
adventurous reporter named Gaston Leroux.
4 The Study Guide for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA