It all began in 1882, when Antoinette Giry, Maitresse du corps de ballet at the Opera, took her small child, Meg, to a carnival. And there, to her horror, she saw a caged, filthy, manacled creature whose tormented eyes shone from a grotesquely deformed face. Overcome by pity, Madame Giry freed him, cured his wounds, and finally let him find a dwelling place in the seven floors below ground levels of the labyrinthine opera house. The creature -- Erik -- was to become the Phantom of the Opera, his hideous visage masking a brilliant mind. He is a magician, an artist, a musician, and lover. But when he tries to lure the object of his adoration to his underground domain -- it must end in tragedy.

But did it end?

Gaston Leroux's original novel The Phantom of the Opera has been the subject of many adaptations. One of which is of course Andrew Lloyd Webber's spectacular stage production of The Phantom of the Opera.. Old friends Frederick Forsyth and Andrew Lloyd Webber discussed how the Phantom's story might continue. As Forsyth said: "Andrew Lloyd Webber's superb musical left us with an enigma: what ever happened to the Phantom and Christine? The answer is the theme of the novel." The result is a memorable tale.