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The Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack Scores on 2005 Billboard Chart

The soundtrack of the film version of The Phantom of the Opera placed in the #2 spot of Billboard's end-of-the-year round-up of Top Soundtracks Titles.

The one-disc soundtrack of the Andrew Lloyd Webber movie musical was bested only by the soundtrack of Ray on the 2005 Year End Chart, while the #13 spot was filled by the more complete collector's edition two-disc Phantom soundtrack. In between those spots were the soundtracks of Garden State, The Longest Yard, Shrek 2, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Get Rich or Die Tryin', "American Idol" Season 4: The Showstoppers, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again. On the Billboard Top 200 Titles for 2005, The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, which is on the Sony Classical label, ranked at #72.

The Phantom of the Opera, which starred Gerard Butler in the mask-clad title role, Emmy Rossum as the innocent Christine and Patrick Wilson as her lover Raoul, was directed by Joel Schumacher. Miranda Richardson, Simon Callow and Minnie Driver were among others featured in the film. As with the Broadway production (which on January 9th, will break records as the longest-running Broadway show of all time), The Phantom of the Opera featured music by Lloyd Webber, and lyrics by Charles Hart (with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe). The musical's score includes songs such as "All I Ask of You," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," "Think of Me," "Prima Donna," "The Point of No Return," "Masquerade" and the title song.

While not a smash, the film version of The Phantom of the Opera grossed a respectable $51,000,000 at the US box office.

The Phantom of the Opera had its world premiere on October 9, 1986 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, winning every major British theatre award including the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. The New York production, starring London stars Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, opened on January 26, 1988. The musical won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show is based on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux.

For more information on the soundtrack of The Phantom of the Opera, visit www.sonyclassical.com. For more on Billboard's 2005 charts, visit www.billboard.com.

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