And yet more "Phantom" stuff (hmm, I'm clearly on a roll this week): a very good
40-page(!!) article on the making of the film. Some quotes:
Patrick Wilson in a moment of charming ignorance"I wanted to convey the zest for living that people had then. In those days lives were lived very dramatically. You died young, so when you found love, you went after it." I've heard this one before, but it never fails to amuse me. People died young ... in late-19th century Paris?! 
Joel Schumacher on the setting of the movie"This period was a kind of golden, innocent moment," notes director Joel Schumacher, "just before the Prussians hit the gates of Paris and the Franco-Prussian war began." Never mind that 1870/71 was exactly when the Prussians hit those gates; presumably he meant 1869/70 and things got a little muddled during production. 
Still, I do think the film conveys the sense of being set in the last days of the Empire, with all that extreme opulence.
Joel Schumacher on working with Miranda Richardson"When I met with Miranda to discuss the role, it was the only meeting I've ever had with an actress where I felt she was auditioning me. She had a list of about a hundred questions that she asked me, and I loved it." I can just picture this!
Ciaran Hinds on the roles of the two managers"Andre is interested in the artistic and cultural side of the theatre, whereas Firmin is more involved in getting bums on seats," says Hinds, who co-starred with Cate Blanchett in Schumacher's 2003 thriller Veronica Guerin. "Joel told me to think of Firmin as a used car salesman, slightly flashy and over-dressed."
Patrick Wilson on watching Emmy and Gerry in "Point of No Return"Patrick Wilson found his reaction to watching Butler and Rossum perform "The Point of No Return" to be similar to that of his character's when Raoul witnesses the intensity of Christine's connection to the Phantom. "I spent three months shooting the love story with Emmy, just hearing about this other guy," Wilson recalls. "When I finally saw them together and felt the passion they had for each other, it was heartbreaking."
The make-up designer on the Phantom's deformity and not alienating the audienceLike the design of the Phantom's costume and mask, his underlying physical deformity had to be rendered convincingly, without alienating the audience in the process. "We didn't want his disfigurement to be horribly grotesque," Byrne acknowledges. "It was about trying to find the real person behind the mask. We want the audience to see his attractiveness, his anger and his vulnerability."
A factoid about Carlotta's costumesThe stunning costume that represents Carlotta's idea of an "everyday outfit" required the most fabric of any of the custom-made pieces: 27 meters of deep purple silk.
Lots more info in the article itself.
