Is it true 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'West Side Story' are based on true stories?

looney_tunes

'The Phantom of the Opera' (in French, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a French novel by Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialization in 'Le Gaulois' from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910. Initially, the novel sold very poorly and was even out of print several times during the twentieth century. The original serialisation of the novel used the convention of a narrator who had discovered a previously-unknown story, and was revealing it to the world. Several film and stage musical productions have been based on the novel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera http://poto.wikia.com/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera 'West Side Story' is a musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The musical's plot and many of its themes are based on William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. The production team wanted to produce a contemporary musical using the classic story (one which Shakespeare had adapted from earlier plays) and juvenile delinquent gang warfare was topical at the time. But the musical is not based on a 'true story'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Side_Story Jun 13 09, 1:43 AM