The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

*The Phantom of the Opera*
The Phantom of the Opera
	Poster
Music	Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics	Charles Hart Richard Stilgoe (additional); ;
Book	Richard Stilgoe; Andrew Lloyd Webber;
Basis	The Phantom of the Opera; by Gaston Leroux
Premiere	9 October 1986: His Majesty's Theatre, London
Productions	1985: 1st performance at Sydmonton; 1986 West End; 1988 Broadway; 1989 US tour (Christine Tour); 1990 US tour (Raoul Tour); 1993 US tour (Music Box Tour); 1993 UK tour; 1999 UK tour; 2002 Madrid; 2012 UK tour; 2013 North American tour; 2020 UK tour; 2021 West End revival;
Awards	1986 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical; 1986 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best New Musical; 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical; 1988 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Musical;

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and a libretto by Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe. Based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, it tells the tragic story of a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, masked musical genius living in the subterranean labyrinth beneath the Paris Opéra House.^[1]

The musical opened in London's West End in 1986 and on Broadway in New York in 1988, in a production directed by Harold Prince and starring English classical soprano Sarah Brightman (Lloyd Webber's then-wife) as Christine Daaé, screen and stage star Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and international stage performer Steve Barton as Raoul. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, with Crawford winning the Olivier and Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.^[2] A film adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, was released in 2004.

The Phantom of the Opera was the longest running show in Broadway history, and celebrated its 10,000th performance on February 11, 2012, becoming the first Broadway production in history to do so.^[3] It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion,^[8] The Phantom of the Opera was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014.^[9]^[10]^[11] By 2019, it had been seen by over 140 million people in 183 cities across 41 countries.^[12]

The original West End production at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, ended its run in 2020,^[13]^[14] its run cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15] A new production of Phantom opened in the same theatre in July 2021. The original Broadway production played its final performance on April 16, 2023.^[16]

^ Rich, Frank (27 January 1988). "Stage: Phantom of the Opera". The New York Times.
^ "The Phantom of the Opera – The Show – Awards". Archived from the original on 30 May 2011.
^ Gerald Martin Bordman (2004). The Oxford companion to American theatre p.496. Oxford University Press. "A British musical based on Leroux's famous novel".
^ Top 10 Longest-Running London Theatre Shows Londonist.com. Retrieved 11 February 2012
^ The A to Z of the Broadway Musical p.266. Scarecrow Press, 2009
^ Smith, Tim (11 April 2010) "Phantom of the Opera at the Hippodrome", The Baltimore Sun
^ "Our Top 10 Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals". Ticketstoday. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
^ Cox, Gordon (11 July 2017). "Wicked Surpasses The Phantom of the Opera at the Broadway Box Office". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
^ "Phantom of the Opera Screening Earns Over £500,000 in the UK", BroadwayWorld, 5 October 2011
^ Jones, Kenneth (25 January 2006). "Phantom turns 18". Playbill. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
^ Gans, Andrew. "The Lion King Is Now Top-Earner in Box-Office History", Playbill, 22 September 2014.
^ "Broadway's blockbuster phenomenon The Phantom of the Opera continues to make Broadway history with two milestones". The Shubert Organization. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
^ "Broadway curtain call for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera". BBC News. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ Avendaño, Tom C. (18 April 2023). "'The Phantom of the Opera' lowers the curtain on Broadway after 35 years and almost 14,000 performances". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ Mackintosh, Cameron (28 July 2020). "Cameron Mackintosh: London can't function until theatres reopen". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
^ Paulson, Michael (29 November 2022). "Phantom of the Opera to Delay Broadway Closing After Sales Spike". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 November 2022.

[Rich-1] Rich, Frank (27 January 1988). "Stage: Phantom of the Opera". The New York Times.

[2] "The Phantom of the Opera – The Show – Awards". Archived from the original on 30 May 2011.

[3] Gerald Martin Bordman (2004). The Oxford companion to American theatre p.496. Oxford University Press. "A British musical based on Leroux's famous novel".

[4] Top 10 Longest-Running London Theatre Shows Londonist.com. Retrieved 11 February 2012

[5] The A to Z of the Broadway Musical p.266. Scarecrow Press, 2009

[6] Smith, Tim (11 April 2010) "Phantom of the Opera at the Hippodrome", The Baltimore Sun

[7] "Our Top 10 Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals". Ticketstoday. Retrieved 5 January 2021.

[8] Cox, Gordon (11 July 2017). "Wicked Surpasses The Phantom of the Opera at the Broadway Box Office". Variety. Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved 13 March 2020.

[Year25-9] "Phantom of the Opera Screening Earns Over £500,000 in the UK", BroadwayWorld, 5 October 2011

[playbill-10] Jones, Kenneth (25 January 2006). "Phantom turns 18". Playbill. Retrieved 23 April 2008.

[11] Gans, Andrew. "The Lion King Is Now Top-Earner in Box-Office History", Playbill, 22 September 2014.

[12] "Broadway's blockbuster phenomenon The Phantom of the Opera continues to make Broadway history with two milestones". The Shubert Organization. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

[13] "Broadway curtain call for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera". BBC News. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[Avendaño-14] Avendaño, Tom C. (18 April 2023). "'The Phantom of the Opera' lowers the curtain on Broadway after 35 years and almost 14,000 performances". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[15] Mackintosh, Cameron (28 July 2020). "Cameron Mackintosh: London can't function until theatres reopen". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

[Paulson-16] Paulson, Michael (29 November 2022). "Phantom of the Opera to Delay Broadway Closing After Sales Spike". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 November 2022.

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