By 2019, it had been seen by over 140 million people in 183 cities across 41 countries.

With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $6 billion and total Broadway gross of over $1 billion, The Phantom of the Opera was the most financially successful entertainment event until The Lion King surpassed it in 2014. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after Les Misérables, and the third longest-running West End show overall, after The Mousetrap. The Phantom of the Opera is 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. A film adaptation, directed by Joel Schumacher, was released in 2004. 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. 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, Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and Steve Barton as Raoul. Based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, it tells the 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. 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. 1988 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Musical.1986 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best New Musical.1986 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.They reflected on their connection to the character, how the role paved the way for their careers on- and offstage, and the legacy of “Phantom” in New York and the theater community. We spoke with six women who have played the role on Broadway. “It really teaches love and empathy,” says Julia Udine, who is currently a Christine alternate and performs three times a week. (The musical is based on the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux.) “The Phantom of the Opera” is largely about acceptance, and learning to reveal ourselves, without a physical or symbolic mask.

Others were cast in their teens or early 20s.įor a few, it was their first Broadway role.Īs with any show spanning more than three decades, the production, casting and message have become more relevant as our world - and society - has evolved. Some began their journeys in traveling companies or as understudies. Some of the women auditioned multiple times. Including alternates and excluding understudies, 40 women have played Christine over the years.

The phantom of the opera 1910