The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. It was inspired by a different musical version of the same story, by Ken Hill, which Andrew Lloyd Webber saw at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1984. The music for Webber's own version was composed specifically for the voice of his then wife, singer Sarah Brightman. The lyrics were written by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe. During the writing stage, many other rival productions were started, which had not occurred in any other stage show since the early 20th Century. The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, on October 9, 1986, where it still runs as of 2005. The show was taken to Broadway, where despite early negative reviews (including a pan by Frank Rich in the New York Times) it is still running today. The show won a Tony Award for Best Musical, Michael Crawford won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of The Phantom and Judy Kaye won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Carlotta Guidicelli. The show also won Tonys for its sets, costumes, lighting and Director (Hal Prince). In his staging of the title song, Hal Prince required lip-syncing to pre-recorded music (Christine's part of the song is extremely difficult to sing) and employed doubles for cast members.

Notable Actors

In the role of the Phantom:

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• Michael Crawford (Original London and Broadway Cast)
• Davis Gaines (Broadway, Los Angeles and San Francisco)
• Colm Wilkinson (Original Toronto/Canadian Cast)
• Peter Hofmann (Original Hamburg Cast)
• Anthony Warlow (Original Melbourne/Australian Cast; at the time the youngest actor to play the role)
• Rob Guest (Australia/New Zealand Cast - played the title role from 1991 to 1998, more than any other actor)
• Steve Barton (1990 Broadway production)
• Peter Karrie (London and many international touring productions)
• Sandor Sasvari (Original Hungarian Cast)
• Mikael Samuelson (Original Swedish Cast)
• John Owen Jones (Longest-running London Phantom)
• Alexander Goebel (Original Vienna Cast)
• Dave Willetts (London and UK Tour productions)
• Hugh Panaro (Current Broadway production and 1990 Broadway production as Raoul)
• Howard McGillin (Longest running Phantom on Broadway)
• Paul Stanley (The KISS member played the role from May 25 to August 1 in Toronto and again that year from September 30 to October 31. During these performances, the Phantom mask was decorated with Stanley's trademark star)

In the role of Christine:

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• Sarah Brightman (Original London and Broadway Cast; the part was written for her)
• Rebecca Caine (Original Canadian (Toronto) Cast)
• Joke de Kruijf (Original Dutch Cast; and performed in the Vienna and Hamburg Productions)
• Luzia Nisztler (Original Vienna Cast)
• Danielle Everett (Sydney Australia cast - with Rob Guest)
• Maree Johnson (Australian Cast - with Rob Guest)
• Marina Prior (Original Australian Cast)

In the role of Raoul:

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• Steve Barton (Original London and Broadway Casts)
• Bjorn Olsson (First Raoul to sing in more than one language. He performed in Switzerland, Hamburg, Sweden, and Denmark.)