Phantom of The Opera London Musical

By Neil Cheesman


The Phantom of The Opera, continues its own unrivaled West End run at Her Majesty's Theatre London, Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4QL. The Phantom of The Opera (in French Le Fantme de l'Opra) based on Gaston Lerouxs gothic story, is a haunting tale of seduction as well as despair.



Phantom of the Opera musical is set within the Paris Opera House from the 19th century, from where the facially disfigured Phantom haunts and terrorizes occupants. Based upon on the classic French thriller regarding a terrifying as well as legendary figure who emerges from the depths of The opera House and manifests the mythic opera ghost in frightening reality.

The mysterious disguised Phantom falls deeply in love with the more youthful and beautiful soprano Christine and whisks her away to his subterranean lair down below the theatre to teach her to sing out "like an angel". Despite the fact that she to begin with has become entranced by him, she loves another: Raoul, a nobleman and patron of the Opera. She is confronted with a stark decision: remain faithful to the Phantom eternally, or he will kill Raoul.

With some of the most lavish sets, costumes and special effects ever to have been created for the stage The Phantom of the Opera is a musical phenomenon.

The Phantom of the Opera stands out as the jewel in the crown of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In London there has rarely been a seat unsold, and also the musical has achieved in excess of 99% of potential capacity where ever it has been presented. Countless tickets have already been bought with seats being filled with fascinated clients.

The current Her Majesty's Theatre is actually the 4th theatre to occupy this site. The first was called The Queen's Theatre, being built by Sir John Vanbrugh and opened on 9th April 1705. The theatre changed it's name to The Kings Theatre in 1714 when King George I ascended the throne. This theatre was associated with opera, until 1789 when the theatre was destroyed by fire. The 2nd theatre was by designed by Michael Novosielski and opened in March 1791.

This theatre was once more connected together with opera, in addition to ballet. It was here that a number of Mozart's opera had been first presented in London. In 1837 the name of the theatre was altered to Her Majesty's Theatre, Italian Opera House when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. The 'Italian Opera House' part of the name was subsequently abandoned in 1847. Then, in December 1867, the theatre was once again destroyed by fire. The theatre was rebuilt in 1869, this time designed by Charles Lee. In 1892 the theatre was demolished, leaving only the Royal Opera Arcade.

The current and 4th theatre on this site was designed by C J Phipps and opened on 28th April 1897. Now mostly plays were presented here, with just the occasional opera. Then in 1916 Chu Chin Chow started a record-breaking run of 2,238 performances. In 1929 Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet was produced here and enjoyed a run of 697 performances. After the Second World War the theatre mostly presented musicals, which included Brigadoon in 1949, Paint Your Wagon in 1953, West Side Story in 1958 and Fiddler On The Roof in 1967 which had a run of 2,030 performances. The current production, Phantom of the Opera, opened here on 9th October 1986.




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