On 9th October 1986, The Phantom of the Opera opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the lead roles. 30 Years later and The Phantom of The Opera is still in the same theatre and as popular as ever. There have been countless productions across the globe, and the production in New York is the longest running on Broadway.
With Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lyrics by Charles Hart, the Cameron Mackintosh production has celebrated its 30th birthday in style, with a charity gala performance held last night (10th October 2016). Tickets were on sale for the general public and all proceeds have gone to ‘The Music in Secondary Schools Trust’.
Current cast members; Ben Forster (The Phantom), Celinde Schoenmaker (Christine Daae) and Nadim Naaman (Raoul), were joined on stage by previous cast members and special guests in a spectacular finale.
The performance was attended by a host of invited guests, including Michael Ball, Cliff Richard and Sierra Boggess, who will play Christine in the first French production.
‘The Phantom of the Opera’ revolves around a young woman called Christine. Her childhood friend, Raoul expresses his love for her, but when a mysterious ‘Phantom’ begins to haunt the opera and wreaks havoc throughout the production, things take a turn for the worst. Christine is kidnapped and taken to the cellar of the opera by the ‘Phantom’, and he hopes that she will grow to love him.
After the final curtain, the audience were served glasses of champagne by the hard-working front of house staff. Following a short break Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh took to the stage to reminisce about the shows early days.
This was followed by performances from Michael Ball, Ben Forster, Celinde Schoenmaker and Nadim Naaman. Finally, the original cast including Michael Crawford arrived on stage to a long standing ovation. The audience in Her Majesty’s Theatre were thrilled, while audiences across the world got to watch this special finale on a live Facebook stream.
