The stage play“The Phantom of The Opera”is by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the novel by French novelist Gaston Leroux. The music was composed by Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart.
Andrew Lloyd Webber was inspired by a different musical version of the same story by Ken Hill, which Lloyd Webber saw at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1984 . The music for Lloyd Webber's version was composed specifically for the voice of his then-wife Sarah Brightman.
The musical was produced by Cameron Mackintosh.The original creative team included Hal Prince as director, Gillian Lynne as choreographer, and Maria Bjornson as production designer. The original cast included Michael Crawford (the Phantom), Sarah Brightman (Christine), and Steve Barton (Raoul), all of whom reprised their roles in the Broadway production, which opened on January 26, 1988 at the Majestic Theatre. Along with other Mackintosh productions such as Cats, Miss Saigon, and Les Miserables, it now is the longest-running Broadway musical of all time, breaking the record held by Lloyd Webber's Cats on January 9, 2006 with its 7,486th performance.
In London, Phantom was highly successful at the 1986 Laurence Olivier Awards, where it won prizes for Best Musical and Best Actor in a Musical. At the 1988 Tony Awards, the Broadway production was nominated for eleven and won seven, including the coveted Best Musical award. Phantom also did well at the 1988 Drama Desk Awards, where it won seven awards.
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