UNITED KINGDOM: Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall in London

Record ID: 1519299

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" celebrates its 25th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall in London
  • Date: 3rd October 2011
  • Summary: COMPOSER ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER APPEARING ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2011 12:52
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVACNGR3UYPS8HWZMUP88COFR428
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: One of the most successful and longest running musicals, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera" celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special show at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday (October 2).
    The performance in front of a 5,500 strong audiences was broadcast live into selected cinemas world-wide, including those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia.
    The fully staged production included Ramin Karimloo (Phantom) and Sierra Boggess (Christine Daee) in the leads. Both currently star in the musical's sequel "Love Never Dies" at London's Adelphi Theatre.
    "I think euphoric is the word," Karimloo told Reuters Television during the aftershow party at the Natural History Museum.
    "You know we were here as fans as well as actors of the show and to be part of 25 years of something so spectacular it's surreal you know. But it was a lot of fun as well."
    Boggess added: "It was overwhelming, too, just all the emotions we've just gone through as the characters and then to realise that we're the actors who just got to do such an amazing celebration. It's just, it's -- really incredible."
    The evening also brought about a series of reunions, most notably from members of the original production, including Michael Crawford and Lloyd Webber's former wife Sarah Brightman.
    Joined by current and previous phantom actors Brightman also gave a rendition of the song "Phantom of the Opera" towards the end of the showcase.
    For Lloyd Webber, who described Brightman as his 'Angel of Music', her performance brought back memories.
    "That does bring back a whole you know flood of emotions, I mean I've worked with Sarah you know since we were married quite a lot of times and you know therefore -- it's great to have her back again, but we have worked together before but -- seeing Michael and Sarah back on stage together I never thought that would really happen because you know we sort of met together, both of us, sort of, all of us socially and things and when Sarah came to see the 'Wizard of Oz' for example you know, but I never thought they would actually go back on stage," he said.
    Another artists who stepped into his former role of the Phantom was Colm Wilkinson
    "For me it was -- sort of a deja-vu thing, it was as I say it's wonderful music to sing and it always has been wonderful music to sing and I've always enjoyed singing the role and it's amazing actually when you come back to it, like tonight, and you actually sing these melodies and look at these lyrics again, you realise why it is so successful and you realise why it's so powerful."
    John Owen-Jones, who is part of the current London production agrees
    "Yeah, I mean the music for 'Phantom' has got that magic ingredient, a lot of Lloyd Webber stuff has that indefinable quality which really it -- translates all over the world and you know it was great to be there celebrating tonight. It really was."
    Throughout its course the phantom musical has broken records with more than 9,000 performances in London alone, and it is also the longest run in Broadway history with performances before more than 100 million people since it opened in 1986.
    Speaking of its continuous success, Cameron Mackintosh, the show's producer and also the man behind many other successful productions including Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, said he credits the music's timelessness and the talent.
    "It's a great testament to the actual show that it remains fantastically contemporary and appealing and when you get truly great artists doing it, it's fresh as ever and it takes on a new life. But of course we wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for the fact that Michael and Sarah gave us an amazing performance when we first opened."
    The Phantom of the Opera is based on the French novel by Gaston Leroux. Lloyd Webber has since delivered a sequel in "Love Never Dies", which is set a decade after the ending of the original, with the key players from the first show caught up in a Gothic drama set in a spooky theatre on Coney Island.
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