Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to present Andrew Lloyd Webber’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 1st October at 7.30pm and Sunday 2nd October at 1.30pm and 7.00pm. Tickets for “Phantom of the Opera at the Albert Hall” go on sale on Monday 4 July at 10.00am and are available on 0845 401 5045 or at www.phantom25th.com

This lavish, fully staged production of “Phantom of the Opera at the Albert Hall” will star Ramin Karimloo as ‘The Phantom’ and Sierra Boggess as ‘Christine’. They will be joined by Barry James as ‘Monsieur Firmin’, Gareth Snook as ‘Monsieur André’, Liz Robertson as ‘Madame Giry’ and Wynne Evans as ‘Piangi’ together with a cast and orchestra of over 200 and some special guest appearances.

“Phantom of the Opera at the Albert Hall” will be directed by Laurence Connor with Musical Staging and Choreography by Gillian Lynne. The Royal Albert Hall will be transformed with a spectacular and unique design by Matt Kinley inspired by Maria Björnson’s original design. Lighting is by Patrick Woodroffe and Andrew Bridge and Sound by Mick Potter. The original London production was directed by Hal Prince.

Ramin Karimloo’s theatre credits include, leading roles in “Love Never Dies” (2011 Olivier Award Nominee and Winner of the 2011 What’s On Stage Award, both for ‘Best Actor in a Musical’), “The Phantom of the Opera” (Theatre Goers’ Choice Award Nomination) “Les Misérables”, “Miss Saigon”, “The Pirates of Penzance” and “Sunset Boulevard”.

Ramin had the privilege of performing as ‘Enjolras’ in “Les Misérables – A Special Concert at Windsor Castle” to celebrate the centenary of the Entente Cordiale, in front of Her Majesty The Queen and also reprised the role for the 25th Anniversary celebration of “Les Misérables at The 02”. Recordings include: his own album “Within the Six Square Inch” and the première symphonic recording of “Love Never Dies”. Ramin has signed with a major label and is currently recording his
first solo album.

Sierra Boggess is currently starring opposite Tyne Daly in the Broadway revival of Terrence McNally’s “Master Class”. Prior to that, she starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Love Never Dies” in the West End. For her performance as ‘Christine Daae,’ Sierra received a 2011 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Sierra’s other NY theatre credits include starring as the title character in the Broadway production of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” (Drama Desk and Drama League nominations and Broadway.com award for Favourite Breakthrough Performance) and in the City Centre Encores! production of “Music in the Air”. She starred as ‘Christine’ in “Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular” and has been seen in the national tours of “Les Misérables” and “West Side Story”. Recordings include the Symphonic Recording of “Love Never Dies” and the Original Cast Album for Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.

Sir Cameron Mackintosh said “It is amazing to think that the extraordinary success of The Phantom
of the Opera is about to celebrate 25 years.

From the very first performance, audiences have fallen in love with the unique alchemy of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s gorgeous score and Maria Björnson’s fabulously beautiful design, so brilliantly staged by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne.

The success of the show has become the stuff of theatrical legend so Andrew and I felt we needed to create a really special performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary.

One of the great strengths of The Phantom of the Opera is that being set in an opera house, its production is totally theatrical. So we felt that there could be no better 19th Century theatrical auditorium in London for this occasion than the Royal Albert Hall. With its Victorian red plush and celebrated magnificent organ it is the perfect place for The Phantom to haunt. Though this special staging will naturally be drawn from the brilliant original, it will be both a spectacular and unique
production with a cast and orchestra of over 200 headed by Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess. Both artists have been an outstanding ‘Phantom’ and ‘Christine’ in recent productions and have also enjoyed huge success together as the stars of Love Never Dies.

I have no doubt that these three performances at the Royal Albert Hall will be a thrilling celebration of the Music of the Night.”

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on 9 January 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder “Cats”. This coincided with the Broadway and the US national touring company celebrating an unprecedented 20,000 performances in the United States. In October 2010 the London production celebrated its 10,000th performance.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has won over 50 major theatre awards, including seven Tonys on Broadway and three Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the ‘Most Popular Musical Audience Award’, voted by the public, in the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 9 October 1986 starred Michael Crawford as ‘The Phantom’ and Sarah Brightman as ‘Christine.’ It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company Limited.

Worldwide, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has grossed over £3.2 billion. The box office revenues are higher than any film or stage play in history, including “Titanic”, “ET” and “Star Wars”. It has been seen in 145 cities in 27 countries and played to over 100 million people. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Las Vegas, and Kyoto.

Release issued by: Raw PR

LINKS

Book tickets to the Phantom 25th Anniversary at The Royal Albert Hall 

Book tickets to The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London

Stars of the Phantom 25th anniversary show, Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess (pictured in Love Never Dies)

Ramin Karimloo, who is currently playing the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, which runs at the Adelphi Theatre until 27 August, will star in the title role, joined by Sierra Boggess as Christine. Both stars have enjoyed extensive periods playing the roles in both the original show and Love Never Dies.

Tickets will go on sale for the Royal Albert Hall show on Monday 4 July at 10am.

A cast and orchestra of over 200 will feature in the three special performances, which promises to be a lavishly staged new interpretation of the musical, directed by Laurence Connor with musical staging and choreography by the show’s original choreographer Gillian Lynne. A brand new set will feature in the Royal Albert Hall production by Matt Kinley inspired by Maria Björnson’s original designs.

Other cast will include Barry James as Monsieur Firmin, Gareth Snook as Monsieur André, Liz Robertson as Madame Giry and Wynne Evans as Piangi.

Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who produces the original show, said “From the very first performance, audiences have fallen in love with the unique alchemy of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s gorgeous score and Maria Björnson’s fabulously beautiful design, so brilliantly staged by Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne. The success of the show has become the stuff of theatrical legend so Andrew and I felt we needed to create a really special performance to celebrate the 25th anniversary.”

The last celebration for The Phantom of the Opera took place on 23 October last year, to mark the 10,000th performance of the show.

Speculation over a concert or special performance of Phantom had been fuelled by Ramin Karimloo posting on Twitter in March that he would be appearing in the 25th anniversary celebrations, and by an Ebay auction held in aid of Comic Relief, to win ”two great tickets to the Celebration of Phantom’s 25th Birthday in October 2011 – when he [Karimloo] will don the mask as the original Phantom one more time”.

Michael Crawford, currently playing the Wizard in Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium, originated the role of the Phantom, alongside Sarah Brightman as Christine. It is still unconfirmed whether Crawford and Brightman will play any part in the celebrations for the show.

The Phantom of the Opera originally opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 9 October 1986 directed by Harold Prince and has won over 50 major theatre awards, including seven Tonys on Broadway and three Olivier Awards in the West End, and has grossed over £3.2 billion worldwide.

LINKS

Book tickets to the Phantom 25th Anniversary at The Royal Albert Hall 

Book tickets to The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London

A gala celebration of the long-running show will be staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The show’s original choreographer, Gillian Lynne, will stage the spectacle, which will be produced by Phantom’s producer Cameron Mackintosh and the musical’s composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Unconfirmed sources suggest that the show will be a fully staged, brand new production of the show which will run for more than just one evening.

The role of the Phantom will be played by Ramin Karimloo, who is currently starring as the Phantom in Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre and has also spent long periods playing in the original show.

The Stage newspaper is also reporting today that Karimloo will be joined by Sierra Boggess, who will reprise the role of Christine after playing the role in Phantom in Las Vegas and in Love Never Dies in London. The actress is currently in rehearsals for a new production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class on Broadway featuring Tyne Daly.

Stars of the Phantom 25th anniversary show, Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess (pictured in Love Never Dies)

As previously covered on westendtheatre.com, Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful group and Cameron Mackintosh Ltd will team up to produce the large-scale show, following Mackintosh’s dazzling production last October celebrating the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables at the O2.

The last celebration for The Phantom of the Opera took place on 23 October last year, to mark the 10,000th performance of the show. Patrick Woodroffe will design the lighting for the show, advised by original Phantom lighting designer Andy Bridge.

Speculation over a concert or special performance of Phantom had been fuelled by Ramin Karimloo posting on Twitter in March that he would be appearing in the 25th anniversary celebrations, and by an Ebay auction held in aid of Comic Relief, to win ”two great tickets to the Celebration of Phantom’s 25th Birthday in October 2011 – when he [Karimloo] will don the mask as the original Phantom one more time”.

Michael Crawford, currently playing the Wizard in Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium, originated the role of the Phantom, alongside Sarah Brightman as Christine. It is unconfirmed whether Crawford and Brightman will play any part in the celebrations for the show.

The show originally opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 9 October 1986 directed by Harold Prince. Over 80 million people have seen the show worldwide, ranking it the most popular entertainment of all time.

LINKS

Book tickets to the Phantom 25th Anniversary at The Royal Albert Hall 

Book tickets to The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London

Book tickets to Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London

Best actress in a musical winner Sheridan Smith

Hosted by musicals star Michael Ball and actress Imelda Staunton, the awards celebrate the best of the year’s London theatre.

Big winners last night included the National Theatre, which swept up seven awards for two of its productions: Thea Sharrock’s revival of Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance, which won awards including best revival, best actress for Nancy Carroll and best actor in a supporting role for Adrian Scarborough; and its production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard, including best director for Howard Davies and best set design for Bunny Christie.

In other subsidised venues the Royal Court picked up three awards, including best new play for Bruce Norris’s comedy Clybourne Park, which is now playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End, and two awards for the Donmar Warehouse, including David Thaxton picking up best actor in a musical for Passion.

Roger Allam won best actor for his performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, beating stiff competition from Rory Kinnear, Derek Jacobi, David Suchet and Mark Rylance.

The Olivier Awards were held at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

The most successful musical of the night was Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, which picked up three major awards: best new musical, best actress in a musical for Sheridan Smith and best performance in a supporting role in a Musical for Jill Halfpenny.

Other musicals rewarded at the event included We Will Rock You, which won the Olivier Audience Award voted for by members of the theatregoing public, and the Open Air Theatre’s summer production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Stephen Sondheim was presented with an Olivier Special Award for his enormous contribution to theatre, with the award presented by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and legendary actress Angela Lansbury.

Big shows to miss out on awards this year included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, which failed to pick up any awards despite seven nominations, and End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios, which was nominated for four awards including best actress for Tracie Bennett in her performance as Judy Garland.

Thea Sharrock picks up the Best Revival award for her production of After the Dance at the National Theatre

Notable performances during the ceremony included a star turn by legendary American singer Barry Manilow, who also sang a duet with Wicked and Oliver! star Kerry Ellis; current and former stars of The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies – Ramin Karimloo, John Owen-Jones and Sierra Boggess; Emma Williams and Michael Xavier singing Everything We Know from Love Story; Alfie Boe, who is soon to star in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre, singing Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific; Susan McFadden and the current cast of Legally Blonde; and Adrian Lester paying tribute to Stephen Sondheim by singing Being Alive from Company, along with Angela Lansbury singing a moving rendition of Liaisons from A Little Night Music and 400 students from national drama schools singing Our Time from Merrily We Roll Along.

LISTEN & WATCH AGAIN

BBC iPlayer – Radio 2 coverage

BBC iPlayer – BBC News

LINKS

Olivier Awards – list of winners

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – news

Olivier Awards – Binkie Blog’s Picks and Pans

Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, both nominated for Love Never Dies

This year’s Olivier Awards nominations were led by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big new show Love Never Dies, securing 7 nominations including Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical for Ramin Karimloo and Best Actress in a Musical for Sierra Boggess.

However, Sunday’s awards at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane proved to be a disappointing night for Lord Lloyd Webber as the show was pipped to the post in all nomination categories.

Ramin Karimloo, who plays the role of the Phantom said last night that it was a “great evening” but a “shame” that the show didn’t win.

Sierra Bogges, who played Christine in the show, flies out of the UK this morning to start rehearsals for a new production of Master Class on Broadway alongside Tyne Daly. Celia Graham has taken over the role of Christine.

At the awards last night, Ramin Karimloo sang Til I Hear You Sing from Love Never Dies, and John Owen-Jones and Sierra Boggess performed The Phantom of the Opera.

In better news for Love Never Dies, its new star David Thaxton, who joined the cast earlier this month to play Raoul, won a Best Actor in a Musical award for his performance in Passion at the Donmar Warehouse.

Organised by the Society of London Theatre, the awards are the most popular and important in the British theatre calendar. This year they enjoyed an overhaul, with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton hosting, MasterCard sponsoring the event and live broadcast by the BBC.

LINKS

Love Never Dies Special offer: Save £27.50 on tickets

Olivier Awards – list of winners

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – news

The all-star cast of That Championship Season

Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe is making his Broadway musical debut at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre this month, in Tony award-winning director and choreographer Rob Ashford’s new production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Other stars on the Great White Way include Frances McDormand, who has just opened in Good People at the Manhattan Theatre Club; Brian Cox, Chris Noth, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland are starring in That Championship Season at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre; Billy Crudup opens in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 17 March, Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger In The Baghdad Zoo at the Richard Rodgers Theatre from 11 March, Chris Rock in Motherf**Ker With The Hat at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre from 15 March, Kathleen Turner in High at the Booth Theatre from 25 March, Edie Falco, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Jason Leigh in The House of Blue Leaves at the Walter Kerr Theatre from 25 April, and Tyne Daly and Sierra Boggess in Master Class at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre from 24 May. Phew!

LINKS

Book Broadway tickets

David Thaxton to join the cast of Love Never Dies

Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London has confirmed that its cast will change on 7 March, with Sierra Boggess, who plays Christine, and Summer Strallen as Meg, both leaving the show.

They will be replaced by Celia Graham as Christine, who is currently in the ensemble of the show and understudies Sierra in the role, and Haley Flaherty, who recently played Janet in the UK tour of The Rocky Horror Show, as Meg,.

Ramin Karimloo, who originated the role of the Phantom in the new show, will stay on in the musical, to be joined by David Thaxton, who will replace Joseph Millson in the part of Raoul.

Other new cast members include Tracey Penn as Fleck and Charles Brunton as Gangle. Liz Roberton and Adam Pearce will continue in the show.

Love Never Dies was recently nominated for seven Olivier Awards, including best new musical, Ramin for best actor in a musical and Sierra Boggess for best actress in a musical. Love Never Dies also did well at Sunday’s Whatsonstage Awards, with Ramin Karimloo wining best actor in a musical and Joseph Millson winning best supporting actor in a musical.

David Thaxton joins the cast after his critical success last year in Passion at the Donmar Warehouse, alongside Elena Roger. He has also been nominated for a best actor in a musical Olivier Award for his part in Passion.

Andrew Lloyd Webber said that, “I’m absolutely thrilled that Love Never Dies has finally been recognised in this way.”

The initial criticism for Love Never Dies faced by Lloyd Webber from a group of loyal Phantom of the Opera fans was also referenced by the compsoer, who thanked “our loyal ‘Phans’, who have been so supportive of the show since it opened.”

He also paid tribute to the cast and company who, “have worked so hard throughout and have embraced the changes to the show, which have proved so successful.” Since opening Love Never Dies, Lloyd-Webber has brought in Bill Kenwright to make a number of changes to director Jack O’Brien’s original staging, and has tweaked some of the book and songs.

Sierra Boggess will leave Love Never Dies and go to Broadway, to star alongside Tyne Daly in a new production of Terence McNally’s play Master Class about the great opera diva Maria Callas. Summer Strallen will star in a new production of classic movie musical Top Hat with Tom Chambers. Joseph Millson will star in the National’s new production of Clifford Odets’s Rocket to the Moon, directed by Angus Jackson, alongside Keeley Hawes.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new production of The Wizard of Oz is currently previewing at the London Palladium starring Danielle Hope, Michael Crawford and Hannah Waddingham. The show opens on 1 March.

LINKS

Books tickets to Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre

Movies are a fickle business.

Hugh Grant was the man most recently tipped to play Henry Higgins in the big screen remake of My Fair Lady, alongside Cary Mulligan as Eliza, despite producer Cameron Mackintosh pushing for Colin Firth.

One small movie and a few awards later, and The King’s Speech star Firth is now all lined up to take over where Rex Harrison left off.

Movies of hit plays and musicals are the thing of the moment, with Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black, Spielberg filming War Horse, Will Smith working on a new film of Annie and Wicked set for a movie version.

Following the news that Sierra Boggess, currently playing Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre, will leave the role on 5 March to head to Broadway, more rumours are circulating over the cast changes for the show.

Celia Graham is widely tipped to replace Boggess on 7 March, following roles including Christine in Phantom and Sierra’s current understudy in Love Never Dies.

Also, David Thaxton is rumoured to be replacing Joseph Millson as Raoul. Thaxton was a hit in Passion at the Donmar Warehouse last year alongside Elena Roger, earning an Olivier Award nod for best actor in a new musical in the recent nominations.

Summer Strallen, who plays Meg in the show, will also be leaving to take on a stage adaptation of classic movie musical Top Hat, joining Tom Chambers to recreate the on-screen roles made famous by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

David Thaxton

Sierra Boggess, who is currently starring as Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre, is to go to Broadway in the Spring. She will star alongside Tyne Daly (Cagney and Lacey) in a revival of Terence McNally’s play Master Class about the great opera diva Maria Callas.

Last week Sierra received an Olivier Award nod for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in Love Never Dies.