Phanthom stalks Joburg

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera, has been seen by more than 100 million people around the world. Now Joburgers will get to see it too.
ONE of the greatest love stories of all – and certainly the most popular theatre musical – will be opening in Joburg after playing to packed houses and rapturous applause in the Mother City.

A heart-wrenching tale of a beautiful singerA heart-wrenching tale of a beautiful singerThe Phantom of the Opera is a heart-wrenching tale of a beautiful singer, Christine Daae, who is the object of obsession of a disfigured musical genius who hides from sight in the Paris Opera House, wreaking havoc and terrorising all and sundry as he stalks his beloved.

Based on the 1909 novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, it was brought to spectacular life by the particular creative genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The Broadway production became the longest running show ever on New York’s theatre strip when it overtook Cats – another Lloyd Webber musical – with its 7 486th performance on 9 January 2006. It is now in its 26th anniversary on Broadway.

The Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 25th anniversary in London in 2011 with a series of sold out concert performances at the Royal Albert Hall that were broadcast around the world.

It began previewing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London on 27 September 1986 and officially opened on 9 October the same year. It opened at the Majestic Theatre in New York on 9 January 1988.

Since then, it has been seen in 145 cities in 27 countries, by more than 130 million people. It has even out-grossed Titanic, the most successful film of all time.

The PhantomJonathan Roxmouth plays The PhantomAnd now, after a stint in Cape Town, The Phantom of the Opera heads to Johannesburg, directed by Harold Prince.

Jonathan Roxmouth, who took over from Andre Schwartz in Cape Town after the latter strained his vocal chords, will continue as The Phantom. He will be supported by Anthony Downing, Robin Botha, Magdalene Minnaar, James Borthwick, Jason Ralph, Pauline du Plessis, Hanlee Louw, Angela Kilian and Thabiso Masemene.

The international creative team behind the production includes Arthur Masella, Rainer Fried, Guy Simpson, Patti Merrin and JeeJee Noh.

The Phantom of the Opera opens at the Teatro at Montecasino on 31 January and will run until 22 April. Performances will be from Tuesdays to Fridays at 8pm; on Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and on Sundays at 1.30pm and 6.30pm.

Tickets range in price from R125 to R425, and are available from Computicket. For more information about the Joburg production, visit The Phantom of the Opera website.