Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running musical in Broadway history, will reappear on a new national tour. The Tony Award-winning musical, which concluded its 35-year Main Stem run in 2023, will receive a multi-year road production set to begin in November 2025 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre in the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, a venue operated by Broadway Across America. The tour will be produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, which co-produced the musical’s original Broadway mounting. Additional tour cities and casting will be announced.
Seth Sklar-Heyn will direct the production, based on Harold Prince’s original Tony-winning direction, with Chrissie Cartwright re-creating and adapting the Tony-nominated original choreography of Gillian Lynne. This staging, which will feature Maria Björnson’s original Tony-winning scenic and costume design, was first seen in 2021 at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.
Sklar-Heyn is a veteran collaborator of the prolific Mackintosh, long serving as his production company’s executive producer and previously as a production supervisor on Broadway’s “Phantom.” Sklar-Heyn’s Main Stem résumé also includes associate direction of 2017’s “Miss Saigon” revival, 2012’s “Evita,” 2009’s “A Little Night Music” and more. Cartwright maintained the choreography for “Phantom” on Broadway and in London and has a long history as associate director and choreographer of multiple stagings of “Cats.”
Featuring a Tony-nominated book by Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber and a Tony-nominated score by Lloyd Webber (music), Charles Hart (lyrics) and Stilgoe (additional lyrics), “The Phantom of the Opera” tells the story of a disfigured musical genius known only as the Phantom who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House. Mesmerized by the talents and beauty of a young soprano named Christine, the Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. Unaware of Christine’s love for Raoul, the Phantom’s obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide.
“I’m really delighted to bring Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’ back to thrill American audiences once again after its phenomenal record-breaking run on Broadway,” said Mackintosh in a statement. “When I unveiled this new production in London after the pandemic, many of our brilliant original creative team, including Hal Prince, Gillian Lynne and Maria Björnson, were sadly no longer with us. Our exciting new team, inspired by their predecessors’ glorious work, updated certain aspects of the production that resulted in a dazzlingly fresh version of the much-loved original, which was rapturously received by audiences and critics alike. So, in just a year’s time, when we raise our even more sensational chandelier, you can once again thrill to Andrew’s soaring music of the night and be swept away by a revitalized ‘Phantom’ in all its glory!”
“The Phantom made it very clear that it would not be long before his legend would, once again, be told in America,” added Lloyd Webber. “While Hal, Gillie and Maria are, sadly, no longer with us, they live on in the show we all created together. Love, passion and live theater are what ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is all about. I still get goosebumps every time that chandelier comes alive and infuses the theater with something that only happens when design, direction and music are completely at one. I am absolutely delighted that we are bringing this very special production back to audiences across North America.”
“‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is near and dear to my heart,” said Ron Legler, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center in Baltimore. “It was the first mega-musical I worked on more than 30 years ago. To see this iconic production come back into my life decades later and begin its new tour at the Hippodrome is a full-circle moment and a true honor. On behalf of our historic theater, our team can’t wait to play our part in continuing this title’s legacy and for our audiences to experience the sweeping romance and grandeur of such a wonderful masterpiece.”
“The Phantom of the Opera” began Broadway previews on Jan. 9, 1988 and officially opened on Jan. 26 of that year. It went on to win seven 1988 Tony Awards, including the top prize of Best Musical. By its closing on April 16, 2023, the musical had played 16 previews and 13,981 regular performances. In 2006, the musical surpassed the record previously held by Lloyd Webber’s “Cats,” becoming Broadway’s longest-running musical.
