October 9th: The Day of the Phantom of the Opera

October 9th 1986 saw the opening performance of the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, London. The story was based on the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Le Fantome de l'Opera, a purely gothic-themed plotline, which Lloyd-Webber has considerably 'musical-ed it up' with romantic and even some comedic elements. The Phantom of the Opera was a raging success, and remains to this day the longest running musical in Broadway history.
   The notable leading roles (the Phantoms and the Christine Daaes) were played by Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, and since then the 2004 film adaptation saw Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum starring. Lloyd-Webber and his lyricist Charles Hart collectively produced some of the most musically stunning songs of the West End shows, including The Phantom of the Opera, All I Ask of You and Music of the Night. With a recently released sequel, Love Never Dies, and a revised production of the show about to hit the stage, The Phantom lives on. Have you seen the show? Does it live up to its time-honoured reputation?