Geography Project Part 1: West End Theatre London, Phantom of the Opera

These are plays performed in London’s main theatre district, ‘Theatreland’ called the West End. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation.

 Last year for my sixteenth birthday, my parents surprised me by bringing me to London to see the Phantom of the Opera. It is a musical written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Weber. The Phantom of the Opera opened in the West End in 1986.

 It is the longest running musical in the West End and the second longest running show overall. With total worldwide box office receipts of over £3.5 billion, Phantom is the highest-grossing entertainment event of all time and the most financially successful theatrical show in history.

 Phantom began previews at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End on September 27, 1986. The play, which is still being performed in Her Majesty’s Theatre, celebrated its 10,000th performance on 23 October 2010, with Lloyd Webber and the original Phantom, Michael Crawford attending.

A 25th-anniversary stage performance was held in London on 1 and 2 October 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall and was screened live in cinemas worldwide. The production was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Laurence Connor.

This amazing musical is based on  based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.


Picture Sources:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/sites/default/files/66615-large_0.jpg
http://s3.broadway.com/photos/large/144546.jpg
http://www.hermajestystheatrelondon.info/images/theater.jpg