"The Phantom of the Opera" starts tomorrow: 15 intriguing facts about the world's most famous musical

Starting tomorrow, from May 19 to 24, the world’s most famous musical, "The Phantom of the Opera," will conquer the space of Arena Vilnius. This dramatic love story will be presented to the audience in the grandly reconstructed arena space, which has been transformed into the real Paris Opera House. In total, as many as eight performances will be held. The musical has already received exceptional attention, so starting today, a small number of additional tickets have become available, distributed by Bilietai.lt.

The musical's stage occupies more than half of the floor area of Arena Vilnius. There are 22 scene changes scheduled in the show, and 150 actors, orchestra musicians, and technical team specialists are involved in the production at the same time. The musical is presented in its original language – English – and synchronous translation into Lithuanian will be displayed on the arena screens.

We introduce you to the most interesting facts about the musical "The Phantom of the Opera," which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The second longest-running West End musical
"The Phantom of the Opera" is the second longest-running musical in West End history, but on the other side of the Atlantic, it is the longest-running Broadway production of all time.

It has been seen by more than 160 million people
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "The Phantom of the Opera" has been produced in more than 40 countries and 195 cities around the world, making it one of the most successful and frequently staged musicals of all time.

The musical's album – the first of its kind to top the charts
The original London cast recording of "The Phantom of the Opera" was the first in British musical theatre history to top the classical music charts. Even today, it remains an extremely successful album, with more than 60 million copies sold worldwide.

The highest-grossing musical of all time
Considering that the musical is performed all over the world and remains one of the most popular to this day, its success is staggering. Ticket revenues are incredibly high – total box office earnings are estimated at a whopping 6 billion dollars.

More than 15,000 performances given in the West End
The premiere of "The Phantom of the Opera" took place in the West End at Her Majesty’s Theatre back in 1986.

"The Phantom of the Opera" – a heavily awarded musical
The piece has won more than 70 major theatre awards, including 3 Olivier Awards, 7 Tony Awards, an Evening Standard Award, 7 Drama Desk Awards, and 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards.

There have been more than 20 Phantoms in the West End
The role of the Phantom is one of the most famous in the world. It was originated in the West End and on Broadway by Michael Crawford, and later this legendary character was embodied by dozens of other famous actors.

It takes 2.5 hours to transform into the Phantom
It takes about 2.5 hours to apply the Phantom's makeup every time. This process includes moisturizing the skin, careful shaving, gluing special prosthetics, and the makeup itself. After that, 2 wigs, 2 radio transmitters, and 2 pairs of contact lenses are fitted onto the actor.

The Phantom's mask is strictly custom-made
A mask is made individually for each actor according to his facial features, initially taking an exact mold of the actor's face.

230 costumes are used in every performance
230 luxurious costumes are used in every performance of "The Phantom of the Opera," taken care of by 14 wardrobe staff working backstage. Also, 111 wigs made of natural and synthetic hair, as well as yak hair, are used.

250 kg of dry ice is used in the show
To create a mystical atmosphere, 281 candles and 250 kilograms of dry ice are used in each performance, with a mysterious fog blown by as many as 10 fog machines.

The boat does not always work…
Sometimes it happens that the mechanical boat, in which the Phantom and Christine sail across the underground lake, temporarily stops moving... In such a case, the actors do not panic – the Phantom continues to lead Christine on foot.

The replica of the Paris Opera chandelier consists of 6,000 beads
This iconic chandelier features 35 beads on each strand. It is 3 meters wide and weighs about one ton. The original version of this chandelier was constructed by a team of 5 people over 4 weeks.

The musical has been performed in 15 languages
"The Phantom of the Opera" has been performed worldwide in English, Prancūzų, German, Japanese, Danish, Polish, Swedish, Castilian (Spanish), Hungarian, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Mexican Spanish, and other languages.

150 people are directly involved with each performance
This musical is an absolutely massive project – during each performance, about 150 actors, technical team members, and orchestra musicians work directly on stage and backstage at the same time.

The authentic Broadway and West End musical "The Phantom of the Opera" is presented by music agencies "M.P.3" and "Baltic Music Group," in cooperation with the main producers "Broadway Entertainment Group," "LW Entertainment," and Andrew Lloyd Webber's own company, "The Really Useful Theatre Company Limited." Thanks to this unique partnership, the grandeur of the musical has just been witnessed by Estonian audiences, will soon be seen by the Lithuanian public, and later the impressive production will move to Poland.

A. L. Webber’s musical "The Phantom of the Opera"