Phantom

Set in a new $40 million state-of-the-art theatre and directed by 20-time Tony Award winner Hal Prince, Phantom at The Venetian is a can’t-miss experience and promises surprises that will astound even the biggest Phantom fans. Single tickets (ranging $75-$150 each) are scheduled to go on sale to the general public on April 9th. Pre-sales tickets may be available by calling 866-641-7469 or 702-414-7469.

The new 90-minute Las Vegas staging directed by Harold Prince and utilizing the vision of the show’s original London and Broadway production designer Maria Björnson had its first preview June 4 at The Venetian. 

The production will play in a new 1,800-seat venue being tailor-built — at a cost of $40 million — for the musical. Designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, the theatre will allow for special effects and interaction like never before, creating an environmental theatrical experience not seen in other productions of the international smash.

The interior will look like a 19th-century opera house. The musical is set in and around the Paris Opera House in the late 19th-century.

The Rockwell Group includes among its recent impressive projects the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the W New York and W Union Square Hotels in New York, and the Motown Center in Detroit. Rockwell’s theatrical design credits on Broadway include The Rocky Horror Show, Hairspray, All Shook Up and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The Las Vegas Phantom will feature a full orchestra of live musicians.

The production will be produced by the Really Useful Group Ltd. (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company) and Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Entertainment). Really Useful refers to the Vegas production as “a permanent theatrical installation.”

“We’re looking forward to a high old time adapting Phantom to a brand new theatre, with the capability for some additional surprises,” director Prince said in 2004, when the project was first announced. “…We hope [the production] will keep us at The Venetian for decades!”

A cast of 46 will be employed. The roles of the Phantom and Christine will be double cast along with a couple parts. There will be 10 shows a week (typical of Vegas, but not of Broadway).

Actress Rebecca Spencer announced that she will play Madame Giry in the production. Spencer previously played Carlotta 15 years ago in the Hamburg, Germany production of the international hit musical.

On Jan. 9, The Phantom of the Opera became the longest running show on Broadway, surpassing Lloyd Webber’s Cats.

The musical, with lyrics by Don Black and Richard Stilgoe, was inspired by the classic novel “Le Fantôme de l’Opéra” by Gaston Leroux. It tells the story of a masked figure — a genius musician — who lurks beneath the Paris Opera House and falls in love with soprano Christine Daae, his student. Anyone who gets in the way of his relationship with her — or his goal to make her the star of the opera house — is at risk.

The special effects will be more spectacular than before, the team promises, with an enhanced and more intense scene involving the show’s crashing chandelier.

On Broadway, the show runs 2 hours and 30 minutes or so. For this production composer Andrew Lloyd Webber had to reduce it down to 90 minutes, which is an hour less than the original. Webber was closely involved in the editing process and removed only what would not have a large impact on the production.

The Phantom of the Opera had its world premiere Oct. 9, 1986 at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London, winning every major British theatre award including the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman starred in the leading roles (and reprises the roles on Broadway).

The Broadway production opened on Jan. 26, 1988, and won seven 1988 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Productions of the musical are currently playing in London, New York, Madrid, Kyoto (Japan), Stuttgart (Germany), and Copenhagen, as well as on one national tour in the United States and one national tour in Japan.

Special thanks to Kenneth Jones of Playbill for providing some of the content with his interview with Phantom composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.