Forty years of the Phantom of the Opera - the show that wouldn’t die: ‘People come back to hear the impossible’

By Miriam Gillinson · The Guardian Culture

As Andrew Lloyd Webber’s enduring gothic melodrama celebrates its 40th birthday, producer Cameron Mackintosh and cast members from down the years recall what makes it so special There is something about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterly musical The Phantom of the Opera – celebrating 40 years on the West End this month – which seems to take hold of its fans in a special way. For me, it was the show that first sparked my love of theatre and inspired me to work in the industry. Even today, Phantom is still the memory that gets my heart racing as I sit in the stalls, waiting impatiently for the curtain to come up, hoping for an experience just as intoxicating and all-consuming as that very first experience all those years ago. It’s not just the fans, either. When I talk to a cluster of key creatives, all of whom have a special working relationship with the show, each of them seems a little spellbound by Phantom. Sierra Boggess, who plays Carlotta in the 40th-anniversary production, talks tearfully about the lingering spirits of original director Hal Prince and choreographer Gillian Lynne. Jordan Donica, now starring as the Phantom in the West End, speaks passionately about the power of Lloyd Webber’s music (“It feels like heaven to me”), and John Owen-Jones, who has played the Phantom more than anyone else in the West End, talks tenderly about his long-term history with the show: “I’ve got a picture of me in full Phantom get-up holding my baby daughter. It’s an incredible thing to be part of.” Continue reading...