REVIEW: The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre

After 3 and a half decades and a global pandemic, is the Phantom of the Opera still relevant in today’s theatre? The answer I have to confess is an astounding and resonating yes!

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s showstopper returns to the stage just in time to celebrate its 35th birthday, making it the second longest-running musical in the world. From its opening night in 1986 Phantom propelled itself onto the world from the West End to Broadway, UK charts and film and has no means of slowing down.

This mega-musical takes its story from the original 1909 gothic novel Le Fantom de l’opera by Gaston Leroux. Set in 1880 Paris, the plot introduces us to a little known Swedish soprano Christine Daae, who is given the chance of understudying the leading soprano Carlotta at the Opera Populaire after a mysterious event took place enraging the Italian opera diva and causing her dramatic and untimely exit. We soon learn that these mysterious and terribly dark events are a common occurrence engineered by the “Opera Ghost”. As the narrative unfolds we find ourselves drawn into a love triangle between the Phantom, Christine and her childhood sweetheart Raoul.

COMING HOME: Holly-Anne Hull, in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre and soon to be playing Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre

Pocket Size Theatre and Liza Heinrichs (Captured by Liz) have teamed up again and created our new series 'Coming Home'. In this new piece, we look at the reopening of Theatres in London and around the country and celebrate our industry coming back. We got together some performers who will be some of the first to return to theatres and created this piece to bring some positivity to the theatre industry which has been through one of the toughest years in our lifetime. Whilst it is important to acknowledge the hardships we've all gone through, it's important we pull together as a community and celebrate our beloved industry finally coming back! 

The Phantom of the Opera is a musical theatre staple in the theatre industry, with a run of almost 35 years in the West End and over 33 years on Broadway, the show has certainly made its mark as a legendary piece of theatre and a must-see for everyone around the world. The lead roles have become iconic with huge stars across the globe snapping up the chance to play them. Christine Daaé is probably one of the most famous musical theatre soprano roles in history; with stars such as Sarah Brightman and Sierra Boggess having the role on their CV (amongst so many other fantastic actresses). The next to follow in their footsteps is Holly-Anne Hull. 

The West End production of The Phantom of the Opera has recently announced that Lucy St Louis will be playing the role of Christine when it reopens on the 27th July 2021, a huge mark in the history timeline for the show as she will be the first black actress to play the role. An important step forward for diversity and inclusion in our industry. Following her short run on the UK touring production, Holly-Anne will move her way over to Her Majesty's Theatre as the alternate Christine alongside Lucy.