The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The musical opened in London's West End in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988. It won the 1986 Olivier Award and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical, and Michael Crawford (in the title role) won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical. It is the longest running show in Broadway history by a wide margin, and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on 11 February 2012, the first production ever to do so. It is the second longest-running West End musical, after "Les Misérables", and the third longest-running West End show overall, after "The Mousetrap".
The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber song)
In 1984, Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh began working on the "Phantom of the Opera" musical. Sarah Brightman, whom Webber married in 1984, was set to play the heroine Christine. As development of the musical continued, Webber decided that releasing the title track as a pop single would be a good way of promoting the upcoming musical, and to "test the water" in terms of public reception. He stressed that he wanted the song to have a rock 'n' roll sound, to which producer Mike Batt added an "electro-pop beat and heavy metal guitars".