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".
Heartbeat Like Thunder
In 1984, Harley signed a five album deal with Mickie Most's label RAK. In May 1985, his RAK debut "Irresistible" scored him a minor hit on the UK Singles Chart. Towards the end of the year, Harley became involved with Andrew Lloyd-Webber's upcoming musical "The Phantom of the Opera". In February 1986, Harley found himself back in the UK Top 10 when "The Phantom of the Opera" single, recorded by Harley as a duet with Sarah Brightman, went to No. 7 in the UK charts. He soon found himself set to star as the Phantom in the upcoming musical.