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".
Norman Kerry
Kerry would again be paired with Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin in the 1925 horror classic "The Phantom of the Opera", playing Philbin's love-interest, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny. The film was an enormous financial and critical success and solidified Kerry's position as a leading actor during the 1920s. That same year Kerry would star opposite Patsy Ruth Miller in the adventure film "Lorraine of the Lions", although the film didn't achieve nearly the degree of success as "The Phantom of the Opera". In 1927 Kerry would again share the screen with Lon Chaney, Sr. in the Tod Browning directed horror film "The Unknown" with Joan Crawford. Kerry was cast as a circus strongman, despite his evident lack of a muscular physique. He would spend the decade appearing in high-profile roles opposite such famous actresses of the era as: Anna Q. Nilsson, Marion Davies, Bebe Daniels, Mildred Harris, ZaSu Pitts, Joan Crawford, Lillian Gish, and Claire Windsor.