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".
Hugh Panaro
Panaro returned to the title role in the Broadway production of "The Phantom of the Opera" on September 7, 2010. He replaced John Cudia in the role. This is Panaro's third time playing The Phantom in this production. In January 2013, he performed the role of the Phantom in the Broadway production's 25th anniversary. He took a break from Phantom from April until the end of August 2013. During this time, he reprised the role of Jean Valjean at The Muny in the St. Louis in their production of Les Miserables, alongside Norm Lewis as Javert. Panaro won a St. Louis Theater Circle Award for his portrayal of Valjean. Afterwards, he returned to the Majestic stage on August 26, starring opposite Mary Michael Patterson as Christine Daae. Panaro's final performance as the Phantom was May 3. His former co-star in Les Miserables, Norm Lewis, succeeded him in the role.