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
"The Phantom of the Opera"'s origins came from Leroux's curiosity with the Phantom being real. In the prologue he tells the readers about the Phantom and the research that he did to prove the truth of the ghost. His findings connected the corpse from the opera house to the Persian phantom himself. The claims from the prologue of his novel were ones that Leroux held onto even up until his death in 1927.