Erik (The Phantom of the Opera) took roughly four hours per performance to put the prosthetics on in the original London productions. On Broadway, it was cut to roughly three, and over the years has been reduced to 45 minutes. More than one Phantom has described make-up disasters onstage. Michael Crawford recounts a story where he pulled away from the kiss at the end only to see that "[his] lower lip was now hanging off Sarah [Brightman]'s face!". To cover the flub, he pulled her back for another kiss and "took back the lips" and kept that side of his head turned away from the audience.
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) and Canadian productions. The recording of the 1986 original London cast, released by Polydor Records in 1987, was released in both a single CD "Highlights From The Phantom of the Opera" and a two CD "Phantom of the Opera", both of which have been certified 4× Platinum in the US and sold 4.97 million copies as of January 2017. "The Complete Recordings" edition has sold 507,000 copies since 1991. "Phantom" was also certified 3× Platinum in the UK. The Canadian cast recording went 2× Platinum in Canada. In Switzerland, "Phantom" was certified 3× Platinum and "Highlights" was certified 2× Platinum.