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.
West End theatre "The Phantom of the Opera", "Lion King" and Willy Russell's "Blood Brothers" which have also subsequently overtaken "Cats". However the non-musical Agatha Christie play "The Mousetrap" is the longest-running production in the world, and has been performed continuously since 1952. The following have been announced as future West End productions. The theatre in which they will run is either not yet known or currently occupied by another show. The term "West End theatre" is generally used to refer specifically to commercial productions in Theatreland. However, the leading non-commercial theatres in London enjoy great artistic prestige. These include the Royal National