The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) 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". With total estimated worldwide gross receipts of over $5.6 billion and total Broadway gross of $845 million, "Phantom" was the most
Michael Ball (singer) Michael Ball (singer) Michael Ashley Ball, OBE (born 27 June 1962) is an English actor, singer and broadcaster, who is known for his work in musical theatre. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius in the original London production of "Les Misérables", and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera". In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical "Aspects of Love", where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway. In 1992, Ball