The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) place long ago), "a chandelier in pieces", alluding to a connection with "the Phantom of the Opera". As the porters remove the drop cloth covering the fixture, it flickers to life and ascends to the ceiling as the auditorium's former grandeur is restored ("Overture"). It is now 1881 and the cast of a new production, "Hannibal", are rehearsing onstage when they learn that new owners, Firmin and André, are taking over the Paris Opéra House ("Hannibal Rehearsal"). Carlotta, the Opéra's resident soprano prima donna, begins to perform an aria for the new managers when a backdrop inexplicably falls from the
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical) where it became the first Broadway musical in history to surpass 10,000 performances on 11 February 2012. On 26 January 2013, the production celebrated its 25th anniversary with its 10,400th performance. It is, by over 3,500 performances, the longest-running show in Broadway history. By November 2016, "Phantom" had been staged over 12,000 times over 28 years. The 30th anniversary was on January 26, 2018- the first Broadway musical to reach this milestone- with the celebration on the 24th, special events all week long and a renunion with the original cast during the curtain call. Critical reviews were mostly positive on