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
Phantom of the Opera (1976 musical) of those productions did very well. When the show got the Theatre Royal Stratford East, Sarah Brightman, who created the role of Christine in the Lloyd Webber version, was famously asked to perform the role of Christine in the 1984 cast but she turned it down, leaving the role for the opera singer Christina Collier. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who at the time was married to Brightman, and Cameron Mackintosh attended a performance of Ken Hill’s "Phantom of the Opera" at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Prompted by the good reviews, they approached Hill about the possibility of their collaborating on