Musical theatre responsible for "Les Misérables", which became the longest-running international musical hit in history. The team, in collaboration with Richard Maltby Jr., continued to produce hits, including "Miss Saigon", inspired by the Puccini opera "Madama Butterfly". The British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber saw similar success with "Evita", based on the life of Argentina's Eva Perón; "Cats", derived from the poems of T. S. Eliot (both of which musicals originally starred Elaine Paige); "Starlight Express", performed on roller skates; "The Phantom of the Opera", derived from the Gaston Leroux novel, "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra"; and "Sunset Boulevard" (from the classic film of
Mariss Vetra Nova Scotia Opera Association, in which he together with the conductor and pianist Alfrēds Strombergs performed the functions of the art director and stage director. The Opera Association started to support opera productions financially. Vētra also stimulated the formation of the symphonic orchestra of the Conservatoire of Halifax. He produced productions of "Stories of Hoffmann" by Offenbach, "La Traviata" by Verdi (both in 1950), "Madame Butterfly" by Puccini and "Le Nozze di Figaro" by Mozart (both in 1951), as well as the operetta "Graefin Mariza" by I. Kalman (1952). In 1953, Vētra and his family moved to Toronto, where he