The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Broadway Across America, proudly announce the return of Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, directed by Harold Prince, to the Benedum Center from August 25th through September 19th, 2010, as a 2010-11 Season Special.
Single ticket prices will soon be announced and will go on sale Monday, May 10, at the Box Office at Theater Square (655 Penn Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets), online at www.pgharts.org or by calling 412-456-6666. Group orders may be reserved now by calling 412-471-6930.
With some of the most lavish sets, costumes and special effects ever to have been created for the stage, Andrew Lloyd Webber's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA directed by Harold Prince traces the tragic love story of a beautiful opera singer and a young composer shamed by his physical appearance into a shadowy existence beneath the majestic Paris Opera House. Adapted from Gaston Leroux's classic novel of mystery and suspense, this award-winning musical has woven its magical spell over standing room audiences in more than 100 cities worldwide and is now longest running show in Broadway history. PHANTOM returns to the Benedum Center to take your breath away.
For more information, visit pgharts.org.
(reported by Broadway World.com)
Tamra Hayden, who played Christine opposite Brad Little, has just released a new CD, I Believe in the Fire. Tamra has performed on Broadway in Les Miserables and Cabaret, and Off-Broadway in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. She has also toured throughout the US as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, Cosette in Les Miserables, and Hodel in Fiddler On The Roof. A versatile singer, Tamra has performed Broadway Pops with The Nashville Symphony, Palm Beach Pops, and Charlotte Symphony to name a few. Tamra has produced two CDs: A Day At The Fair, a singer/songwriter album of original tunes; and I Believe In The Fire, a collaboration with Angus Mohr, with contributions from Art Halperin, Gusty Christensen, Mark Brown, and Xander Nichting.
You can listen to Tamra's music on this page using the embedded player. "Song for an Accident" is one that we particularly recommend to all who love Phantom. 
In addition, Tamra regularly performs live in the virtual world of Second Life, with her avatar Tamra Sands. Can't get to the theater to see your favorite shows? You can hear Tamra sing live from the comfort of your home. To find out when she is performing, just search for her profile within Second Life; her upcoming shows are listed there!
SECOND LIFE INFO: Joining Second Life is free and easy, click here to sign up. That link will take you to the new user orientation run by Ayesha, one of the owners of this website. If you need extra help, send Ayesha Lytton an IM within Second Life, let her know you're from PhantomoftheOpera.com and she'll be happy to assist you.
Great news for Phantom fans - legendary Phantom Peter Karrie's whole back catalogue of recordings is now available for download through Amazon and iTunes!
Karrie has played the Phantom over 2000 times around the world, and was one of the most popular Phantoms of the nineties (twice voted the favourite Phantom of the Phantom Appreciation Society).
To quote just a couple of his album reviews:
"Any man mad enough to record six of my lyrics on his debut solo album deserves all the support he can get. When that man is the magnificently-voiced Peter Karrie, he can count on my enthusiastic backing. He is a powerful and sensitive interpreter of musical scores whose West End and Broadway credits, already impressive, have only just begun." - SIR TIM RICE
"Peter Karrie is blessed with a voice that is both powerful and tender, that drips feeling and emotion. If you enjoy listening to the best show songs performed magnificently then I can do no better than highly recommend Theatrically Yours." - MIKE GIBB, MASQUERADE
I particularly recommend his versions of Music of the Night and Bring Him Home from Theatrically Yours - hear those long notes last forever!
Download Peter Karrie on Amazon
Broadway World.com reports:
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera returns to ASU Gammage in Tempe beginning October 28 through November 22. Tickets go on sale Monday, August 24 at 10 a.m. through ticketmaster.com or 1.800.982.ARTS(2787) and at the ASU Gammage Box Office. Group orders of 15 tickets or more may be placed by calling 480.965.6678.
The Phantom of the Opera will play Wednesday, October 28 through Sunday, November 22. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Saturday matinee at 2pm, Sunday at 1 & 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from $25 to $83.50.
The Tempe engagement of The Phantom of the Opera is presented by ASU Gammage and Broadway Across America. PHANTOM is a special ticket offering of the Broadway Across America - Arizona series.
Located on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University, ASU Gammage is among the largest university-based presenters of performing arts in the world. asugammage.com
Broadway Across America presents first-rate touring Broadway shows, family productions and other live theatrical events throughout a network of 42 North American cities. For more information or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent, go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.
Eager to get a daily dose of Phantom news? Follow Fantome de l' Opera on Twitter.
Fans are also celebrating 100 years of Phantom on YouTube.
You can follow fan reaction to the Phantom of the Opera sequel on Twitter too!
Leroux fans, there's still time to order your Leroux Plush Erik - limited edition, only 250 being made.
Finally, I'm sure all Phantom fans will be wishing Andrew Lloyd Webber well on hearing the news that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The BBC report says the condition has been caught in its early stages, and Lord Lloyd-Webber is undergoing treatment and expects to be back at work by the end of the year.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies, has seen its mixed reception from fans grow more intense since its official launch in October 2009.
Phantom fans have been largely against the idea of an "official" sequel to the story for some years, particularly since the Frederick Forsyth novel The Phantom of Manhattan was panned by critics and appalled fans, yet got a warm response from Lloyd Webber. As it becomes more and more clear that much of the plot to Love Never Dies is based on the Forsyth book, fan criticism has increased.
In spite of most of the press just accepting what was presumably the Really Useful Group's claim that Phantom fans (or "phans") were looking forward to the sequel, The Stage noted that even the offical RUG site on the sequel was showing negative response from fans (Criticism Never Dies).
Across the internet, discussions show that some fans are looking forward to the Phantom of the Opera sequel, but most remain skeptical, and a good number are strongly and sometimes harshly against.
Three opinions stand out most clearly amongst Phantom fans.
One is that a sequel ruins the beauty, power, and redemptive message of the original ending; that the Phantom of the Opera story is complete as it is, and any sequel can only weaken, or even tarnish, the original.
The second is that even those who aren't against the whole idea of the sequel are dismayed that it's been based on The Phantom of Manhattan. The plot, as we know it so far, is full of holes and contradictions.
And finally, many Phantom fans feel that Andrew Lloyd Webber does not remotely care about maintaining any of the integrity of the original story. Even the dates he's given the sequel make no sense - it is set "ten years later", in 1906, yet the original was set in 1880 or 1881.
>> See more fan reaction to Love Never Dies, the Phantom of the Opera sequel.
>>> And follow fan reaction on Twitter.
Hooray for the launch of the Real Plush Erik, a fan-designed plush toy of Leroux's original Opera Ghost.
Just 250 Plush Eriks are being made by the Plush Erik Project, and orders are being taken now - he should get to you by the end of November.
Phantom of the Opera .com recommends that you get one before they run out!
For the story of the origination of Plush Erik, if you have any questions, check out the Plush Erik discussion thread.
The urns or "time capsule" mentioned in Leroux were displayed to the public in January this year.
Two days, the 8th & 9th of December have been dedicated to the buried urns, at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, with a series of lectures and talks, as well as a “hearing” of the recordings.
Read more about it here, at the on-line exhibition of the Bibliothèque Nationale: http://expositions.bnf.fr/voix/arret/06.htm
The story of the burial of the urns is told here: http://expositions.bnf.fr/voix/02.htm
By clicking down on the menu to each individual urn, you’ll find links to recordings from the records: http://expositions.bnf.fr/voix/arret/02.htm
A sample, Caruso singing “Celeste Aida” by Verdi: http://expositions.bnf.fr/voix/ecoute/14.htm
The Bibliothèque National de France is currently running an exhibition on Gaston Leroux and his works.
Quoting from the website, BNF Exhibition on Gaston Leroux:
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication of « Le Parfum de la dame en noir », the Bibliothèque nationale de France pays tribute to the rich and diverse work by Gaston Leroux, both one of the last masters in the art of the serialized novel and one of the pioneers of detective novels and fantastic literature. But if Gaston Leroux went down in history thanks to the popular characters of Rouletabille and Chéri-Bibi, who does remember him as a journalist and special correspondent ?
To remedy the situation, a large part of the exhibition is devoted to the events and the historical context of the Belle Epoque, a period rich of intense technical and political upheavals retraced in Gaston Leroux’s articles. The evocation of Gaston Leroux’s occupation as a journalist for the newspaper « Le Matin » allows to highlight the beginning of his career as an author, and a work which is both marked by the serialized writing style and an acute attention to current affairs.
A rich and diverse collection including about 100 pieces (letters, manuscripts, illustrated publications, photographs, posters, objects, film excerpts...) will allow to discover the universe of Gaston Leroux and the many adaptations that were inspired by his work.
Exhibition catalogue: « Gaston Leroux, de Rouletabille à Chéri-Bibi », under the direction of Guillaume Fau, including some texts by Pierre Assouline, Francis Lacassin and François Rivière, Paris, BnF, 2008.
The exhibition ends on 4th January 2009.
According to ALW's website:
Polydor Records celebrates the 60th birthday of Andrew Lloyd Webber, indisputably the most successful composer of our time, with the release of '60'. This amazing 3-CD, 60-track set spans the whole of Andrew's illustrious career and includes hits from all of his most famous musicals - Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, Evita, Sunset Boulevard and of course The Phantom Of The Opera. The album features hit recordings, hits from cast albums - all sung by a diverse range of superstar and original artists.
From Elvis Presley singing "It's Easy For You" (the song that Andrew and Tim Rice wrote especially for him) to Barbra Streisand, Sarah Brightman, Shirley Bassey, John Barrowman, Michael Crawford, Madonna, Tom Jones and rocker Alice Cooper (singing King Herod's Song) this collection has it all.
For over 40 years Lloyd Webber has provided the world its musical soundtrack. Not only in the realm of musical theatre, but in the charts across a variety of genres - including pop, classical, rock and jazz.
To celebrate this release we are offering you the chance to win 2 tickets to see Joseph in London's West End, with an overnight stay in a top London hotel - click here to enter the competition now. http://zaphod.uk.vvhp.net/reg/reg.pl?id=3630-65520
'60' will be released on Monday, October 6, 2008. Pre-order your copy from Amazon.
For a list of songs on the CD's go to www.andrewlloydwebber.com