Phantom just turned 40!
The debut was 9 October 1986 in Her Majesty's Theatre, London.
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I just learned about the 40th today from Instagram randomly showing posts in my feed from an anniversary celebration last night with Michael and Sarah and Andrew Lloyd Weber.
If you go to my IG and look in the Stories, I linked to a few videos.
Phantom of the Opera made me the singer I am. My 7th grade choir teacher took us to see it Fall 1989 at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA. I bought the Highlights tape at the souvenir booth and played it incessantly until I got the full score double-tape set as a gift.
I was 12 in 1989 and singing along with PotO took my voice from a girl’s to a young woman’s. When we performed some of the songs later in spring, I was the only one with the range to hit the high notes in “Masquerade”.
Singing "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" as a solo got me a lot of surprised praise from the parents in the audience. They couldn't believe my voice came from me.
(I was 4'10" or so at the time.)
My choir teachers would come to rely on me for pitch and ability, and my range reached 4 octave plus 5 notes by age 15.
When my junior high choir teacher was retiring, my high school teacher set up a commemorative moment at our concert and all of us who had her could perform for her. I sang "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" as a senior.
I had intended to become a Marine Biologist, but the math reqs for that degree were beyond my brain, so I went to college as a Vocal Performance major.
All because of falling in love with Phantom.
I wrote in 2023 about the closing on Broadway after 35 years.
