The Phantom of the Opera at a glance

Show
The Phantom of the Opera
Venue
His Majesty's Theatre, West End
Address
Haymarket, London SW1Y 4QL
Nearest station
Piccadilly Circus (3 min walk)
Genre
Musical (romantic / gothic)
Running time
2 hours 30 minutes, including one interval
Age guidance
10+ (under 4s not admitted; under-16s must be accompanied)
Dates
Currently booking until 13 March 2027
Schedule
Mon–Sat 7:30pm; matinees Wed and Sat 2:30pm
Price range
From £29 (typically £29–£259)
Music
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics
Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
Book
Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber (based on the novel by Gaston Leroux)
Director
Seth Sklar-Heyn (originally directed by Harold Prince)

Expert Review: The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre

4.6
★★★★★

LTH Expert Rating

Reviewed by the London Theatre Hub editorial team. Last updated: 30 April 2026.

The Verdict

Four decades into its West End run, The Phantom of the Opera remains the purest piece of theatrical spectacle in London. It does what no streaming service and no film adaptation has managed to replicate: it puts a chandelier above your head, lets a candlelit boat glide across an underground lake, and gives you Andrew Lloyd Webber's score played live by a full orchestra in the same room your great-grandparents could have heard it. The 2026 anniversary year is a reminder of why the show has never closed.

What's striking, watching the production now, is how committed Cameron Mackintosh's team has been to keeping it intact. Maria Björnson's gilded, gothic designs still look exactly as they did in 1986 — the costumes, the masks, the boat, the burning organ — because the team has refused to update them for the sake of updating them. Hal Prince's original direction, now overseen by Seth Sklar-Heyn, still trusts the score to do the dramatic heavy lifting. Dean Chisnall's Phantom has the vocal authority the role demands, and Beatrice Penny-Touré's Christine carries the second act with real emotional weight.

What Makes It Special

  • 40 years and counting. Phantom opened at the then-Her Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 1986 and is now the West End's second longest-running musical of all time, beaten only by Les Misérables. It has played to over 160 million people across 58 territories worldwide.
  • Maria Björnson's designs. The chandelier, the boat, the masquerade ball, the Phantom's lair — Björnson's design vocabulary for the show is one of the most recognisable in musical theatre history. The original costumes and set elements have been carefully maintained for four decades.
  • The score itself. The Music of the Night, All I Ask of You, Think of Me, the title song, Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again, Masquerade — Lloyd Webber's score contains more genuinely famous melodies than almost any other musical written since the 1960s. Hearing them in the room they were designed for, with a full orchestra, is the experience the cast recordings only approximate.
  • The 2026 company. Dean Chisnall continues as The Phantom with the vocal range the role demands. Beatrice Penny-Touré (Les Misérables Arena World Tour) plays Christine Daaé until 9 May 2026. Ashley Gilmour (Miss Saigon) brings the right blend of romance and fight to Raoul.
  • The chandelier moment. Some sequences in musical theatre are worth the ticket price on their own. Phantom has two: The Music of the Night, and the Act One chandelier finale. The latter still draws audible gasps after 40 years — and the engineering hasn't changed since 1986.

You'll love The Phantom of the Opera if you...

  • Want a romantic, gothic, full-orchestra West End spectacle
  • Have always wanted to hear The Music of the Night live
  • Are introducing teenagers (10+) to grand musical theatre
  • Appreciate productions that have been preserved with care rather than updated
  • Are visiting London and want a proper West End icon

It might not be for you if you...

  • Prefer contemporary or experimental musical theatre
  • Find traditional sung-through scores hard to follow
  • Are bringing children under 10 — the themes and effects are firm 10+
  • Are sensitive to dramatic special effects, including a stage fire moment
  • Want a fresh, modern reinterpretation — this is the original, preserved

Best for

  • Musical theatre fans
  • Tourists
  • Date night
  • Lloyd Webber fans
  • Teenagers (10+)
  • Special occasions

Not the strongest fit for very young children or audiences seeking new or experimental work.

Critical Reception

The Phantom of the Opera has been praised consistently by UK critics across its four-decade run, with reviewers praising the score, the central performances, and the enduring power of Maria Björnson's designs. The production won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 1986 and the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1988 (winning seven Tonys in total), and has collected over 70 major theatre awards worldwide. Recent critical reception has continued to recognise the show's preservation as one of the great achievements of long-running musical theatre.

  • The Guardian ★★★★
  • The Times ★★★★★
  • The Telegraph ★★★★
  • Evening Standard ★★★★
  • Time Out ★★★★
  • WhatsOnStage ★★★★
  • Official Theatre ★★★★★

Source: published reviews of the West End production at His Majesty's Theatre. The production's central design and direction have been carefully preserved since the original 1986 run.

Everything You Need to Know

What happens in The Phantom of the Opera?

The musical opens in 1905, with an aged Raoul attending an auction at the now-derelict Paris Opera House. As a chandelier is unveiled, the action flashes back to the same building in 1881, when a mysterious figure known as the Phantom of the Opera was rumoured to haunt the theatre's underground levels.

A young soprano is chosen

When the Opera's temperamental star Carlotta walks out before opening night, the chorus girl Christine Daaé is given her first leading role. Her unexpected vocal brilliance astonishes the company. Christine confides in her childhood friend Raoul that her gift comes from a hidden teacher she calls the Angel of Music — a voice she believes was sent to her by her late father.

The Phantom revealed

The Angel of Music is in fact the Phantom — a disfigured musical genius who lives in the catacombs beneath the Opera House. He has been coaching Christine in secret and has fallen obsessively in love with her. The first act builds to the famous title sequence as the Phantom takes Christine through the looking-glass and down to his lair beneath the building, where he serenades her with The Music of the Night.

Raoul, jealousy and disaster

As Christine grows closer to Raoul, the Phantom's love turns to rage. He begins terrorising the Opera company — sending threatening notes, sabotaging performances, and ultimately bringing about the most famous moment in musical theatre: the chandelier crashing to the stage at the end of Act One.

The final confrontation

Act Two follows the Opera's increasingly desperate attempts to mount a new production while the Phantom's grip tightens. Christine is forced to choose between the safety Raoul offers and the strange, magnetic pull of her teacher. The famous final sequence — in the Phantom's lair, with all three characters in the same room — is one of the most emotionally devastating endings in popular musical theatre. The curtain falls on a single mask, left behind.