Casting Set for Broadway Return of Phantom of the Opera

Casting is set for the return of Broadway's Broadway The Phantom of the Opera, resuming performances at the Majestic Theatre on October 22. The box office is open as of today.

Once again leading the company will be Ben Crawford as The Phantom, Meghan Picerno as Christine Daae, and John Riddle as Raoul, alongside Bradley Dean as Monsieur André, Craig Bennett as Monsieur Firmin, Raquel Suarez Groen as Carlotta Giudicelli, Maree Johnson as Madame Giry, and Carlton Moe as Ubaldo Piangi. All were playing their roles when theaters shut down in March 2020.

Joining the roster of leading players are Sara Esty, who will take on the role of Meg Giry (which she was scheduled to assume in April 2020), and Emilie Kouatchou, who will be the Christine at certain performances. Kouatchou is the first Black performer to play the role of Christine in the Broadway production.

The Phantom of the Opera features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, and a book by Richard Stilgoe and Webber. Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de L'Opéra by Gaston Leroux, it tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. He falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, and devotes himself to creating a new star by nurturing her extraordinary talents and by employing all of the devious methods at his command.

Phantom is directed by Harold Prince, who passed away in the summer of 2019, and choreographed by Gillian Lynne, who passed away in the summer of 2018. Production design is by the late Maria Björnson, lighting is by Andrew Bridge, and sound by is Mick Potter, with original sound by Martin Levan. Musical supervision and direction is by David Caddick and orchestrations are by David Cullen and Webber.

The production is planning to return with its full orchestra, playing the show's original orchestrations.