David Thaxon Will Star in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA From December

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh are delighted to announce that David Thaxton will play 'The Phantom' for a limited run from Monday 10 December 2018.

As previously confirmed, Tim Howar will play his contracted dates with Mike and the Mechanics. His final performance as 'The Phantom' will be on Saturday 8 December and he will return to the role from Monday 13 May 2019.

Fresh from playing 'Javert' in "Les Misérables" at the Queen's Theatre, David Thaxton's other West End credits include 'Enjolras' in "Les Misérables", 'Raoul' in "Love Never Dies" at The Adelphi Theatre, 'Pilate' in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at Regents Park Theatre, and 'Giorgio' in "Passion" at The Donmar Warehouse, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

David joins Kelly Mathieson as 'Christine Daaé', Jeremy Taylor as 'Raoul', Amy Manford as the alternate 'Christine Daaé', Kimberly Blake as 'Carlotta Giudicelli', Ross Dawes as 'Monsieur Firmin', Mark Oxtoby as 'Monsieur André', Jacinta Mulcahy as 'Madame Giry', Paul Ettore Tabone as 'Ubaldo Piangi', Georgia Ware as 'Meg Giry' and Scott Davies as the standby 'Phantom'.

The cast is completed by Matthew Barrow, Matt Bateman, James Bisp, James Butcher, Bridget Costello, Sophie Cottrill, Hadrian Delacey, Morven Douglas, Paul Erbs, Hannah Grace, Philip Griffiths, Katy Hanna, Hettie Hobbs, Grace Horne, Lily Howes, Ellen Jackson, Adam Robert Lewis, Kris Manuel, Tim Morgan, Danielle Pullum, Rebecca Ridout, Anna Shircliff, Emily Smith, Rachel Spurrell, John Stacey, Andrei Teodor Iliescu, Claire Tilling, Victoria Ward and Danny Whitehead.

In October 2016 the London production of The Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a special gala performance at Her Majesty's Theatre. In October 2011 the London production celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a spectacular staging of "The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall" which was screened live in cinemas all over the world and subsequently released on DVD. The production has now been playing for over 32 years.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on 9 January 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder "Cats". This coincided with the Broadway and the US national touring company celebrating an unprecedented 20,000 performances in the United States. On 1 January 2018 it celebrated its 13,000th performance and later that month on 24 January the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 30 years on Broadway.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has won over 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony's on Broadway and four Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the 'Magic Radio Audience Award', voted by the public, in the 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards. The Phantom of the Opera, which opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 1986 starred Michael Crawford as 'The Phantom' and Sarah Brightman as 'Christine.' It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company Limited.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the first stage production to reach worldwide grosses of $6 billion. Revenues far surpass the world's highest-grossing film "Avatar" (at $2.8 billion), as well as such other blockbusters as "Titanic", "The Lord of the Rings", "Jurassic Park" and "Star Wars". Worldwide, over 140 million people have seen The Phantom of the Opera in 41 countries and 183 cities in 17 languages.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Copenhagen, Oslo, Prague and Sao Paulo and on tour in the US.