We already talked about ghosts at the Arts Center Melbourne, and the lights on to keep them company. But now the biggest ghost of all is about to haunt the performance hall. Opera Australia, in association with the Really Useful Group, raises the discordant organ to herald, with a caped air, the arrival of arguably Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most famous musical.

The Phantom of the Opera opens at the Arts Center Melbourne on November 14, 2021, with West Side Story Star Josh piterman in the title role (and macabre half-mask). The Australian star recently brought Music of the night in the West End, playing the Phantom in London until that production was forced to close.

Incredibly, this is the first time that the box office success will honor the Arts Center Melbourne in its 35-year history. And you can bet it’s going to dazzle, right down to the fateful dip of the centerpiece chandelier. This spectacular staging, evoked by Cameron Mackintosh, will be hosted in Melbourne by director Laurence Connor and will show the fabulous original costumes of Maria Björnson. The Melbourne season follows production in Sydney, which begins September 1.

“I am delighted to be able to present this exciting new production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Arts Center Melbourne with its spectacular new staging by director Laurence Connor and fabulous designs by Paul Brown and Maria Bjornson, “says Mackintosh.” The unprecedented demand for tickets for this new Australian production has set box records. office in Sydney and we look forward to an equally successful season in Melbourne, where my original production was a legendary hit in 1990, for over two and a half years. “

It will be one of the greatest musical productions ever to be made in Australia, performed by a 65-person cast and orchestra, with special effects including a spectacular new achievement to the luster of the show.

Tickets go on sale July 6 and you can sign up on the waiting list here. As the title song says, “In all your fantasies you’ve always known … [that you have to book tickets for the campest show in musical history]”.

Do you like spectacular musicals? Red Mill! the musical is also heading to Melbourne this year.