to mount a national tour of the United States. Jonathan Reinis (who later produced Ken Hill’s The Invisible Man in London) formed Phantom Touring Company Inc. who acted as the producers for the tour, along with Electric Factory Concerts. The tour began in 1989, with musical arrangements and designs by the original Newcastle Playhouse team. It performed for a few years to packed houses all over America, travelling to approximately 110 cities, and grossing a total of $72 million. In 1991, Phantom of the Opera returned to the United Kingdom where it embarked on a national tour produced by Stewart Macpherson and then transferred to London’s West End. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 18 December 1991, with a similar cast to the 1984 production - Peter Straker was The Phantom and Christina Collier as Christine. But despite positive reviews, the West End production did poorly at the box office at the time of IRA bombings, and closed earlier than expected, on 11 April 1992. However, the production was nominated for two Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and Best Director of a Musical. Since 1992, Phantom of the Opera has been performed around the world, in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Germany, Japan, and Korea. The most recent production of Phantom took place in 2013 in Tokyo, Japan running from 19 December 2013 to 29 December 2013. It was produced by Stewart Macpherson, who originally produced the West End production in 1991. Recording The official cast recording of the show was released in 1993 by D Sharp Records. It featured the entire West End cast, and includes all the songs in the show. It was also later released by two other record labels; Stetson Records (an offshoot of The Stetson Group), and BMG. The latter versions of the CD were mainly sold in Japan (in Japanese packaging), Australia and New Zealand, on national tours. References 1976 musicals British musicals Musicals based on novels Musicals based on The Phantom of the Opera West End musicals