The Phantom of the Opera celebrated 30 years on Broadway on January 24 with a very special performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's smash hit at the Majestic Theatre. Prior to the show, there was a red carpet event hosted by acclaimed musical alum "Christine" and Phantom alumni Sierra Boggess and Imogen Lloyd Webber, daughter of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Previous Phantom alumni were in attendance at Wednesday night's show, including the original Christine Daaé, Sarah Brightman who offered a surprise post performance of the musical's title song with the current Phantom, Peter Jöback and the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's other Broadway musical, School of Rock. After the performance of Brightman, the original cast of the musical took the stage to sing happy birthday not only to The Phantom of the Opera, but also to Hal Prince, the musical's original director and producer who turned 90 on January 30 and who was present on stage together with the cast, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Phantom of the Opera also partnered with the Empire State Building for a special Music-To-Light show during the gala party following the anniversary show. At 11pm, a customized light show was turned on at the top of the tower, synchronized with a special musical arrangement of the Phantom of the Opera. The show was not only completely visible to party guests with a clear view from the Rainbow Room where the after party took place, but to all New Yorkers looking up at the skyscraper. Before the light show, the Empire State Building was lit up in blue and white in honor of the 30th anniversary. Since opening in 1988, The Phantom of the Opera, based on the French novel “Le Fantome de l’Opera” by Gaston Leroux, has set a record advance of $18 million, performed to 18 million people in the theater alone New York City and is the only Broadway musical to celebrate a 30-year milestone. It was the winner of seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, seven Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critic Circle Awards. In January 2006, Phantom of the Opera surpassed Cats to become the longest-running show in Broadway history with 7,486 performances. The next milestone will be in February 2018 with its 12,500th performance. Over the course of 30 years on Broadway, 400 actors have appeared on the stage of the Majestic Theater. Every evening it takes 125 cast, crew, orchestra and hall employees to stage the legendary musical. Fifteen actors have worn the iconic Phantom mask, but Howard McGillin holds the record of being Broadway's longest-running Phantom with 2,500 performances. Among these fifteen actors, 300 custom Phantom masks were made and 12,484 sets of latex foam were used in the 90-minute process of applying Phantom's deformity. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay Additionally there were 230 costumes and 111 wigs used in the show each night and the production used over 7,000 pointe shoes for the famous ballet combination number. The original Broadway cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling cast recording of all time. In 160 cities and 35 countries, over 140 million have experienced The Phantom of the Opera around the world giving a whole new meaning to the Music of the Night.