David Shannon to star as London’s Phantom

DAVID SHANNON TO STAR AS ‘THE PHANTOM’ IN THE SMASH HIT ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER MUSICAL “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” FROM MONDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2009

David Shannon will star as ‘The Phantom’ in the smash hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” from Monday 9 November. David joins Rebecca Locke as ‘Carlotta’, Nicky Adams as ’Madame Giry’, Emma Harris as ‘Meg Giry’ and Tabitha Webb who plays ‘Christine’ at certain performances who all joined the show in September.

Ramin Karimloo leaves the production on Saturday 7 November to prepare for his role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “LOVE NEVER DIES”.

“THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” continues to star Gina Beck as ‘Christine’, Simon Bailey as ‘Raoul’, Barry James as ‘Monsieur Firmin’, Gareth Snook as ‘Monsieur André’ and Rohan Tickell as ‘Piangi’.

David Shannon recently completed a successful run as ‘Jean Valjean’ in “Les Misérables” at the Queen’s Theatre. His other West End credits include creating the role of ‘John’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Beautiful Game”, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, ‘Chris’ in “Miss Saigon” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, ‘The Man’ in “Whistle Down The Wind”, ‘Rum Tum Tugger’ in “Cats” and ‘Guillaume’ in “Martin Guerre”. He also received critical acclaim for playing the title role in ‘Sweeney Todd’ at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and most recently played Judas in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ with the RTE Concert Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Rebecca Lock left Drama School early to play the leading role of ‘Betrande’ in Cameron Mackintosh’s production of “Martin Guerre” at the Prince Edward Theatre. Her other West End credits include playing the title role in “Mary Poppins” on numerous occasions, also at the Prince Edward Theatre as well as Jellylorum in “Cats” at the New London Theatre and most recently ‘Kate Monster’ in “Avenue Q” at the Nöel Coward Theatre. Nicky Adams recently appeared as the alternate ‘Donna’ in the International Tour of “Mamma Mia!”. Her West End credits include ‘Cosette’ in “Les Misérables” and the alternate ‘Marion Halcombe’ in “The Woman in White”, both at the Palace Theatre. Her credits on tour include ‘Ellen’ in the first national tour of “Miss Saigon” and ‘Rizzo’ in “Grease”. Emma Harris was recently seen in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Evita”, both at the Adelphi Theatre. She has also appeared in “Cats” at the New London Theatre. Tabitha Webb recently completed a run in “Les Misérables” at the Queen’s Theatre and was one of the featured female soloists in “Chess In Concert” at the Royal Albert Hall with Josh Groban and Idina Menzel. Her professional career started at the age of 16 after winning the BBC Choir Girl of the Year competition.

“THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” recently celebrated its 24th birthday at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.

“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.

“THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” has won over 50 major theatre awards, including seven Tonys on Broadway and three Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the ‘Most Popular Musical Audience Award’, voted by the public, in the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA”, which opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 9 October 1986 starring Michael Crawford as ‘The Phantom’, Sarah Brightman as ‘Christine’ and Steve Barton as ‘Raoul’, is directed by Harold Prince and is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group Limited.

Worldwide, “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” has grossed over £1.7 billion. The box office revenues are higher than any film or stage play in history, including Titanic, ET and Star Wars. It has been seen in 144 cities in 27 countries and played to over 100 million people. “THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA” is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Las Vegas, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Seoul and Osaka. A touring production is playing at venues throughout the US.