Masked marvel… The Phantom is back on stage

He’s the masked figure who hides himself away from the world. 

But his identity has been revealed alongside the new cast of The Phantom of the Opera. 

The long-running West End musical welcomed an entirely revamped company for the first time in 35 years ahead of its triumphant return to Her Majesty’s Theatre last night. 

It was forced to shut for the first time last year due to the pandemic. 

Olivier Award-nominee Killian Donnelly plays the Phantom alongside Lucy St Louis as opera singer Christine Daae – marking the first time a black actor has starred in the role either in London or on Broadway. 

Pictures show Donnelly’s Phantom in the shadows as Christine embraces Raoul, played by Rhys Whitfield. Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh, 74, called the show ‘a completely new version’ of the original, which was ‘tried out’ at the Curve in Leicester last February. 

Pictures show Donnelly’s Phantom in the shadows as Christine, played by Lucy St Louis, embraces Raoul, played by Rhys Whitfield 

The musical, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, 73, opened in the West End in 1986. 

Lord Lloyd-Webber said he was ‘utterly bewitched’ by Miss St Louis after hearing her sing in between the first and second lockdown.

The curtain finally lifted on the London production, marking the re-opening of the West End following a number of Covid-related set-backs.

Lord Lloyd-Webber’s eagerly-awaited Cinderella was forced to cancel its run last week thanks to the ‘pingdemic’ while musicals such as Hairspray have had to cancel shows.

Sir Cameron was branded ‘heartless’ earlier this year after defending controversial cuts to the production’s orchestra which has been slashed from 27 to 14.

The long-running West End musical welcomed an entirely revamped company for the first time in 35 years ahead of its triumphant return to Her Majesty’s Theatre last night. Pictured: The on-stage couple with the Phantom, Killian Donnelly

The theatre impresario said he finds it ‘odd’ that musicians want to perform in the same orchestra ‘year after year’ and that changes are part of ‘creating art’.

Others took aim at Lord Lloyd-Webber after he revealed the music that fans love will be played on a keyboard going forward.

The maestro owns Her Majesty’s Theatre and carried out extensive work during the lockdown.

The Phantom of the Opera opened in London’s West End in 1986 with Michael Crawford in the titular role. It transferred to Broadway in 1988 and went on to win multiple Olivier and Tony awards.

A touring production of Lord Lloyd-Webber’s Phantom became one of the first shows in the world to reopen in the wake of the pandemic in Seoul, South Korea, in April 2020.