PHANTOM Costume Exhibit Precedes Tour's Orpheum Engagement

In celebration of The Orpheum Theatre's upcoming engagement of Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, the Orpheum, in partnership with Carriage Crossing and the Phantom North American Tour, is hosting a special limited-time free exhibit of selected Phantom costumes by the late Tony Award-winning designer Maria Björnson. Björnson's sketches as well as costumes from the production will be on display in Suite 555 at Carriage Crossing (4675 Merchants Park Cir., Collierville, TN) September 12-21, Mon-Sat 10am-6pm and Sun 1pm-5pm. These exquisite original designs will be featured in the spectacular new touring production playing at The Orpheum Theatre September 24 - October 5.

With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of PHANTOM, the most successful musical of all-time, will be performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America. Tickets are on sale now and available for purchase online at the official Orpheum Theatre website, www.orpheum-memphis.com, The Orpheum Box Office (901.525.3000), the ticket counter at The Booksellers at Laurelwood, and all Ticketmaster centers (901.743.ARTS). Ticket prices start at $29.

Casting has also been announced for the Memphis engagement. Cooper Grodin portrays the man behind the mask, 'The Phantom,' with Julia Udine as 'Christine Daaé,' Ben Jacoby as 'Raoul,' Jacquelynne Fontaine as 'Carlotta Giudicelli,' David Benoit as 'Monsieur Firmin,' Edward Staudenmayer as 'Monsieur André,' Linda Balgord as 'Madame Giry,' Frank Viveros as 'Ubaldo Piangi' and Hannah Florence as 'Meg Giry'.

The Ensemble includes Adam Bashian, Nick Cartell, Dan Debenport, Amy Decker, Mark Emerson, David Foley, Jr., Celia Hottenstein, Christopher M. Howard, Merritt David Janes, Edward Juvier, Dustin Layton, Luke Lazzaro, Jay Lusteck, Katie McCreary, Grace Morgan, Christy Morton, Lindsay O'Neil, Quinto Ott, Eric Ruiz, Allan Snyder and Marguerite Willbanks. The Corps de Ballet includes Morgan Cowling, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Ramona Kelley, Abigail Mentzer, Lily Rose Peck, Tara Sweeney and Micki Weiner.

For more information on the production and a video sneak peek, please visit www.ThePhantomOfTheOpera.com/USTour

Andrew Lloyd Webber said, "It's wonderful to have a new production of PHANTOM touring America now that the show has celebrated over 25 years on Broadway. Director Laurence Connor has done an amazing job and this production has received huge critical acclaim in the UK."

Cameron Mackintosh said, ''After a glorious celebration of 25 phenomenal years on Broadway with no end in sight, I'm delighted to be able to bring this dazzling new production of PHANTOM -- which has been phenomenally well-received by both audiences and critics in the U.K this past year -- to North America. With an exciting new design and staging, retaining Maria Björnson's amazing costumes, I am confident North American audiences will fall in love with the PHANTOM in his new guise -- for the first time or all over again."

This new production of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is directed by Laurence Connor (the 25th Anniversary production of LES MISERABLES now on Broadway) with choreography by Scott Ambler, set design by Paul Brown, Tony Award-winning original costume design by Maria Björnson, lighting design by Tony Award-winner Paule Constable, sound design by Mick Potter and musical supervision by John Rigby. The production is overseen by Matthew Bourne and Cameron Mackintosh. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; lyrics are by Charles Hart (with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe) and the book is by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Orchestrations are by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

There are currently seven productions of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA around the world: the flagship London production (27 Years and counting), New York (26 Years and counting), Sapporo (Japan, 25 Years and counting, in repertory), Budapest (Hungary), Hamburg (Germany), the Asian Pacific Tour (now in South Korea) and Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular all-new production now on North American Tour. The next international opening will be in Taipei, China in September 2014.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is also the most successful entertainment venture of all time, with revenues higher (at $6 billion) than any film or stage play in history, including Titanic, Star Wars and far surpassing the world's highest-grossing film Avatar (at $2.8 billion).

Worldwide, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has played over 65,000 performances that have been seen by 130 million people in 30 countries and 152 cities in 13 languages. The show has won more than 70 major theater awards.

There have been three previous U.S. National Tours of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA that grossed over $1.5 billion in combined box office sales and played 216 engagements in 77 cities for an unprecedented total of 36 years and over 14,500 performances to 31 million people.

Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de L'Opéra by Gaston Leroux, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it. He falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, and devotes himself to creating a new star by nurturing her extraordinary talents and by employing all of the devious methods at his command.