Bob King, Creative Force Behind THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA's Artwork, Steps Down

You may not know the name Bob King off the top of your head, but if you're a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera you may have one of his creations framed and displayed in your home.

As chief executive of Britain's advertising and design firm, Dewynters, King has been the creative force behind hundreds of West End marketing campaigns. He's the designer of The Phantom of the Opera's "smashed glass" lettering, as well as posters for LES MISERABLES.

But after 31 years with the firm, King has decided to step down and "try something new."

He tells The Stage that he'd like to give chances to younger members of the agency "who need to move up and move forward," but will stay on as a consultant, working with key clients he has formed firm relationships with.

"I am excited about the prospect of being a bit nomadic. The prospect of walking in here with a laptop, a sketch pad and a pen and not being tied by the constraints of any management decisions is exciting. I will do what I love, which is the creative side of things."

Though best known for his designs for long-running hits, King also gained a bit of infamy as the one who thought of photographing Daniel Radcliffe naked with a horse for the 2007 production of EQUUS.

"That picture went worldwide within minutes."

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Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince and produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc., is the longest-running show in Broadway history. The New York production has played an unheard-of 27 years and well over 11,000 performances to 16 million people - and continues to play with no end in sight. (By way of comparison, the second longest-running show, Chicago, remains a distant second at 18 years and 7,500 performances.) PHANTOM's astounding longevity is unprecedented.

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.

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