Simon Phillips News

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Go inside opening night of the new musical in the videos below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Photos of the production have been released on the production's official Facebook Page and BroadwayWorld brings them to you below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Check out highlights from the musical below!

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Despite the hype of the much anticipated musical, which is believed to have Broadway aspirations, the production was received with little enthusiasm by many critics (revisit the Review Roundup here). Now, the movie and show's scribe, Douglas Day Stewart, has taken to the media to defend the piece in an open letter in The Australian against their negative reaction.

An Officer and a Gentleman, directed by Simon Philips and co-written by Douglas Day Stewart and composer and lyricist team Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, made its world premiere performance on May 18 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, Australia. Let's see what the critics had to say.

According to a report by Variety, more and more musicals, such as An Officer and a Gentleman, which opened in its world premiere today, May 19 at the Lyric Theater in Sydney, are using Australia has a stepping stone to larger Broadway and West End productions.

This weekend, BroadwayWorld will be presenting an illuminating InDepth InterView with legendary composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber all about the enchanting new performance capture film version of his PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES. Until that chat, let's take a look back at some of the finest Andrew Lloyd Webber-related performances related to the entertainment dynasty built upon his operatic pop musical version of the classic Gaston Leroux novel that is about to celebrate its 10,000th performance on Broadway later this month, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, as well as its continuation, LOVE NEVER DIES, and the two revivals of his two classic 70s hit stage collaborations with previous InDepth InterView participant Sir Tim Rice coming back to Broadway in a big way - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA. Plus, a look at the new Simon Phillips-directed production of LOVE NEVER DIES coming to Fathom-equipped movie theaters nationwide on February 28 and March 7, with DVD & Blu-ray after that, as well as the PHANTOM 25 DVD & Blu-ray being released in the US on February 7. It's a busy time of year for phans, clearly! Fetch your favorite mask and check out these four Andrew Lloyd Webber delicacies before they arrive!

In honor of this week's US release of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL on DVD/Blu-ray - PHANTOM 25 for short - today we are focusing on the multitude of attributes that have made Andrew Lloyd Webber's unforgettable gothic musical the most successful entertainment of all time, now in its 25th year onstage and about to reach 10,000 performances on Broadway, where it is the reigning longest running show of all time. The gargantuan excitement generated by and the enthusiastic reception enjoyed by PHANTOM for audiences worldwide is unprecedented, yet, the new ultimate presentation of the show - PHANTOM 25 - is even more spectacular and thrilling than any iteration of PHANTOM on any stage or screen thus far. Bringing together the cast of a lifetime with the electricity of a live audience, the HD preservation of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL is positively peerless in its sleekness, precision and polish of presentation. Never before - not even in the vaunted hands and cords of original show stars Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford - has the show been this contemporary, sexual and hypnotizing. Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom brings a rawness and austerity to the role that commands attention and Sierra Boggess is, in a word, supreme, as the young ingenue under the Phantom's watchful musical tutelage. So, too, does Hadley Fraser's perfectly painted Raoul hit the right mark, as do the rest of the exceptional cast in their commitment to making clear-cut, strong and colorful impressions in their roles. The LED-enhanced set is an imaginative reworking of the designs by Maria Bjornson and the musical staging is smooth and assured thanks to original show choreographer Gillian Lynne. Yet, the star of PHANTOM 25 is, unquestionably, Andrew Lloyd Webber's rapturous, rich and enveloping score. Bringing together an impressive and inspired assortment of genres in creating the quintessential pop opera, Lloyd Webber employs elements of grand opera, opera bouffe, operetta and musical theatre, as well as incorporates a diverse range of musical styles - even a little heavy metal guitar in the title song, as we shall see (and hear). The score of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest achievements and stands tall alongside his other classic scores for JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, CATS, SUNSET BOULEVARD among many other international hit shows. Indeed, the story and score of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is so very complex and decadent as to allow for a continuation of the story, score, characters and overall themes in the form of the new musical, LOVE NEVER DIES, which premiered in a new version in Australia last year and whose story traces the relationship of the Phantom, Christine and Raoul from the end of the original show all the way from Paris to Coney Island ten years later where PHANTASMA is the show everyone must experience thanks to a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows beyond the carousel. In today's celebration of PHANTOM 25, we will take a look at the original music videos, the legendary Hal Prince production on Broadway and in the West End, the forthcoming LOVE NEVER DIES - coming to Fathom-equipped theaters nationwide later this month - all with a special spotlight on the most phantastic anniversary concert of all time, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL.

The New York Times is reporting that PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT will play its final performance on Broadway on June 24, 2012 after 23 previews and 526 performances.

The New York Times is reporting that PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT will play its final performance on Broadway on June 24, 2012 after 23 previews and 526 performances.

Previews for the World Premiere season of An Officer and a Gentleman commence at the Sydney Lyric Theatre tomorrow night, May 8, ahead of the Gala Opening Night on Friday May 18.

The continuation of Broadway's longest-running musical The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies closes tonight at Melbourne's Regent Theatre.

The Tony Award-winning production of Bette Midler's PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL celebrates its one year anniversary on Broadway and 500,000th audience member worldwide on today.

Producers John Frost and Sharleen Cooper Cohen, along with NSW Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris, today welcomed the full cast and crew of the new musical An Officer and a Gentleman to their first day of rehearsals, ahead of the World Premiere on 18 May, 2012 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, The Star.

The Tony Award® winning production of Bette Midler's PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL celebrate its one year anniversary on Broadway and 500,000th audience member worldwide on Tuesday, March 20. In the video below, Joan and Melissa Rivers pay a visit to the show where they chat with Tony Sheldon, get a tour of backstage, and more. Click below to check it out!

Bette Midler's PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT salutes Spring with the return of Wednesday matinees at the Palace Theatre beginning tomorrow, March 14 at 2:00pm.

The Tony Award® winning production of Bette Midler's PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL celebrate its one year anniversary on Broadway and 500,000th audience member worldwide on Tuesday, March 20.

In honor of the encore screening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES at Fathom-equipped movie theaters across the US today, following the rapturously received first showing late last month, this week we are highlighting the show's central stars, Anna O'Byrne and Ben Lewis, and speaking to them all about the spectacular Coney Island-set PHANTOM OF THE OPERA musical sequel. Following the previous interviews in this series with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater, this LOVE NEVER DIES series shines a special spotlight on the risky and ambitious new theatrical venture, which originally began in London's West End and has now been thrillingly filmed in its completely reconceived and rewritten Australian iteration directed by visionary innovator Simon Phillips. In an unprecedented move, Fathom will be presenting the elegantly designed film of the stage show in over 500 movie theaters nationwide, making LOVE NEVER DIES an absolute must-see for Broadway babies curious to see where the story of the Phantom, Christine and the rest ends up ten years later - and, also, a real treat for just plain entertainment enthusiasts in general out there. To paraphrase from the musical drama itself, the special screenings of LOVE NEVER DIES prove that love does, indeed, live on. Today, in this LOVE NEVER DIES focused portion of the upcoming complete InDepth InterView, LOVE NEVER DIES star Ben Lewis and I discuss his insights into playing the Phantom, working with the phenomenally talented cast featuring Anna O'Byrne as Christine, as well as what his impressions are of the final finished film version of the show now that he has seen it on the big screen - all of that and much, much more!

In honor of the encore screening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES at Fathom-equipped movie theaters across the US on March 7, following the rapturously received first showing late last month, this week we are highlighting the show's central stars, Anna O'Byrne and Ben Lewis, and speaking to them all about the spectacular Coney Island-set PHANTOM OF THE OPERA musical sequel. Following the previous interviews in this series with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater, this LOVE NEVER DIES series shines a special spotlight on the risky and ambitious new theatrical venture, which originally began in London's West End and has now been thrillingly filmed in its completely reconceived and rewritten Australian iteration directed by visionary innovator Simon Phillips. In an unprecedented move, Fathom will be presenting the elegantly designed film of the stage show in over 500 movie theaters nationwide, making LOVE NEVER DIES an absolute must-see for Broadway babies curious to see where the story of the Phantom, Christine and the rest ends up ten years later - and, also, a real treat for just plain entertainment enthusiasts in general. To paraphrase from the musical drama itself, the special screenings of LOVE NEVER DIES prove that love does, indeed, live on. Today, in this LOVE NEVER DIES focused portion of the upcoming complete InDepth InterView, LOVE NEVER DIES star Anna O'Byrne and I discuss her affiliation with Andrew Lloyd Webber, the nature of playing Christine in the original PHANTOM and, now, its sequel, as well as performing musical theatre as an opera-trained actress and much, much more!

Sequels are the biggest risk takers in any form of entertainment. So the idea of taking the longest running musical, The Phantom of the Opera, which just celebrated its 10,000 performance and creating a part two is as hazardous as the Opera Ghost himself.