The Phantom of the Opera is about a disfigured, harmonious prodigy from Paris who falls in love with his young student. It has won over 50 theatre awards and has made over $5 billion in earnings. The cast and crew are made up of 130 people and each performance has 230 costumes with 22 scene changes.

On this day, January 26, in 1988 The Phantom of the Opera has its opening show on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre in New York. This musical is the longest running on Broadway with over 7,000 performances, and its box-office revenues surpass those of Titanic, E.T., and Star Wars.

The Phantom of the Opera has been produced in over 14 languages and has been made into a movie on the big screen. At the Oscars, pop star Beyoncé Knowles performed one of the songs written for the movie called “Learn to Be Lonely” and it was nominated for “Best Original Song.”