The Phantom of the Opera Is Here...and Coming to a School Near You

Broadway’s longest-running show has never been available for student productions—until now. On June 3, R&H Theatricals began accepting applications from high schools and colleges who want to perform The Phantom of the Opera. The Music of the Night can begin at campuses in the U.S. and Canada on September 1.

Anticipating the release of Phantom to schools, R&H Theatricals created a pilot project two years ago with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. In the 2007-2008 academic year, Phantom received full, uncut productions at two colleges and four high schools, including Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, and Elon University in Elon, North Carolina. In each case, the show was enthusiastically received and encouraged more students to become involved in theater.

“We always believed that school performances of Phantom would bring out the best in each and every student, and the pilot productions we saw across America more than confirmed that belief," Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin said in a statement. “Andrew's passion for bringing young people into the musical theater is so deeply felt that he has authorized us to release Phantom to schools even while it continues to thrive on Broadway and all over the globe.”

In addition to Phantom, R&H Theatricals represents the North American performance rights to Cats, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Aspects of Love, By Jeeves, Song & Dance and (for professional customers only) Sunset Boulevard.