Phantom at 40: gala set as director on keeping it alive
Forty years after it first opened in London, The Phantom of the Opera is getting a birthday gala — and its director says it is not a museum piece.
The anniversary performance will take place at His Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 2026. The theatre is the show's original London home. WhatsOnStage
The gala caps a week of attention for the long-running musical. Director Seth Sklar-Heyn, who leads the current production at His Majesty's, spoke about the show's 40 years in an interview published on 6 October 2026. WhatsOnStage
Sklar-Heyn directs the version that has been playing at His Majesty's since 2021. He knows the production from the floor up.
He started as an assistant stage manager, the backstage role that keeps cues, entrances and scenery on track, on Broadway in 2000. Twenty-six years later, he is the person who shapes what audiences see on stage each night in London.
The history stretches back further. The original production was directed by Harold Prince. Sarah Brightman played Christine Daaé, the young singer at the centre of the story, in London in 1986.
That lineage is part of this anniversary. Cameron Mackintosh, the show's original producer, has announced a special anniversary cast for the West End run. The Phantom of the Opera
For fans hoping to be in the room, the squeeze is on. The 9 October performance is currently listed as off sale. A gala, meaning a one-off celebratory performance, often brings former company members and guests back into the building.
The London birthday is not the only move for the title. Sklar-Heyn is also set to direct the Cologne production of the show. The new North American tour is directed by him as well.
What makes this stand out is the arithmetic of survival. Few musicals reach 40 years in the same city. This one does it by handing the work to a new company each night and asking 900 strangers to go quiet together.
