Gerónimo Rauch, Sean Palmer & More to Join West End's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Major cast changes will take place in the smash hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End from Monday 2 September 2013. Fresh from his success as Jean Valjean in "LES MISERABLES" at the Queen's Theatre Gerónimo Rauch will join the cast as 'The Phantom'. At the same time Broadway leading man Sean Palmer will join as 'Raoul'. They will be joined by Andy Hockley as 'Monsieur Firmin', Martin Ball as 'Monsieur André', Claire Moore as 'Carlotta', Jacinta Mulcahy as 'Madame Giry', Cat Lane as 'Meg Giry' and Olivia Brereton and Harriet Jones who will both play 'Christine' at certain performances.

"THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" will continue to star Sofia Escobar as 'Christine' and Jeremy Secomb as 'Piangi'.

Gerónimo Rauch is an Argentinian singer and actor who has recently finished playing 'Jean Valjean' in the West End production of "LES MISERABLES", having played the same role in the New 25th Anniversary production of "Los Miserables" in Barcelona. He has also played 'Feuilly' and 'Marius' in "LES MISERABLES" in Argentina, as well as taking part in the 25th Anniversary celebration of "LES MISERABLES" at The 02.In 2002 Gerónimo took part in the Buenos Aires version of TV talent show "Popstars" and was successfully chosen to become a founder member of the band Mambrú, whose debut album went Triple Platinum. Previous theatre credits include 'Doody' in "Grease" at Astral Theatre in Buenos Aires, 'Jesus' in "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Teatro Lope De Vega in Madrid, and 'Mary Sunshine' in "Chicago" at the Teatro Coliseum in Madrid.

Broadway leading man Sean Palmer was most recently seen as 'Bobby' in the Olivier award-winning production of "Crazy for You" at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park, and its subsequent West End transfer to the Novello Theatre. His Broadway credits include creating the role of 'Prince Eric' in "Disney's The Little Mermaid" and the original cast of "Fosse". Sean's film and television roles include Stanford Blatch's boyfriend 'Marcus' in "Sex and the City".

Andy Hockley played 'Monsieur Firmin' in the recent tour of "The Phantom of the Opera". His other theatre credits include "Hello Dolly" at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park and "The Music Man" at Chichester Festival Theatre.

Martin Ball most recently played 'Horace' in the West End production of the Olivier Award-winning "Top Hat". His other West Endcredits include 'Thénardier' in "LES MISERABLES", 'Harry Bright' in "Mamma Mia!" and 'Dr. Dillamond' in the original cast of "Wicked" at the Apollo Victoria. Martin also played 'George Banks' in the UK tour of "Mary Poppins" for which he was awarded a TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Touring Musical.

Claire Moore created the role of 'Ellen' in the original cast of "Miss Saigon". Her numerous West End credits include the alternate 'Christine' in the original cast of "The Phantom of the Opera", 'Anna' in "The King and I", 'Fantine' and 'Madame Thénardier' in "LES MISERABLES" and 'Nancy' in "Oliver!". Claire was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed "London Road" at The National Theatre.

Jacinta Mulcahy's theatre credits include playing 'Baroness' in the recent national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's and David Ian's production of "The Sound of Music". Her other theatre credits include 'Cosette' in "LES MISERABLES" in the West End.

Cat Lane made her West End debut in "Grease" at the Piccadilly Theatre. She most recently played 'Meg' in the Asian and South African tours of "The Phantom of the Opera".

Olivia Brereton recently made her stage debut as the alternate 'Christine' in the UK tour of "The Phantom of the Opera". Whilst training her credits included 'Clara Johnson' in "The Light in the Piazza" and 'Lucinda' in "Into the Woods".

Harriet Jones is making her West End debut after graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in classical voice from the Royal College of Music in London. Opera credits include 'Flora' in "Turn of the Screw" at Grimeborn Opera Festival, 'Zerlina' in Woodhouse Opera's "Don Giovanni" and Classic FM's 20th Birthday Celebration concert.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on 9 January 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder "Cats". This coincided with the Broadway and the US national touring company celebrating an unprecedented 20,000 performances in the United States. In January 2013 the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 25 years on Broadway. In October 2011 the London production celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a spectacular staging of "The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall" which was screened live in cinemas all over the world and subsequently released on DVD and in March 2013 the show celebrated 11,000 performances in the West End.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has won 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tonys on Broadway and three Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the 'Most Popular Musical Audience Award', voted by the public, in the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. The Phantom Of The Opera, which opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 1986 starred Michael Crawford as 'The Phantom' and Sarah Brightman as 'Christine.' It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company Limited.

Worldwide, The Phantom Of The Opera has grossed over £3.2 billion. The box office revenues are higher than any film or stage play in history, including "Titanic", "ET" and "Star Wars". It has been seen in 151 cities in 30 countries and played to over 130 million people.THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Tokyo and Singapore. A new US Tour will open in November.

Performance times for "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" are Mondays to Saturdays at 7.30pm, with Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets are priced from £21 - £67.50 and are available from Her Majesty's Theatre box office on 0844 412 2707 or visit "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" website http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com.