Josh Piterman, Britt Lenting, and Richard Woodford Join THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

As The Phantom of the Opera heads in to its 34th year in the West End, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh are delighted to announce that Australian singer and performer Josh Piterman will play 'The Phantom' from 9 September 2019.

Also joining the cast from 9 September 2019 will be Britt Lenting as 'Carlotta Giudicelli' and Richard Woodford as 'Monsieur André'.

Continuing in the show will be Kelly Mathieson as 'Christine Daaé', Ross Dawes as 'Monsieur Firmin', Jacinta Mulcahy as 'Madame Giry', Paul Ettore Tabone as 'Ubaldo Piangi', Georgia Ware as 'Meg Giry' and Scott Davies as the standby 'Phantom'. Danny Whitehead will now play 'Raoul', Bridget Costello will now play the alternate 'Christine Daaé',

Josh Piterman is an established Australian musical theatre performer and classical crossover artist. As a singer he was part of the international pop opera group, The Ten Tenors and in 2018 released his self-titled debut solo album which went to Number 1 in the Australian Classical Crossover iTunes chart. Josh's musical theatre credits include 'Tony' in "West Side Story"; 'Jamie' in "The Last Five Years"; 'Edward' in "Blood Brothers"; and 'Gerry Goffin' in "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical", all in his native Australia. He also played 'Bustopher Jones/Gus/Growltiger' in the Australian 2016 season of "Cats", a role for which he won the Green Room Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. Josh's UK theatre credits include playing 'Corny Collins' in the UK Tour of "Hairspray". Playing 'The Phantom' will mark Josh's West End debut.

Britt Lenting makes her West End debut as 'Carlotta Giudicelli'. Britt's previous theatre credits include 'Lead Vocalist' in the UK Tour of Pasha Kovalev's "The Magic of Hollywood"; 'Killer Queen' in "We Will Rock You"; 'Enid Hoopes' in "Legally Blonde" and 'Prudy Pingleton' in "Hairspray". Britt has also been seen on television in the Dutch shows "Beat The Best" and "The Voice of Holland" and in the UK on BBC One's "All Together Now".

Richard Woodford's West End theatre credits include 'Galileo' and 'Khashoggi' in "We Will Rock You" at the Dominion Theatre, 'Grantaire'/'Factory Foreman' in "Les Misérables" at the Queen's Theatre; and 'Electra' and 'Rusty' in "Starlight Express" at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Richard also appeared in the 25th Anniversary Tour of "The Phantom of the Opera", and as 'Gus/Growltiger/Bustopher Jones' in the Asian tour of "Cats", and 'Greaseball' and 'Electra' in "Starlight Express" in Bochum.

The cast is completed by Zoe Arshamian, Matthew Barrow, James Butcher, Grace Castle, Sophie Caton, Sophie Cottrill, Corinne Cowling, Hadrian Delacey, Morven Douglas, Paul Erbs, Philip Griffiths, Katy Hanna, Ellen Jackson, Adam Robert Lewis, Kris Manuel, Tim Morgan, Danielle Pullum, Rebecca Ridout, Eleanor Sanderson-Nash, Anna Shircliff, Alistair So, John Stacey, Manon Taris, Andrei Teodor Iliescu, Ben Tyler, Claire Tilling, Victoria Ward and Simon Whitaker.

Now in its 33rd phenomenal year in the West End, The Phantom of the Opera is widely considered one of the most beautiful and spectacular productions in history. Andrew Lloyd Webber's romantic, haunting and soaring score includes Music of the Night, All I Ask of You, Masquerade and the iconic title song.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA tells the tale of a disfigured musical genius known only as 'The Phantom' who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House. Mesmerised by the talents and beauty of a young soprano - Christine, the Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. Unaware of Christine's love for Raoul, the Phantom's obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is one of the most successful musicals in entertainment history playing to over 145 million people in 41 countries and 183 cities in 17 languages. It has won more than 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony Awards and four Olivier Awards.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is the only show in history to have celebrated 30 years on both sides of the Atlantic. In October 2016 the London production celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a special gala performance at Her Majesty's Theatre and 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. The musical became the longest running show in Broadway history on 9 January 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance. On 1 January 2018 it celebrated its 13,000th performance and later that month on 24 January the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 30 years on Broadway.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lyrics by Charles Hart, and Additional Lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Book is by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Based on the novel 'Le Fantôme de l'Opera' by Gaston Leroux. Production Design by Maria Bjornson. Lighting by Andrew Bridge. Orchestrations by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Musical Staging and Choreography by Gillian Lynne. Directed by Hal Prince. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group Ltd.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Prague and Sao Paulo, as well as on tour in the US and Asia. A UK Tour opens at Curve, Leicester on 24 February 2020.