Photo Flash: Nicole Scherzinger Sings PHANTOM at Royal Variety!

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the musical THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Andrew Lloyd Webber will introduce a unique performance of the title number from the musical at this year's Royal Variety Performance. Starring four acclaimed ‘Phantoms' - Simon Bowman, Earl Carpenter, Ramin Karimloo and John Owen-Jones, the performance will also feature international pop-star Nicole Scherzinger as ‘Christine'.

The gala evening was recorded on 5 December at The Lowry in Salford in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and will be screened on ITV this Wednesday evening.

The performance follows the 25th Anniversary celebrations of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at the Royal Albert Hall, which took place in October. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh presented THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in a fully-staged, lavish production, set in the sumptuous Victorian splendour of the Royal Albert Hall with a cast and orchestra of over 200.

The event is now available to buy on Blu-ray^TM, DVD CD and Download as a must-have anniversary release for fans everywhere, in the first time the staged version has been available to buy on DVD or Blu-ray. 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 October 2010 the London production celebrated its 10,000th performance.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has won over 60 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", "Star Wars" and "Avatar". It has been seen in 145 cities in 27 countries and played to over 130 million people. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, Las Vegas, and Kyoto.

The live album and Blu-ray/DVD of the Royal Albert Hall celebration stars Ramin Karimloo as ‘The Phantom' and Sierra Boggess as ‘Christine'. They were joined by Barry James as ‘Monsieur Firmin', Gareth Snook as ‘Monsieur André', Liz Robertson as ‘Madame Giry' and Wynne Evans as ‘Piangi', together with a cast and orchestra of over 200 and some special guest appearances from Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in a memorable final curtain call.

Other world-class acts performing at the Royal Variety Performance include Tony Bennett, Barry Manilow, Cee Lo Green, Il Divo and Penn & Teller and will be hosted by award-winning comedian Peter Kay. The event is staged in aid of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund.

 Photo Credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex / Rex USA