Tony winner O'Brien to Direct Phantom Sequel, Crowley to Design

The London Daily Mail reports that Tony-winner Jack O'Brien will direct The Phantom of Manhattan, the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Bob Crowley is set to design. 

The new Phantom musical will follow ideas developed with Frederick Forsyth, who released a follow-up to the show in novel form with The Phantom of Manhattan in 1999. 

Jack O'Brien has won three Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards for his direction of shows such as The Coast of Utopia; Henry IV; Hairspray; and The Invention of Love.  Other noteworthy credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; The Full Monty; Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Imaginary Friends; Two Shakespearean Actors; Two Trains Running; The Piano Lesson; The Cocktail Hour; and Porgy and Bess.  Mr. O'Brien has served as Artistic Director of The Old Globe Theater in San Diego since 1981.

Bob Crowley is an associate of The National Theatre. He has designed more than 50 productions in London for the National, Almeida, Donmar, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Ballet and Royal Opera House including Mary Poppins (London Evening Standard Award). In New York for Lincoln Center Theater: The Coast of Utopia (Tony, Drama Desk Awards), Carousel (Tony Award), Hapgood, The Invention of Love (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award), Twelfth Night (Tony nomination). The Public Theater: The Seagull. On Broadway: The Capeman (Tony nomination), The Iceman Cometh (Tony nomination), Sweet Smell of Success, Disney's Aida (Tony Award), The History Boys (Tony Award), Mary Poppins (Tony, Drama Desk Awards). In addition, he directed and designed Tarzan (Broadway, The Netherlands).

Webber, whose many other hits as a composer include Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and Sunset Boulevard, will soon produce a West End revival of his and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  The revival is being cast through the UK reality talent search "Any Dream Will Do." With David Ian, he previously produced "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria."  The latter program resulted in the casting of Connie Fisher as Maria in The Sound of Music, his West End revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.

The Phantom of the Opera features music by Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Charles Stilgoe.  One of the most successful musicals of all time, Phantom - which is based on the novel by Gaston Leroux - plays in numerous productions around the world and last year, became Broadway's longest-running musical.  It concerns the masked composer of the title, who haunts the Paris Opera House and longs for lovely young soprano Christine.

Visit www.andrewlloydwebber.com for more information.