Tim Howar Will Take Over As The Phantom In THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - More Casting Announced!

As The Phantom of the Opera heads in to its 33rd year, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh have announced that Tim Howar will play 'The Phantom' for an initial run from 3 September - 8 December 2018.

Also joining the cast on 3 September 2018 will be Kimberly Blake as 'Carlotta Giudicelli' and Ross Dawes as 'Monsieur Firmin'.

Continuing in the show will be Kelly Mathieson as 'Christine Daaé', Jeremy Taylor as 'Raoul', Amy Manford as the alternate 'Christine Daaé', Mark Oxtoby as 'Monsieur Andre', Jacinta Mulcahy as 'Madame Giry', Paul Ettore Tabone as 'Ubaldo Piangi', Georgia Ware as 'Meg Giry' and Scott Davies as the standby 'Phantom'.

Tim Howar joins Phantom following his recent triumph as 'Freddie Trumper' in "Chess" at the London Coliseum. In addition to his theatre roles and since 2010, Tim has been the lead vocalist with the platinum selling Mike and the Mechanics, touring with them worldwide. His West End theatre credits include 'Stacee Jaxx' in "Rock of Ages" at the Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre, 'Stu' in "Tonight's The Night" at the Victoria Palace and 'Ozzie' in "On The Town" at the London Coliseum. He has also appeared as 'Roger' in "Rent" on Broadway.

Cameron Mackintosh said today "Tim Howar's exciting vocal take on the iconic score of the Phantom brings a contemporary fresh approach to this legendary role which blew us away at his audition."

Kimberly Blake can currently be seen as 'Giulietta' in "Aspects of Love" at the Hope Mill Theatre. Her West End credits include "Half A Sixpence" at the Noël Coward Theatre and most recently "Chess" at the London Coliseum. Her other credits include the role of 'Jenny Lind' in the national tour of "Barnum".

Ross Dawes recently appeared in "The Rink" at the Southwark Playhouse. His many West End credits include "Girl from the North Country" at the Noël Coward Theatre, the original cast of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where he also appeared in "Shrek the Musical", "Passion" at The Donmar Warehouse, "Spamalot" at the Palace Theatre, "Starlight Express" at the Apollo Victoria and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Saturday Night Fever", both at the London Palladium.

The cast is completed by Matthew Barrow, Matt Bateman, James Bisp, James Butcher, Bridget Costello, Sophie Cottrill, Hadrian Delacey, Morven Douglas, Paul Erbs, Hannah Grace, Philip Griffiths, Katy Hanna, Hettie Hobbs, Grace Horne, Lily Howes, Ellen Jackson, Adam Robert Lewis, Kris Manuel, Tim Morgan, Danielle Pullum, Rebecca Ridout, Anna Shircliff, Emily Smith, Rachel Spurrell, John Stacey, Andrei Teodor Iliescu, Claire Tilling, Victoria Ward and Danny Whitehead.

In October 2016 the London production of The Phantom of the Opera celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a special gala performance at Her Majesty's Theatre. 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 production has now been playing for over 32 years.

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. 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 won over 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony's on Broadway and four Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the 'Magic Radio Audience Award', voted by the public, in the 2016 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.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the first stage production to reach worldwide grosses of $6 billion. Revenues far surpass the world's highest-grossing film "Avatar" (at $2.8 billion), as well as such other blockbusters as "Titanic", "The Lord of the Rings", "Jurassic Park" and "Star Wars". Worldwide, over 140 million people have seen The Phantom of the Opera in 37 countries and 172 cities in 16 languages.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, and on tour in the US.