Based on "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra," a 1911 novel by the French author of detective fiction, Gaston Leroux, and transformed into a musical composed, co-written and produced by Englishman Andrew Lloyd Webber (now Baron Lloyd-Webber), "The Phantom of the Opera" was first produced in London in 1986 and went on to be a huge hit worldwide.
It has been playing on Broadway since it opened in 1988 and holds the record for the longest-running show ever at that mecca of musicals. It's truly a monster-class stage hit.
The sequel to what is unequivocally the strongest musical in history appeared in 2010. Lloyd-Webber himself had spent long years planning the piece and naturally it arrived with plenty of buzz. However, when long-anticipated "Love Never Dies" opened in London, the reviews were not so sweet.