The Phantom of the Opera Tickets in London at His Majesty's Theatre
The chandelier goes up, the organ comes in, and the last forty years fall away. The Phantom of the Opera opened at His Majesty's Theatre on 9 October 1986 and has played there ever since, which makes it the second longest-running musical in West End history. It is the long running show people come to see when they want a classic West End musical.
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Who Is The Phantom of the Opera Best For?
- First-time theatregoers. If you are seeing one show in London, this or Les Misérables is the one to pick.
- Anyone who wants a proper story. Romance, heartbreak and a score most people already half know.
- People who have never got on with modern musicals. This is the old-school kind: sung almost throughout, big sets, big voices, big storyline.
- Anyone celebrating something. It is the show London has been a hit for forty years.
- Not for you if you dislike musicals. Almost all of it is sung, and it will not change your mind.
About The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty's Theatre
Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical opened here in October 1986 and has never moved. That is unusual: most long-runners have changed theatre at least once. Phantom was designed with this theatre in mind, and it's been here ever since.
It is a love story with a horror story wrapped round it, taken from Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel. A masked man living beneath the Paris Opera decides that a young singer in the company has the voice he has been waiting for. Whichever choice she ends up making is the wrong one.
The numbers are hard to argue with. It has been seen by 160 million people in 217 cities, 52 countries and 23 languages. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 1986 and the Tony for Best Musical in 1988. Only Les Misérables has run longer in the West End.
Worth knowing before you book: the running time is 2 hours 30 minutes including a 20-minute interval, and the show contains loud sounds, gunshots, flashing lights, haze, fire, pyrotechnics and depictions of violence and death.
What's The Phantom of the Opera About? A Short Summary
Paris, and an opera house with a story attached to it. The company believe there is a ghost in the building. There is: a disfigured musical genius who lives in the cellars, wears a mask, and has been keeping a close eye on the young chorus singer Christine Daaé.
He becomes her teacher, in secret, and forces the management to give her the lead. Christine is grateful, frightened and drawn to him in roughly equal measure. Then Raoul, the opera house's new patron and someone she knew as a child, recognises her, and the two of them fall back in love.
The Phantom does not take that well. What follows runs through the famous set pieces, the chandelier and the boat on the underground lake, to a last scene a lot of people do not get through dry-eyed.
You will know more of the score than you expect. Think of Me, The Music of the Night, All I Ask of You, Masquerade and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again all come from this show.
No, you do not need to know the story beforehand.
Performance Schedule
The Phantom of the Opera plays eight performances a week. Matinees are on Wednesday and Saturday.
| Day | Matinee | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | - | 7:30pm |
| Tuesday | - | 7:30pm |
| Wednesday | 2:30pm | 7:30pm |
| Thursday | - | 7:30pm |
| Friday | - | 7:30pm |
| Saturday | 2:30pm | 7:30pm |
| Sunday | - | - |
An evening performance finishes around 10pm. Booking currently runs to Saturday 13 March 2027. That is a booking-until date rather than a closing date: the run keeps being extended and the show is not going anywhere.
The 40th Anniversary
The Phantom of the Opera turns 40 on Friday 9 October 2026, exactly forty years to the day since it opened at this theatre. There is an anniversary performance on that date, which is currently off sale.
A special anniversary company is with the show through the birthday season, and it is worth knowing who is in it before you pick your date. See the Cast and Creatives tab.
Best Seats for The Phantom of the Opera
Four levels here: Stalls, Royal Circle, Grand Circle and Balcony.
- Stalls for being close to it. Central in Rows D to K are the accepted best.
- Royal Circle for the chandelier and general spectacle of the show. Front and centre here would be our choice of the best seats for a first time visitor to Phantom.
- Grand Circle is the value call. It does not feel as far away as it looks on a seating plan.
- We would skip the Balcony and the Boxes. The Balcony is a long way back, and the Boxes are so far to the side that you lose a lot of the stage.
Our honest steer on this show: pay a little more than you were going to. Things happen all over the stage here, and a clear view is worth more on Phantom than on most shows. There are some pillars which lead to plenty of restricted view seats in the Stalls and Royal Circle (they are clearly marked in our booking process). That said, no seat is perfect, and in most of them you lose a sliver of one moment and gain something else. Full row-by-row detail is in the Tickets and Best Seats tab.
Call us on 020 7193 9050 and we will talk you through it.
Cast and Creative Team
A special company is with the production for the 40th anniversary year. Jordan Donica plays The Phantom from 8 September, with Beatrice Penny-Touré as Christine Daaé and Rhys Whitfield as Raoul.
They are joined by Sierra Boggess as Carlotta, Joseph Millson as Monsieur André, Ian Pirie as Monsieur Firmin, Joanna Riding as Madame Giry, Matt Bateman as Piangi and Millie Lyon as Meg Giry.
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, book by Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe. Originally directed by Harold Prince and choreographed by Gillian Lynne. Full cast dates and creative team are in the Cast and Creatives tab.
Book Your Phantom of the Opera Tickets
The Phantom of the Opera plays at His Majesty's Theatre Monday to Saturday, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday, and is booking to March 2027.
Every price you see with us is all-in. The price on the seating map is the price you pay.
Book tickets • Call us on 020 7193 9050
Dates & tickets
FAQs
2 hours 30 minutes including a 20-minute interval. An evening performance starts at 7:30pm and finishes around 10pm.
From £25. We sell at all-in prices, so the price you see on the seating map is the price you pay, with nothing added at checkout. Call us and we will find the best-value seat for your date.
The official guidance is 8 and over. No under-4s are admitted, everyone needs their own ticket, children need to be able to sit unaided, and under-16s must be accompanied. Our own steer is nearer 13: it is long and takes real concentration.
Not really. There are a few moments that make you jump, and there is a lot of atmosphere, but it is a romance rather than a horror story.
No. The show tells you everything you need. Most of the audience arrives knowing the songs and not the plot, and that is fine.
The 2004 film is the same story and the same score, with Hollywood casting. The stage version is the original, and the staging is the reason people go.
No. That was a staged concert for the 25th anniversary. It is close to the show, but a lot of the staging cannot be done in a concert hall.
Yes. It is one of the moments the show is known for, and it's still in the production.
No. Booking runs to March 2027 at the moment and the window keeps being extended. A booking-until date is not a closing date.
That depends on your date, because the 40th anniversary company arrives in stages through August and September. The dates are in the Cast and Creatives tab. As with every show, no performer can be guaranteed at any particular performance.
No dress code, and jeans are fine. It is a beautiful old theatre and some people do dress up for it, but nobody will look at you twice either way.
Earlier than usual: 40 to 45 minutes before. His Majesty's is one of the most beautiful theatres in London and the building is part of the night. The Royal Circle Bar has a balcony over Haymarket and is worth going up for.
Same building, same address. The theatre takes its name from the reigning monarch, and it changed over in 2023. Anything written about the show before then will use the older name.
There are no captioned or audio-described performances scheduled at the moment. The GalaPro app provides subtitles, audio description and closed captioning at every performance, which for most people is the better answer. Accessible bookings are handled by the venue's own access team.
The Phantom of the Opera Prices
Tickets start from £25. All of our prices are all-in: the price you see on the seating map is the price you pay.
Where to Sit: the His Majesty's Theatre Seating Plan, Level by Level
Stalls
The closest you get, and the section to pick if you want to be near the performers. Central seats in Rows D to K are the accepted best band, and the front few rows are where you catch the detail between the actors.
Central matters more than close here. A central seat a few rows back beats a side seat further forward, so if the very middle pushes you into a premium price, move back a row or two rather than sideways.
Two things to know. The overhang from the Royal Circle starts around Row J and begins genuinely biting from Row P back. And there are pillars in the Stalls, with the seats behind them sold at lower prices. Those seats are not a disaster: the first few minutes are awkward and then you adjust and lean. But on this show we would rather you paid a bit more and saw everything.
Royal Circle
The best place in the theatre to watch the chandelier, because you are level with it up here rather than underneath it. You also get the whole stage in a single view, and a lot of this show happens above head height.
Front and centre in the Royal Circle is our pick for a first visit to Phantom. You get the chandelier and the full spread of the spectacle from the one seat, which is what most people are coming for.
Row A is very tight for legroom because your knees meet the wall at the front, so Rows B and C are often the better buy at a similar price. The very ends of rows are restricted and priced accordingly, and there are pillars on this level too.
Grand Circle
The value call. At this theatre the Grand Circle genuinely does not feel far away, and if it is significantly cheaper than the Stalls or Royal Circle it is the seat we would take. Legroom is tight.
Balcony
Cheap, and a long way back. We would not send you up there, and it is 90 steps with no lift.
Boxes
Severely restricted, because you are right on the side of the stage. Boxes usually carry a best-seat reputation. Not here.
Restricted View Seats
We've mentioned them a few times above.
The pillars in the Stalls and Royal Circle create a fair number of restricted-view seats. They are clearly marked as restricted in our booking process and priced accordingly, so you will always know before you buy.
Call us on 020 7193 9050 for honest advice on any seat in the building.
Seating plan
Dates & tickets
Booking now
Getting to His Majesty's Theatre
His Majesty's Theatre is on Haymarket, St James's, London SW1Y 4QL.
Tube. Piccadilly Circus is the closest. Charing Cross and Leicester Square are both easy alternatives and often quieter on the way out.
Buses. Several routes run down Haymarket, but the street is one-way, so which stop you want depends on your direction of travel. Route numbers and the nearest stops are in our His Majesty's Theatre guide.
Driving. You are in the Congestion Charge zone. The charge applies on weekday daytimes, so most evening performances fall outside it. The tube is easier.
When to Arrive
Arrive 40 to 45 minutes before, which is earlier than we tell people for most theatres. The building opened in 1897 and each level has something worth seeing, so the extra half hour is doing something. The Royal Circle Bar, with its balcony over Haymarket, is the one to find.
The foyer is small and you get moved through it fairly quickly, so the exploring happens once you are upstairs. The Balcony and Grand Circle have their own separate entrances.
Latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable point in the performance, which may be the interval.
The Auditorium
Four levels and 1,216 seats: Stalls, Royal Circle, Grand Circle and Balcony. Five bars across four floors.
There is no lift. The Royal Circle is 32 steps up from the ground floor, the Grand Circle 63 and the Balcony 90. That matters when you are choosing a level, and it is the first thing we would ask about before booking upstairs.
Access
Level access to the Stalls via Charles II Street, with three dedicated wheelchair positions in the Stalls and an accessible toilet at the back of the Stalls. Assistance dogs are welcome. Infra-red hearing enhancement, headsets and loops are available from front of house.
Assisted performance dates and the GalaPro app are covered in the Overview FAQs.
Accessible bookings and access questions are handled by the venue's own access team rather than by us. Full detail is in our His Majesty's Theatre guide.
Address
57 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4QL
Nearest Tube
Piccadilly Circus
The Phantom of the Opera Cast and Casting
The 40th anniversary company joins the production in stages through the birthday season.
| Role | Performer | From |
|---|---|---|
| The Phantom | Jordan Donica | 8 September 2026, to spring 2027 |
| Christine Daaé | Beatrice Penny-Touré | to 24 July 2027 |
| Christine Daaé, certain performances | Colleen Rose Curran | to spring 2027 |
| Raoul | Rhys Whitfield | to 21 November 2026 |
| Carlotta Giudicelli | Sierra Boggess | to 21 November 2026 |
| Monsieur André | Joseph Millson | to 21 November 2026 |
| Monsieur Firmin | Ian Pirie | to 21 November 2026 |
| Madame Giry | Joanna Riding | to 21 November 2026 |
| Ubaldo Piangi | Matt Bateman | to 24 July 2027 |
| Meg Giry | Millie Lyon | to 24 July 2027 |
Sierra Boggess is worth knowing about if you know the show: she played Christine in the 25th anniversary production at the Royal Albert Hall and in Love Never Dies, and returns here as Carlotta.
Christine is played by Colleen Rose Curran at certain performances.
As with every West End production, no particular performer can be guaranteed at any given performance.
Creative Team
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Music | Andrew Lloyd Webber |
| Lyrics | Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe |
| Book | Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe |
| Original direction | Harold Prince |
| Choreography | Gillian Lynne |
| Staging revised (2021) | Seth Sklar-Heyn and Chrissie Cartwright |
| Stage and costume design | Maria Björnson, restored and updated by Matt Kinley and Jill Parker |
| Lighting | Andrew Bridge |
| Sound | Mick Potter |
| Musical supervision | Simon Lee |
Produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group.
What the Critics Say About The Phantom of the Opera
Phantom is in the unusual position of having very little left to argue about. When the production reopened after the pandemic shutdown, the reviews were not just glowing, they were identical: eight four-star notices, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, the Daily Express, Time Out, The Stage and WhatsOnStage. That took forty years. In 1986 the tabloids raved but the broadsheets hedged, and audiences got there well ahead of the critics.
The Guardian called it, simply, "the music of the night is back" (4/5), and praised Maria Björnson's designs for setting "the tone for old-school fantasy". The Telegraph found "Lloyd Webber's epic tearjerker back in all its kitsch, gothic glory" (4/5). The Stage, which is not usually the softest, concluded that "Phantom is still an unparalleled spectacle" (4/5).
The Evening Standard's write-up was the most enjoyable, because the critic went in resistant: "I take it all back, this West End spectacular more than deserves its classic status."
Audiences agree with them. The show scores in the low nineties out of a hundred across several thousand public ratings, which is where you would expect a show to sit after forty years of word of mouth.
The recurring note across the reviews is not a criticism so much as an observation: this is an unapologetically big, old-fashioned show, and it is very good at being that. If you want something spare and modern, it is not this.
Read the full round-up in what the critics say.
The Phantom of the Opera
His Majesty’s Theatre