“The Phantom of the opera is here… inside your mind,” sings the title character in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit mega-musical. And now Instagrammers, using a brand new AR filter, can become The Phantom. Incorporating the musical’s iconic mask, the tool is Broadway’s first to allow people to assume the look of a character on the social media platform.
The filter, which lets you “wear” the mask used by The Phantom, can be accessed by navigating to the effects tab on The Phantom of the Opera Instagram page @PhantomOpera. The filter was created using Facebook’s Spark AR software. The Broadway production’s leading man, Ben Crawford, tested the new filter and appears in the filter’s demo video on Instagram.
In the wake of the Broadway industry’s unprecedented shutdown since March 2020 due to Covid-19, the Phantom Mask Filter allows fans to interact with the musical now until the production’s return.
About The Phantom of the Opera
Broadway’s blockbuster phenomenon, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, directed by the late Harold Prince, is one of the world’s all-time most successful entertainment properties. Produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group, The Phantom of the Opera has been the longest-running show in Broadway history for well over a decade. Its astounding longevity in New York and around the world is unprecedented. On Broadway alone, the musical has played an unheard of 13,000 performances to 19 million people at The Majestic Theatre (247 West 44th Street), the musical’s home for all 33 record-breaking years and counting.
Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de L’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe and book by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is directed by the late Harold Prince. Musical staging and choreography are by the late Gillian Lynne. The Phantom of the Opera has production design by the late Maria Björnson®, lighting by Andrew Bridge and sound by Mick Potter with original sound by Martin Levan. Musical supervision and direction are by David Caddick and orchestrations are by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The musical’s flagship London production was recently announced to return to its home and birthplace, Her Majesty’s Theatre, with performances beginning July 27. Tickets for the West End production are on sale starting today.
Plans are currently being made for the Broadway production – directed by Harold Prince and with its most recent New York cast – to resume later this year, subject to the reopening of Broadway.
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