"Who: GEORGE LEE ANDREWS
What: 9382 TOTAL NUMBER
Where: ESTADOS UNIDOS (NEW YORK)
When Saturday September 3rd 2011
The show opened at The Majestic Theatre on 26 January 1988 with Andrews in the cast and he remained in the show until 3 September 2011.
Andrews was first cast in the ensemble roles of Don Attilio and Passarino. On 23 April 1990, he assumed the principal role of Monsieur Firmin - one of the show’s two opera house managers - and played the part for more than 10 years until 12 February 2001, when he switched over to doing another principal role - of Monsieur André, the second opera house manager. A little variety is required for any actor, even one in the most successful show in Broadway history. Andrews stuck with that role for another 10 years - including the Guinness World Records record-breaking performance in January 2006 when “Phantom” became the longest-running show in Broadway history, surpassing “Cats”. Actors work hard but Andrews managed to take an annual vacation over his 23 years-plus with the show. The breakdown of his performances by role is: 656 performances in the ensemble, 4,329 performances as Monsieur Firmin, 4,397 performances as Monsieur André. But Andrews will not long be away from New York theatre audiences - he will be back on the boards in April 2012 when he appears in the Broadway revival of “Evita” - a transfer of the London production. Andrews performed in “Phantom” from its Broadway opening night on 26 January 1988 until 3 September 2011 (last performance was apparently a Saturday night according to NYT (see article under “Sources” listed below) - this is a bit unusual as the theatre week in New York ordinarily runs from Tuesday through Sunday and this was a holiday weekend - Labor Day - with a performance slated for Sunday as well. Not significant but worth mentioning for use on the GWR database. The following is Guinness’s Q&A re: George Lee Andrews (and other “Phantom” records with Broadway Publicist Michael Borowski of “The Publicity Office” (name of firm). Dear Mr. Borowski, I research and write the Theatre sections for The Guinness World Records Book out of New York and I have some queries re: "The Phantom of The Opera." Of course, "Phantom" already holds numerous Guinness records but I just wanted to update them and see if there might be any additional records that Guinness could add about the show in the 2013 edition, due out next September. Might you be able to answer the following questions (some of them might be addressed on the official website, but I wanted to direct them to you just to confirm): 1) "Phantom" is the longest-running show in both Broadway and West End history. As of today, how many performances have been played in each production? Of course, this number will change by the Guinness deadline (March 2011) but I want to submit the current figure as a start. TONIGHT, TUES EVE, DEC 13 WILL BE BROADWAY PERFORMANCE #9,931. AS OF YOUR MARCH DEADLINE, AND SPECIFICALLY ON FEBRUARY 11, 2012, IT WILL BECOME THE FIRST SHOW IN BROADWAY HISTORY TO REACH 10,000 PERFORMANCES. WHILE PHANTOM IS THE LONGEST-RUNNING SHOW IN BROADWAY HISTORY, IT’S THE THIRD LONGEST-RUNNING SHOW IN WEST END HISTORY, AFTER “THE MOUSETRAP” AND “LES MISERABLES.” THIS PAST OCTOBER 9, 2011 THE LONDON PRODUCTION CELEBRATED ITS 25th ANNIVERSARY. IT PREVIOUSLY PLAYED PERFORMANCE #10,000 ON OCTOBER 23, 2010. I DON’T HAVE THE EXACT CURRENT COUNT, BUT IT WOULD BE OVER 10,400 PERFORMANCES. 2) How many languages and how many countries has "Phantom" played in? What is the highest number (and when and where) of concurrent productions around the world? After Broadway and the West End, are there any other productions (now or in the past) that have had considerable continuing runs? Worldwide, over 65,000 performances have been seen by 130 million people in 27 countries and 145 cities in 13 languages. There are currently six productions around the world: London (which surpassed 10,000 performances in October 2010 and celebrated 25 Years in October 2011), New York, Budapest (Hungary), Kyoto (Japan), Cape Town (South Africa) and a revised production in Las Vegas at The Venetian. U.S. National Tour 3 played for almost 18 years, for over 7000 performances from Dec 1992 to Oct 2010. U.S. National Tour 1 played from May 1989 to Jan 1999. U.S. National Tour 2 played from May 1990 to November 1998The Japanese production, which has been playing in repertory since 1988, reached performance #5,000 in Dec 2009. The original Australian tour played over 3,000 performances from Dec 1990 to Sept 1998 Las Vegas has been playing since June 2006. The Toronto production played from Sept 1989 to Oct 1999 The German/Hamburg production played from June 1990 to June 2001. The current Budapest production has been playing in rep since June 2003. Just so I’m clear: are you looking for when the most productions were playing at the same time? 3) Are you able to estimate the gross (certainly "Phantom" is the highest grossing show in Theatre history) of the West End and Broadway productions, respectively? And do you know the approximate gross of the show worldwide? Worldwide, PHANTOM has grossed in excess of $5.6 billion. It is the most successful entertainment venture of all time, with revenues higher than any film or stage play in history, including Titanic, Star Wars and far surpassing the world’s highest-grossing film Avatar (at $2.8 billion). The Broadway production has grossed over $835 million. I don’t have the London figure. 4) How many CDs (or other applications) of the show have sold? In English and in other languages? The original cast recording, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide, is the best-selling cast recording of all time. 5) George Lee Andrews holds the record for Longest Time and Number of Performances in one production, I believe 23 plus years. He has now left the show and I wondered if you have the exact number of performances he played and if in fact, they were continual? I would assume he took some vacations so do you know the longest stretch of performances that he was in? And did he play more than one role and if so, how many and who? George Lee Andrews played a total of 9,382 performances in the Broadway production. He did take yearly vacations. He was first cast in the Ensemble roles of Don Attilio and Passarino. On April 23, 1990, he took over the principal role of Monsieur Firmin, who is one of the musical’s two opera mangers (running the opera company “haunted” by The Phantom). He played this role for over ten years, until February 12, 2001, when director Harold Prince had him switch parts with another actor to assume the principal role of Monsieur André (Monsieur Firmin’s partner, the other opera manager). He played that role over 10 years), including the record-breaking in January 2006 when Phantom became the longest-running show in Broadway history. His performance total broken down by characters is as follows: 656 performances in the Ensemble, 4,329 performances as Monsieur Firmin, 4,397 performances as Monsieur André. So many of Guinness's readers are young people and "Phantom" holds a particular fascination for them--for many, it might be their first introduction to live theatre so Guinness always want to be sure that the records for the show are updated. Thanks very much and I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Glenn Speer"
(
visit link)