First opening on March 9th last year at London’s Adelphi Theatre, the production was relaunched with substantial rewrites nine months later after receiving poor reviews from critics and fans of the original Phantom musical.

The new version received better reviews and was nominated for seven Laurence Olivier Awards. However, the production failed to win a single award and consistently failed to perform at the box office.

An updated version of the musical has since opened in Melbourne, Australia where it has been better received.

Lloyd Webber recently blamed his battle with prostate cancer as the reason behind the musical's failure in London, claiming that he was unable to give the show his full attention.

He said: "With hindsight we should have said, 'Let's put the whole thing on hold until I'm 100 percent again'. Frankly I wasn't feeling very well."

However, the Lloyd Webber said he was proud of the Australian production, saying it "cannot be improved upon".

There are plans to transfer the Australian version to Broadway.
 

• News