Big. Phantom. News.
Photo: Matthew Murphy
Congratulations to the entire cast, crew and producing team of Phantom of the Opera, which just marked its 34th anniversary on Broadway. The impressive benchmark was celebrated this past Wednesday with the iconic musical’s 13,471st performance.
The longest running show in Broadway history, Phantom has been seen by more than 19 million people.
Photo: Matthew Murphy
And more congratulations are in order! Emilie Kouatchou took over the principal role of Christine the evening of the anniversary. Emilie is the first black Principal Christine. Last Autumn, Emilie made history as the first Black actress to be cast as the Alternate Christine as part of the reopening Broadway cast, following the industry wide shut down due to the pandemic.
Ben Crawford continues in his role as the Phantom.
https://us.thephantomoftheopera.com/
Valerie Smaldone is a 5-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and is well known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 on-air position in the New York radio market on 106.7 Life-FM, an iHeart station. She has hosted, produced, and created several award-winning nationally syndicated programs featuring in-depth interviews with stars like Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Mariah Carey among others. Her radio talk show "Bagels and Broadway" highlighted theatre and food personalities. She is an accomplished interviewer and voice artist heard on commercials, narrations, promos and audiobooks, as well as a sought after live announcer.
Most recently, Valerie produced and directed a film, The Thursday Night Club, featuring pop diva Gloria Gaynor in her movie acting debut. She is one of the creators and producers of a docu-series, Divine Renovation, starring Erik Estrada, on streaming networks soon.
