Whats the deal with Hills Phantom and the Webber one?
Piecing together the details has been hard, due to conflicting reports and Lloyd Webber’s reluctance to acknowledge the part Hill’s Phantom had in creating his. But the general concensus is that the Hill version of Phantom at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East did indeed inspire the Andrew Lloyd Webber smash-hit musical of the same title. In recent years, this has been admitted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh on the documentary about their Phantom, entitled “Behind The Mask”. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who at the time was married to Sarah Brightman [see information about her above], and Cameron Mackintosh attended a performance of Hills Phantom at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and, prompted by the good reviews, approached Hill about the possibility of their collaborating on developing a grand scale version of his Phantom for the West End. Webber and his producer, Cameron Mackintosh had been highly enthusiastic when they broached Hill about his Phantom of the Opera – Hill eve
