“Phantom of the Opera” — the blockbuster mega-musical that ran for an unprecedented 35 years on Broadway — will launch its North American tour next fall from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre.

Set to visit dozens of cities in the U.S. and Canada over multiple years, the tour is a slimmed-down version of the production currently running on London’s West End, according to The New York Times.

“ ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ is near and dear to my heart,” Ron Legler, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, which houses the Hippodrome, said in a news release. “It was the first mega-musical I worked on more than 30 years ago. To see this iconic production come back into my life decades later and begin its new tour at the Hippodrome is a full-circle moment.”

The production is being mounted with funds from the state’s Theatrical Production Tax Credit program, which was approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 2022. The program provides up to $2 million in tax credits to a theatrical production that has spent at least $10 million in the state to hold a Broadway tryout or to originate a new national tour.

Previous shows at the Hippodrome to take advantage of the program were the revival of “The Wiz,” which is currently crisscrossing the country on tour following six months on Broadway, and the national tour of the jukebox musical “& Juliet.”

Future shows that will benefit from the credits include the launch of the national tours of “Life of Pi,” which will open at the Hippodrome in December, and “Water for Elephants,” which will bow in Baltimore in the fall of 2025.

The U.S. debut of “Phantom” resulted in much hand-wringing by theater critics, who decried what they perceived as the show’s excesses in staging.

Entire theaters were renovated just to handle the show’s special effects, which include a massive chandelier that hangs high above the audience’s heads — only to plummet toward the stage floor. But theater lovers paid little attention to critics’ complaints. They loved the show, which enjoyed 13,981 performances on Broadway and played to 20 million people.

Tours of “Phantom” have been viewed by 160 million people in 195 cities and performed in 21 languages.

“I still get goosebumps every time that chandelier comes alive,” the show’s creator, Andrew Lloyd Webber, said in the release. “It infuses the theatre with something that only happens when design, direction and music are completely at one.”

Details regarding performance dates and ticket prices will be announced later.

Have a question about this article? Contact editor Kendyl Kearly at kkearly@baltsun.com.