'Phantom' set to break Broadway record

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera is set for a landmark performance Monday, when the evening show makes it the longest running production in Broadway history.

When the curtain rises on Monday night's gala performance, it will mark the 7,468th staging of the lavish, award-winning musical in New York.

Phantom is set to break the record set by Cats, another blockbuster creation by Lloyd Webber, which opened in 1982 and closed in 2000.

After first premiering in 1986 in London, Phantom of the Opera opened in New York in 1988. It has also been staged in more than 100 cities and has made more than $3.2 billion US at box offices around the world.

Officials estimate that more than 50 million people worldwide have seen the production, with a devoted fan base returning to see it as many as a dozen times. Based on the early 20th century French novel by Gaston Leroux, Phantom tells the story of a mutilated musical genius who haunts a Parisian opera house and takes under his wing a beautiful up-and-coming soprano with whom he has fallen in love.

Lloyd Webber has recently said in interviews that this record is "an achievement I'll never be able to top."

Producers have planned to follow Monday night's show with a masked ball, with special guests to include original star Michael Crawford and Lloyd Webber's collaborator, producer Cameron Mackintosh.