'Phantom' Broadway's No. 2 Longest Show

<br>NEW YORK (AP) _ ``The Phantom of the Opera'' is now No. 2 _ Broadway's second-longest running show. <br><br>The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical passed ``Les Miserables'' at its Wednesday

Thursday, February 5th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ ``The Phantom of the Opera'' is now No. 2 _ Broadway's second-longest running show.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical passed ``Les Miserables'' at its Wednesday evening performance _ notching performance No. 6,681 at the Majestic Theatre. Only ``Cats,'' another Lloyd Webber show, has run longer, lasting 18 years and 7,485 performances. ``Les Miserables'' closed on Broadway in May 2003 after 6,680 performances.

``Phantom,'' which now stars Hugh Panaro as the spectral figure who haunts the Paris Opera House, opened Jan. 26, 1988. The New York production, which has grossed more than $530 million, has been seen by 10 million people. It won seven 1988 Tony Awards, including the prize for best musical.

Worldwide, the show has grossed more than $3.2 billion, having played 110 cities in 20 countries. Besides New York, companies of ``Phantom'' are still running in London; Madrid; Budapest, Hungary; Stuttgart, Germany; Fukuoka, Japan; and an American company touring the United States.

The African continent production opens in April in Capetown, South Africa.