Finally, Mexico City will see one of the most popular musicals of the century, Andrew Lloyd Webber´s The Phantom of the Opera.

The Mexican premiere of El Fantasma de la Opera (The Phantom of the Opera) will take place Dec. 16 at the Teatro Alameda in Mexico City, where large number of celebrities are expected to show up, including Lloyd Webber.

El Fantasma de la Opera is produced in Mexico City by The Really Useful Theatre Company Ltd, MAT Theatrical Entertainment Ltd, OCESA Presenta and Morris Gilbert.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera was hailed Monday as the most successful show of the century after worldwide box office sales topped $3 billion. Since its launch in 1986, the musical has been staged in 91 cities and 15 countries, while the soundtrack has sold 25 million copies.

Starring as the Phantom in Mexico City is Brazilian actor Saulo Vasconcelos (Jesus Christ Superstar) while Irasema Terrazas (Master Class) stars as Christine and singer José Joel (formerly known as José Sosa) is Raoul. Harold Prince is directing this production, which will be performed for the first time in Spanish. Lights, props, sets, wigs and some costumes come to Mexico directly from the recently closed Toronto production of Phantom.

OCESA co-produced the Mexican premiere of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and, in association with Morris Gilbert, co-produced shows including the successful Mexican premiere of Rent, currently playing at the Teatro Alameda 2 in Mexico City. Future plans for OCESA and Gilbert include a revival of Man of la Mancha and the Mexican premiere of Les Misérables

El Fantasma will play an open-ended run at the Teatro Alameda in Mexico City with performances Wed-Fri at 8:30 PM, Sat. 6:30 PM and 9 PM and Sun. at 1:30 PM and 6 PM.

Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at 011-52-53-25-90-00.

More information on El Fantasma de la Opera is available at the official wbesite for this production, www.elfantasmadelaopera.com