Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Phantom of the Opera, one of the most popular theatrical shows ever, will kick off its new international tour in China later this year, starting at the Bay Opera of Shenzhen of Guangdong province on July 2, it was announced in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Produced by SMG LIVE, the live entertainment leg of Shanghai Media Group, in collaboration with Crossroads Live and Webber's Really Useful Group, or RUG, the China tour will then go on to another six cities: Xi'an of Shaanxi province, Shanghai, Suzhou of Jiangsu province, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Beijing and a final destination that is yet to be announced. 

Ticket sales for the Shenzhen performances, from July 2 to Aug 4, and the Shanghai performances, at Shanghai Grand Theatre, or SGT, from Aug 27 to Oct 13 began, began on Thursday.

The show, often referred to simply as Phantom, has toured 193 cities in 46 countries since its premiere in the United Kingdom in 1986. In 2004 the production made its first tour of China, and had a record-breaking 100 shows at SGT. From 2013 to 2015, the show toured again, visiting Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. 

In the past decades, Phantom has led the way in the growth and prosperity of the market for musicals in China, said Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of SGT.

"Shanghai has become a most important center in China for musical performances and production," she said.

In 2018 SMG and RUG jointly announced the Phantom China project, aiming at propelling the development of China's musical industry through a series of initiatives to nurture talent, cultivate the market and promote productions.

In May 2023, the Chinese version of Phantom was premiered at SGT, the 18th language adaptation for the show. The Chinese production toured nine cities with 159 shows and box office receipts totaled more than 150 million yuan, said Ma Chencheng, president of SMG Live.

The new touring production will star Jonathan Roxmouth, the youngest actor to take the role in its original English production, in the title role. As part of both the 2012 and 2019 world tours, Phantom took him to the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Israel, Dubai, South Korea and China's Taiwan province.