Emilie Kouatchou to play Christine in 'The Phantom of the Opera' on Broadway

She will become the first Black actress to play the role full-time.

Broadway has a new angel of music! Emilie Kouatchou, who has been the Christine Daaé alternate since The Phantom of the Opera reopened in October, will assume the role full-time from Meghan Picerno. Picerno will play her final performance January 23 and Kouatchou will begin on January 26, the 34th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

Kouatchou is making her Broadway debut in the role. In October, she also became the first Black actress to play Christine Daaé on Broadway, and now she is the first Black actress to do so full-time. Julia Udine, who has played the role in the 2013 national tour and currently serves as the full-time Christine standby for Broadway, will take over as the alternate.

The Phantom of the Opera has become Broadway's longest-running show since opening at the Majestic Theatre in 1988. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, based on the French novel of the same name, sees the rising opera star Christine caught in a treacherous love triangle between her childhood sweetheart and the titular Phantom, a possessive and disfigured man who lives in the Paris Opera House's shadows and gives her vocal lessons.

Get The Phantom of the Opera tickets now.

^{Photo credit: Matthew Murphy}