Ben Elton hired on to Phantom sequel

Ben Elton, the creator of the London hit We Will Rock You, will work with Andrew Lloyd Webber on a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, one of his most successful musicals.

Elton is working with Lloyd Webber on The Boys in the Photograph, a musical that will debut in Winnipeg and Toronto next year.

A spokesperson for Lloyd Webber announced the new collaboration in London, England, according to a report in Playbill.

Elton, 48, will be the librettist for the Phantom sequel, which Lloyd Webber first announced last year.

Lloyd Webber is the British composer behind musicals such as Cats and Evita and is participating in the Canadian version of TV reality show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

In the sequel, the Phantom is living in a fairground in Coney Island around 1900 and is reunited with the now-married singer Christine.

The Phantom of the Opera won seven 1988 Tony Awards, including best musical, and was the longest-running show in Broadway history.

The sequel, directed by Jack O'Brien, is expected to open in New York in 2009, though no date has been confirmed.

The Boys in the Photograph, developed from an earlier Lloyd Webber musical, The Beautiful Game, is the story of two teenage boys growing up in 1960s Belfast against a backdrop of sectarian violence.

Elton, 48, is writing the book for The Boys in the Photograph and is also directing the co-production between Manitoba Theatre Centre and Toronto's Mirvish Productions that debuts next April in Winnipeg.