<P> The 1980s saw the influence of European "mega-musicals", or "pop operas", on Broadway, in the West End and elsewhere . These typically featured a pop - influenced score, had large casts and sets and were identified by their notable effects--a falling chandelier (in The Phantom of the Opera), a helicopter landing on stage (in Miss Saigon)--and big budgets . Many were based on novels or other works of literature . The most important writers of mega-musicals include the French team of Claude - Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, responsible for Les Misérables, which became the longest - running international musical hit in history . The team, in collaboration with Richard Maltby Jr., continued to produce hits, including Miss Saigon, inspired by the Puccini opera Madama Butterfly . </P> <P> The British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber saw similar success with Evita, based on the life of Argentina's Eva Perón; Cats, derived from the poems of T.S. Eliot (both of which musicals originally starred Elaine Paige); Starlight Express, performed on roller skates; The Phantom of the Opera, derived from the Gaston Leroux novel, "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra"; and Sunset Boulevard (from the classic film of the same name). These works ran (or are still running) for decades in both New York and London and had extraordinary international and touring success . The mega-musicals' huge budgets redefined expectations for financial success on Broadway and in the West End . In earlier years, it was possible for a show to be considered a hit after a run of several hundred performances, but with multimillion - dollar production costs, a show must run for years simply to turn a profit . </P> <P> In the 1990s, a new generation of theatrical composers emerged, including Jason Robert Brown and Michael John LaChiusa, who began with productions Off - Broadway . The most conspicuous success of these artists was Jonathan Larson's show Rent (1996), a rock musical (based on the opera La bohème) about a struggling community of artists in Manhattan . While the cost of tickets to Broadway and West End musicals was escalating beyond the budget of many theatregoers, Rent was marketed to increase the popularity of musicals among a younger audience . It featured a young cast and a heavily rock - influenced score; the musical became a hit . Its young fans, many of them students, calling themselves RENTheads), camped out at the Nederlander Theatre in hopes of winning the lottery for $20 front row tickets, and some saw the show dozens of times . Other shows on Broadway followed Rent's lead by offering heavily discounted day - of - performance or standing - room tickets, although often the discounts are offered only to students . </P> <P> The 1990s also saw the influence of large corporations on the production of musicals . The most important has been Disney Theatrical Productions, which began adapting some of Disney's animated film musicals for the stage, starting with Beauty and the Beast (1994), The Lion King (1997) and Aida (2000), the latter two with music by Elton John . The Lion King is the highest - grossing musical in Broadway history . The Who's Tommy (1993), a theatrical adaptation of the rock opera Tommy, achieved a healthy run of 899 performances but was criticized for sanitizing the story and "musical theatre - izing" the rock music . </P>

Of the following which aspect of sound design has been present throughout the history of theatre