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`PHANTOM OF THE OPERA' set a Broadway advance box office record last week, with first-day sales of $920,271, more than doubling the earlier record of another British import, ``Les Mis`erables'' ($447,275). The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is scheduled to open Jan. 26. THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA in Charlottesville has announced plans to host an annual American film festival, beginning in October 1988. The theme of the first Virginia Festival of American Film will be ``A Virginia Homecoming,'' honoring the works of noted actors, directors, and writers with ties to the state. Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles said the festival is especially significant for the state ``because Virginia has become an increasingly popular location for motion picture and television production.'' THE GREATER MIAMI OPERA will sponsor a Rossini Festival, beginning tonight, through Dec. 13., with seminars, master classes, concerts, and a Grand Opera Ball. The focal point is the American premi`ere of Rossini's long-lost masterpiece, ``Bianca e Falliero,'' on Dec. 7. THE JOFFREY BALLET brings its new production of ``The Nutcracker'' to the Kennedy Center Opera House (Dec. 16-27) for its East Coast prem`iere, following its world premi`ere at the University of Iowa (Dec. 10). Choreographed by artistic director Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, and George Verdak, the new production is conceived in the spirit of the original 1892 version by Lev Ivanov, but will be set in Victorian-era America.