“The Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s longest-running show, will close in February 2023, despite a slow pandemic recovery in theater attendance in New York.
The love musical, which has been a Broadway sensation since its premiere in 1988, will have its final performance on Feb. 18, according to a spokeswoman. Its demise concludes a multi-decade, award-winning run that included 13,925 performances and seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
With expensive sets and costumes, a huge cast, and Broadway’s best orchestra, the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic has been called one of the most stunning theater performances ever.
On January 9, 2006, it overtook the nearly 18-year run of another Lloyd Webber musical, “Cats,” to become the longest-running production on Broadway. According to a statement made by the show, it has nearly doubled that figure since then.
Approximately 19.5 million people saw “Phantom” at the Majestic Theatre, which hosted the production during its run. Broadway will shut down in March 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 arrives in the United States. “Phantom,” which has grossed about $1.3 billion, reopened with an outdoor block party when the lights were turned back on in 2021.
According to Broadway League figures, attendance on Broadway was around 82% of capacity during the shortened 2021-22 season, with an industry gross of around $845 million. In 2018-19, 89.7% of the seats were filled, and $1.83 billion was made at the box office, which was a record for an entire year.
“As a producer, you hope that a show will last forever,” said producer Cameron Mackintosh in a statement Friday. However, all shows must come to an end. Mr. Mackintosh stated that they chose to close the show following its 35th anniversary.
The film “Phantom” tells the story of a deformed composer who lives inside the Paris Opera House and falls in love with Christine, a teenage soprano. After each performance, the phantom who haunts the building leaves Christine a red rose tied with a black ribbon.
Tourists and fans congregated outside the Majestic Theatre on 44th Street in Times Square on Friday, barely hours after the show’s cancellation was announced. A single red rose lay at the main door.
Madison Moore and Brie Underwood, both theater students, went to the venue as soon as they learned of the show’s cancellation.
Mx. Underwood, who has previously seen “Phantom” 18 times, purchased a ticket for Saturday night. Ms. Moore, who has seen it ten times, is waiting until next week, when her favorite performer is due to play Christine.
They both intend to attend the final performance on February 18.
“I’m going to make it my life’s ambition to be there… and I’d like to try to obtain the best seat possible.” I’m heading for the front row, “said Mx. Underwood, who created a “Phantom” savings account years ago to be ready for its demise.
Ms. Moore, who wants to get a seat for the final curtain call beneath the chandelier, which falls at the end of Act 1, said her mother would contribute.
“She mentioned it being a Christmas present for me,” Ms. Moore explained.
“Phantom,” which premiered in London in 1986, will be staged again, marking the 36th anniversary of the play on Oct. 9. Other overseas performances will go forward as planned.
Corrections & Amplifications
Brie Underwood, a theater student, is nonbinary and chooses to use Mx. as an honorific. An earlier version of this article misspelled Mx. Underwood as Ms. Underwood. Madison Moore is also a theater student. She is not a theater or marketing student, as stated in an earlier version of this article.