This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen
on .
It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
Fans Gather as ‘Phantom’ Ends a Record Broadway Run
With Cheers and Tears, ‘Phantom of the Opera’ Ends Record Broadway Run
(about 3 hours later)
A full house that featured the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, members of the original 1988 Broadway cast, theater industry bigwigs and Phans decked out in masks and capes gathered at the Majestic Theater on Sunday for the final performance of “The Phantom of the Opera.”
“The Phantom of the Opera” concluded the longest run in Broadway history Sunday night with a glittery final performance at which even the production’s signature chandelier, which had just crashed onto the stage of the Majestic Theater for the 13,981st time, got its own curtain call.
The sumptuous musical, with its soaring score and gothic drama, is the longest-running production in Broadway history: The final performance, which got underway at 5:22 p.m. on Sunday, was number 13,981.
The invitation-only crowd was filled with Broadway lovers, including actors who had performed in the show over its 35-year run, as well as numerous theater artists (including Lin-Manuel Miranda) and fans who won a special ticket lottery. Some dressed in Phantom regalia; one man came dressed in the character’s sumptuous Red Death costume.
The audience, which included Lin-Manuel Miranda, cheered not only the entrance of each principal performer, but also the first sightings of signature props, including the monkey music box and, of course, the chandelier that crashes onto the stage at the end of the first act.
The final performance, which ran from 5:22 to 7:56 p.m., was interrupted repeatedly by applause, not only for the main actors, but also for beloved props, including a monkey music box, and scenic elements such as a gondola being rowed through a candelabra-adorned underground lake. After the final curtain, the stagehands who made the show’s elaborate spectacle happen night after night, were invited onstage for a resounding round of applause.
Hours before the curtain, fans gathered behind barricades across the street, waving and taking pictures and hoping somehow to score a spare ticket. Among them was Lexie Luhrs, 25, of Washington, in full Phantom regalia: black cape, homemade mask, plus fedora, vest and bow tie, as well as mask earrings and a mask necklace. “I’m here to celebrate the show that means so much to us,” Luhrs said.
“It’s just amazing, really, what has happened,” the composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote the show’s soaring score, said after the final curtain, as he dedicated the performance to his son Nicholas, who died three weeks ago.
The Broadway run was, obviously, enormously successful, playing to 20 million people and grossing $1.36 billion since its opening in January 1988. And the show has become an international phenomenon, playing in 17 languages in 45 countries and grossing more than $6 billion globally.
Lloyd Webber spoke alongside his longtime collaborator and the show’s lead producer, Cameron Mackintosh. They invited all the living alumni of the original Broadway production to join them onstage, and projected onto the theater’s back wall pictures of deceased members of the original creative team, including its director, Hal Prince, as well as every actor who played the two lead roles (the Phantom as well as Christine, the young soprano who is his obsession).
But it was also expensive to run, with a large cast and orchestra and an elaborately old-fashioned set, and had become heavily dependent on tourists from around the world; after the lengthy pandemic shutdown it only reopened thanks to federal government assistance and generous insurance coverage, but then the combination of diminished tourism and inflationary costs led the show to have more money-losing weeks than profitable ones, and that dynamic precipitated the closing.
Toward the end of the evening, Mackintosh acknowledged the one-ton chandelier, which was lowered from the ceiling to a round of applause, and the crowd was showered with gold and silver metallic confetti, some of which dangled in ribbons from the chandelier.
The show, directed by Hal Prince, is set in 19th-century Paris, and is about a disfigured artistic genius who lives beneath the Paris Opera House and becomes obsessed with a young soprano named Christine.
Hours before the curtain, fans gathered across the street, waving and taking pictures and hoping somehow to score a spare ticket. Among them was Lexie Luhrs, 25, of Washington, in a Phantom get-up: black cape, homemade mask, plus fedora, vest and bow tie, as well as mask earrings and a mask necklace. “I’m here to celebrate the show that means so much to us,” Luhrs said.
It is closing on an unexpectedly high note — and not just the high E that Christine sings in the title song. As soon as the closing was announced last September, sales spiked, as those who already loved the musical flocked to see it, and those who had never bothered realized this might be their last chance; the original February closing date was delayed by two months to accommodate demand, and the show has once again become the highest-grossing on Broadway, playing to exuberant audiences, enjoying a burnished reputation, and bringing in more than $3 million a week.
On Broadway “Phantom” was, obviously, enormously successful, playing to 20 million people and grossing $1.36 billion since its opening in January 1988. And the show has become an international phenomenon, playing in 17 languages in 45 countries and grossing more than $6 billion globally. But the Broadway run ultimately succumbed to the twin effects of inflation and dwindled tourism following the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
“For a show to go out this triumphantly is almost unheard-of,” said the lead producer, Cameron Mackintosh. “It’s beyond anything I’ve ever dreamed of.”
It closed on an unexpectedly high note — and not just the high E that Christine sings in the title song. As soon as the closing was announced last September, sales spiked, as those who already loved the musical flocked to see it, and procrastinators realized it could be their last chance; the original February closing date was delayed by two months to accommodate demand, and the show has once again become the highest-grossing on Broadway, playing to exuberant audiences, enjoying a burnished reputation, and bringing in more than $3 million a week.
The final day was marked by a combination of nostalgia and celebration. The production organized a preshow red carpet on West 44th Street, in front of the Majestic, where members of the current cast (including Emilie Kouatchou, who is the first Black actor to play the role of Christine on Broadway) and surviving members of the original cast (including Sarah Brightman, who originated the role of Christine) reflected on the show’s run and its closing.
“For a show to go out this triumphantly is almost unheard-of,” said Mackintosh.
Among those walking the red carpet was Maree Johnson, who first joined the show in 1990 as an understudy in her native Australia; went on to play Christine in Australia, and now plays the opera company’s choreographer. “We all have a very special bond and experience because of the length of the show,” she said. “I feel very honored to be part of it at the end.”
After the final performance, the show’s company and its alumni gathered for an invitation-only celebration at the Metropolitan Club, with the show’s iconic mask projected on a marble staircase.
There was also John Riddle, who currently plays Raoul, Christine’s love interest. Riddle first saw the show as a 4-year-old, growing up in Cleveland, when his father heard a radio ad for the musical and decided to take the family to see it in Toronto. “I was completely mesmerized, and I turned to my dad and said ‘I’m going to do this,’” he said. “Now, 30 years later, I’m closing the show on Broadway.”
The show, with music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart, is still running in London, where the orchestra size was cut and the set was altered during the pandemic shutdown to reduce running costs, and it is also currently running in the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. New productions are scheduled to open in China next month, in Italy in July and in Spain in October.
After the final performance, the show’s company and its alumni were planning to gather for an invitation-only celebration at the Metropolitan Club, with the show’s iconic mask projected on a stairway and portrait studios named for familiar elements of the show (“Chandelier” and “Phantom’s Lair”).
And will it ever return to New York? “Of course, at some point,” Mackintosh said in an interview. “But it is time for the show to have a rest.”
The show, with music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart, is still running in London, where the orchestra size was cut and the set was altered during the pandemic shutdown to reduce running costs, and it is also currently running in the Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea and Sweden. New productions are scheduled to open next month in China (the first in Mandarin), in July in Italy (with Ramin Karimloo and a flaming chandelier) and in October in Spain (with a new translation created in partnership with Antonio Banderas).
And will it ever return to New York? “Of course, at some point,” Mackintosh said. “But it is time for the show to have a rest.”
