IT’s over now, the music of the night.
On Sunday, April 16, the famous chandelier dropped a final time at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sumptuous Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater. The longest active show on Broadway, it had run for 35 years — a staggering amount for an industry where even hits often fizzle after a year or two. Mr. Lloyd Webber himself was on hand to celebrate, as was his producing partner Cameron Mackintosh. (Hal Prince, who directed the long-running production, died in 2019.)
Cast members from the show’s epic run of nearly 14,000 performances filled the audience. There were a number of actresses who played the star role of Christine Daaé — including the woman who originated the role on Broadway, Sarah Brightman — and several phantoms.
They were joined throughout an evening of festivities by theater luminaries including Sara Bareilles, Glenn Close, Lin Manuel Miranda, Tommy Tune, and Lily James.
Onstage after the show, Mr. Mackintosh called the performance “such a thrilling finale.”
“In our wildest childhood dreams we could never have imagined a success like Phantom,” he said, referring to he and Mr. Lloyd Webber. “Tonight is a celebration and a heartfelt goodbye.”
As to whether the show would return, Mr. Mackintosh hinted: “As a producer for 55 years, I’ve seen all the great musicals return. And Phantom is one of the greatest. So it’s only a matter of time.”
Phantom of the Opera, which opened in 1988 and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, tells the story of a dark masked presence who haunts the Paris Opera house. This mysterious musical genius becomes obsessed with a young soprano, Christine, and a sinister romance ensues. With stage magic that was cutting edge at the time of opening, a large cast and lavish sets, the production has been a sacrosanct part of New York’s theatrical world. It was, for countless audience members, the first Broadway show they ever attended.
When it returned after the pandemic-spurred Broadway shutdown in October of 2021, there was much fanfare. Celebrities including Miranda, Joel Grey, Laura Linney, and Norm Lewis — who was the first Black actor to play a phantom — attended the performance, and 44th Street outside the Majestic was shut down for a dance party with Mr. Lloyd Webber playing DJ. But as audiences were slow to return to theaters, ticket sales slumped — and the cost of putting on the show with its elaborate sets, 27-piece orchestra, and technical wizardry, climbed due to increasing safety protocols related to COVID-19. Mr. Mackintosh told Variety that when he announced the show would close back in September of 2022, it was losing money every week.
The announcement sparked a significant revival of interest, and the show shot from seeing just below $1 million a week in sales to over $3 million. The original closing date in February was pushed back to April 16. Longtime fans of the show raced to see the chandelier fall one last time, and many who had never seen it flooded to catch songs like “Angel of Music” and “Masquerade” before it was too late. The gross for the week ending in April 9 was $3.65 million, the show’s highest ever.
”Thank you New York, for being such a wonderful home for us,” Mr. Lloyd Webber said from the stage after the curtain call, dedicating the performance to his son, Nicholas, who died last month. “The last few months I don’t think any of us thought Phantom could go out with quite the bang it had.” — Bloomberg
