“The Phantom of the Opera” — Broadway’s longest-running present — is scheduled to close in February 2023, the largest sufferer but of the post-pandemic softening in theater attendance in New York.
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The musical — a fixture on Broadway since 1988, weathering recessions, battle and cultural shifts — will play its ultimate efficiency on Broadway on Feb. 18, a spokesperson informed The Associated Press on Friday. The closing will come lower than a month after its thirty fifth anniversary. It will conclude with an eye-popping 13,925 performances.
It is a pricey musical to maintain, with elaborate units and costumes in addition to a big solid and orchestra. Box workplace grosses have fluctuated since the present reopened after the pandemic — going as excessive as over $1 million per week but in addition dropping to round $850,000. Last week, it hit $867,997 and producers could have seen the writing on the wall.
Based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, “Phantom” tells the story of a deformed composer who haunts the Paris Opera House and falls head over heels in love with an harmless younger soprano, Christine. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s lavish songs embody “Masquerade,” “Angel of Music,” “All I Ask of You” and “The Music of the Night.”
Costumes from the Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera,” are displayed at the “Showstoppers! Spectacular Costumes from Stage & Screen” exhibit, benefitting the Costume Industry Coalition Recovery Fund, in Times Square. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)
“As a producer you dream {that a} present will run ceaselessly. Indeed, my manufacturing of Andrew’s ‘Cats’ proudly declared for many years ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that present’s extraordinary Broadway run. But all exhibits do lastly close,” producer Cameron Mackintosh stated in an announcement.
The first manufacturing opened in London in 1986 and since then the present has been seen by greater than 145 million individuals in 183 cities and carried out in 17 languages over 70,000 performances. On Broadway alone, the musical has performed greater than 13,500 performances to 19 million individuals at The Majestic Theatre.
The closing of “Phantom” would imply the longest running present crown would go to “Chicago,” which started in 1996. “The Lion King” is next, having begun performances in 1997.
Broadway took a pounding throughout the pandemic, with all theaters closed for greater than 18 months. Some of the hottest exhibits — “Hamilton,” “The Lion King” and “Wicked” — have rebounded nicely, however different exhibits have struggled. Breaking even often requires a gradual stream of vacationers, particularly for “Phantom” and guests to the metropolis haven’t returned to pre-pandemic ranges.
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