Earlier this month, fans of musical theater were shocked when Andrew Lloyd Webbers Tony Award-winning The Phantom of the Opera announced that its final performance would take place in five months on Feb. 23, 2023, after a historic 35 years on Broadway.
Though the shows closing may be surprising to some, the decision to shutter Phantom may have been a long time coming. According to Playbill, Phantom hasnt been able to meet its running costs since reopening post-pandemic the cheapest tickets have been approximately $40 for years.
Comparatively, Chicago, which is next in line for the title of longest-running Broadway show, has tickets starting at around $60 and third runner-up The Lion Kings starting ticket prices are approximately $100.
Phantoms announcement seems to follow 2022s trend of beloved shows ending their runs; Dear Evan Hansen just marked its final performance, while other notable show departures, including Come From Away and The Music Man, arent far behind.
Now, its hard to imagine the Great White Way without also picturing the iconic porcelain mask of the famed Phantom of the Opera, which has graced the marquee of the Majestic Theater for longer than most of our generation can remember; even after Phantom closes its doors, its numerous historical achievements will continue to grace Wikipedia pages for a long time.
Beyond turning the days when Cats used to reign as the longest-running Broadway show into memories, Phantom won seven Tony Awards when it premiered in 1988 and was the first show to celebrate 10,000 performances in New York.
More recently, in 2016, Phantom cast Ali Ewoldt, the first Asian American to play the iconic leading role of Christine Daaé, and Jordan Donica, the first African American man to play Raoul de Chagny. This year, Emilie Kouatchou became the first African American woman to take on the role of Christine alongside Donica before his departure.
Were in a period of intense change in this industry, and Im just happy that I could be a part of that change, Kouatchou said in an interview with Broadway.com in August 2022.
Though the era of change brought by Phantoms closing, compared to the triumphant casting of Kouatchou as Christine, can be rather depressing, history suggests that this isnt the end for beloved fans of the Phantoms stories. There are still a few months to catch the dramatic sounds of the Phantom overture before it closes.
For the fans who fear that this is the last time Phantom will ever grace the stage on Broadway, Les Misérables, a show with markedly similar popularity and musical characteristics of Phantom, has earned numerous revivals and productions after it departed Broadway in 2003; national touring productions will likely continue to roam around the country, boasting revamped staging and design of the well-loved classic.
If youre really desperate for musical content, theres always the spurned sequel to Phantom, titled Love Never Dies, which essentially amounts to Lloyd Webber writing fanfiction using the same characters to make more money. There are some good songs in the show just not a good plot.
Either way, try to catch Phantom before it closes. Who wouldnt want a chance to sit under the glamorous chandelier one last time?