A “Theater Ghost” poster is displayed on the closed Majestic Theater in New York on March 12, 2020. The longest Broadway show is scheduled to close in February 2023. .
Kathy Willens / AP
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Kathy Willens / AP
A “Theater Ghost” poster is displayed on the closed Majestic Theater in New York on March 12, 2020. The longest Broadway show is scheduled to close in February 2023. .
Kathy Willens / AP
NEWYORK – “The Phantom of the Opera” – Broadway’s longest running show – scheduled to close in February 2023, the biggest victim of the post-pandemic is softening in New York theatergoers.
A spokesman told The Associated Press on Friday that the musical – a Broadway fixture since 1988 that has experienced recession weather, war and cultural change – will perform its last on the show. Broadway on February 18. The closure will come less than a month after its 35th anniversary.
It is an expensive musical to maintain, with elaborate staging and costumes as well as a large cast and orchestra. Box office receipts have fluctuated since the film’s post-pandemic rerun – up to more than $1 million a week but also down to around $850,000. Last week it hit $867,997 and the makers may have seen the writing on the wall.
Based on a novel by Gaston Leroux, “Phantom” tells the story of a deformed composer who is obsessed with the Paris Opera and is madly in love with an innocent soprano, Christine. Andrew Lloyd WebberHer lavish songs include “Masquerade,” “Music Angel,” “All I Ask of You,” and “The Music of the Night.”
The first production opened in London in 1986 and since then the show has been seen by more than 145 million people in 183 cities and performed in 17 languages over 70,000 shows. On Broadway alone, the musical performed more than 13,500 performances for 19 million people at the Majestic Theatre.
The ending of “Phantom” means that the show’s longest crown goes to “Chicago,” which began in 1996. This was followed by “The Lion King,” which began performing in 1997.
Broadway has been hit by a pandemic, with all theaters closed for more than 18 months. Breaking even usually requires a steady stream of tourists, especially to “Phantom”.
The closures were first reported on Friday by the New York Post.
