Last Sunday night on April 16, Broadway’s longest-running musical, the Phantom of the Opera, finally came to an end after 35 years, 13,981 shows, and seven Tony awards since it began on 26 January 1988 at New York’s Majestic Theatre. The show, however, could not remain unaffected with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, after surviving recessions, terrorism, and cultural shifts.
The show earned $1.3bn during its three and half decades of Broadway run musicals.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber came on stage to dedicate the final performance to his 43-year-old son Nick, who passed away in March battling gastric cancer and pneumonia. The show “probably” had cost more than $1m to run for a week, said Lord Lloyd-Webber, on Saturday.
According to the general manager of the show, Broadway was closed for 18 months due to the pandemic, and when the theatres re-opened the prices increased by 15% because of the Covid-19 protocols and additional security. The overall tourist levels which helped in the sale of tickets have not returned to the pre-pandemic levels in New York.
Originally, the last show was scheduled in February but there was a surge in the demand for the tickets bringing over $3million each week.
Current and former actors who attended and had once performed in the musical, included Sarah Brightman, the first person to play the lead character Christine, and Emilie Kouatchou, the first black actress to play the role in New York. Celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Glenn Close also attended the final show to express their support.
Since 1988, 16 actors performed as the Phantom, with Howard McGillin who played the role for more than seven years and gave 2,500 performances and holds the record for the longest period.
At the last show, McGillin said, “I started sobbing the minute I came in. We’re all part of this family and we will always be. It’s a wonderful thing.”
In honor of the show, silver and gold confetti was showered on the audience and free champagne was provided during the interval.
Andrew Defrin, a theatre student, told CNN, “I’ve never seen any other marquees at the Majestic Theatre. To not see that mask there is going to be devastating.”
The theatre would now undergo refurbishment that had been postponed for over three decades due to consecutive shows.
Lord Lloyd-Webber has one show left to perform on Broadway, Bad Cinderella, after the closing of Phantom. The longest-running Broadway musical was Chicago since its opening in 1996.
In 1986, an altered version of Phantom opened in London and is still running. In 2022, it returned on stage with some changes after the original version ended in 2020.
