According to reports, the present was struggling to bounce again from the ticket hunch going through a lot of Broadway amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The memorable musical, composed by British theater legend Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics from Charles Hart, contains songs “Music of the Night,” “Think of Me” and “All I Ask of You.” It debuted in New York in 1988, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Hal Prince, scooping up seven Tony Awards, amongst them Best Musical.
The romantic thriller is predicated on a novel by French creator Gaston Leroux and tells the story of a disfigured masked man, the Phantom, who haunts the Paris Opera and turns into obsessive about dancer Christine Daaé. He teaches her to sing, making her an unwilling muse for his genius, and later kidnaps her to his lair.
The manufacturing is thought for its dramatic set design — and an iconic second wherein a grand chandelier drops from the ceiling.
“As a producer you dream that a show will run forever,” Mackintosh advised the Associated Press. “Indeed, my production of Andrew’s ‘Cats’ proudly declared for decades ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that show’s extraordinary Broadway run. But all shows do finally close.”
Like different inventive industries, Broadway was hit onerous by the pandemic, with theaters closing to audiences in 2020. Shows returned in the fall of 2021, and theater critics predicted a rebound of New York’s cultural life. But the closing closure of “Phantom” highlights the difficulties nonetheless going through the pricey leisure business. Since July, vaccine necessities for viewers members have been lifted and mask-wearing has change into optional.
In all, the present will conclude after a hefty 13,925 performances. It has received greater than 70 main theater awards and been seen by greater than 140 million people worldwide.
In its 35 years, performing stars have included Michael Crawford, George Lee Andrews, Howard McGillin, Judy Kaye and Sarah Brightman, amongst many others. In 2021, Emilie Kouatchou made history as the first Black actress to be forged as Christine on Broadway. The present was additionally tailored right into a film in 2004, with Gerard Butler in the title function.
Webber has reigned over the musical theater world for greater than 50 years and written smash hit exhibits together with “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “The Woman in White” and “Cats,” which ran on Broadway for 18 years, ending in 2000. He can be one of the few artists to achieved “EGOT status” having obtained Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.
With “Phantom” retiring its Broadway crown, the subsequent longest-running show is the revival of “Chicago,” which started in 1996, adopted by “The Lion King,” which began a 12 months later.
However, in theater, as in life, endings can lead to new beginnings, and “Phantom” is ready to be carried out for the first time in Mandarin in 2023 because it arrives in China. It additionally made its debut at the Sydney Opera House final month.
Fans can nonetheless purchase tickets for Broadway performances up to Jan. 22, and tickets for the closing exhibits needs to be going on sale “shortly,” in accordance to the theater firm.