Phantom of the Opera to close on Broadway after 35 years
- The hit musical, a Broadway fixture since 1988, will end its run in February, becoming the biggest victim yet of New York’s pandemic-hit theatre scene
- The crown for longest-running show will pass to Chicago, which started in 1996, followed by The Lion King, in 1997
The Phantom of the Opera – Broadway’s longest-running show – is scheduled to close in February 2023, the biggest victim yet of the post-pandemic softening in theatre attendance in New York.
The musical – a fixture on Broadway since 1988, weathering recessions, war and cultural shifts – will play its final performance on Broadway on February 18, a spokesperson said on Friday. The closing will come less than a month after its 35th anniversary.
It is a costly musical to sustain, with elaborate sets and costumes as well as a large cast and orchestra. Box office grosses have fluctuated since the show reopened after the pandemic – going as high as over US$1 million a week but also dropping to around US$850,000.
Last week, it hit US$867,997 and producers may 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 madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine.