The longest-running show in Broadway history, “The Phantom of the Opera,” will retire from the stage on its 35th anniversary, US media reported, as the theater industry failed to recover from the pandemic.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical will run during the Christmas and New Years season, ending February 18.
Sources told the newspaper New York Post that there will be a big party to celebrate 35 years on stage.
“The Phantom of the Opera” has been losing about a million dollars (about a million euros) a month, according to sources, since it returned to shows, in October 2021, after being incarcerated due to covid-19.
Since its premiere at the Majestic Theater on January 26, 1988, the musical, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group Company, has had 13,733 performances in nearly 35 years.
“Phantom of the Opera” won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical in 1988.
The second longest running show on Broadway is “Chicago”, by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with 25 years on the stage and 10,090 performances.
Source: DN
