The iconic Broadway musical “Phantom of the Opera” is set to close in February of 2023 after three decades on the stage, according to the New York Post.
The longest-running show on Broadway, “Phantom of the Opera” has attracted countless fans since its debut in 1988, with 13,733 live performances. Compared to Broadway’s second-longest-running show “Chicago,” which has run for 25 years and has seen 10,090 shows.
Despite its legacy, “Phantom” has apparently not been doing well since the pandemic forced theaters to close. According to the Post, “Phantom” has lost “some $1 million a month.”
“Phantom” first opened on Broadway with original actors Michael Crawford as the masked love interest and Sarah Brightman as Christine. The play won seven Tony Awards, notably an award for Best Musical and Best Actor for Crawford.
A film version of the musical was released in 2004 starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler.
The most recent iteration of the iconic musical also notably stars Emilie Kouatchou, the first Black actor to play the role full time on Broadway.
The production, composed by Andrew Llyod Weber, is expected to run elsewhere – potentially in London – but for now, fans of the musical are bound to want to grab tickets to watch the show for a final time.
