


The closing is at once long-expected - no show runs forever, and this one’s grosses have been softening - but also startling, because “Phantom” had come to seem like a permanent part of the Broadway landscape, a period piece and a tourist magnet that stood apart from the vicissitudes of the commercial theater marketplace.īut in the year since Broadway returned from its damaging pandemic lockdown, the theatergoing audience has not fully rebounded, and “Phantom,” which came back strong last fall, has not been selling well enough to defray its high weekly running costs.

Though its place on Broadway has felt seemingly permanent for decades, in the end, the show's demise was brought on by the most contemporary of nuisances: a drop-off in audience attendance caused by the COVID pandemic, the New York Times reported on Friday.īased on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, "Phantom" tells the story of a mysterious mask-wearing opera lover who haunts the Paris Opera House and becomes obsessed with a young, beautiful soprano.Īfter Broadway reopened last September following a long shutdown due to the pandemic, "Phantom," long a tourist favorite, made a strong comeback.Producers have announced The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running musical in Broadway history, will close February 18, 2023, after more than 35 years.īreaking News: “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, is set to close in February.

Ben Crawford as "The Phantom" takes his curtain call at The 34th Anniversary Performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of The Opera" on Broadway at The Majestic Theater on Jan. Created by three musical theater legends - composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Hal Prince and producer Cameron Mackintosh - "Phantom" premiered on London's West End in October 1986 before opening on Broadway on Jan.
