Inside Broadway’s Emotional Closing Night of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’
variety.comBroadway performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” was for phamily. The famous chandelier fell one last time over the heads of an invitation-only crowd at the Majestic Theatre, where the show’s composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh were joined not only by famous friends and well-wishers, including Glenn Close and Lin-Manuel Miranda, but also former Phantoms, like Hugh Panaro and Howard McGillin, and former Christines, including Sarah Brightman (the 1988 original) and Sierra Boggess.
They were surrounded by a host of past cast, crew and industry workers who had been affiliated with the show and its creatives over the course of its record-breaking run, the longest in Broadway history.
There were even a few attendees in full Phantom attire, both the elaborate, skeleton-faced masquerade outfit and the iconic half-mask-and-cape ensemble. “Phantom of the Opera,” which has grossed more than $1.3 billion since opening in January of 1988, went out on a high note: Its finale was pushed back when the initial closing announcement drove people back to the theater and sent ticket sales skyrocketing.
But the musical that had become a Broadway institution, with its lavish sets and large cast and crew, was expensive to keep up every week, and it eventually succumbed to waning enthusiasm and the lingering effects of the pandemic, including a slowdown in tourism.
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