'The Phantom of the Opera' closing on Broadway after 35 years
The chandelier will fall for the last time on Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" next year.
The longest-running musical in Broadway's history, a feat it achieved in 2006, will play its final performance at the Majestic Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, a message on the show's website reads.
"The Phantom of the Opera" will celebrate its 35th anniversary in January, just weeks before the show closes.
The iconic musical lives on in London, where it still plays at Her Majesty's Theatre. The West End version opened in 1986.
"The Phantom of the Opera" tells the story of a facially deformed and masked figure living in the bowels of the The Paris Opera House who becomes obsessed with and composes music for a young soprano named Christine Daaé, with whom he has fallen in love. Originating the characters of Phantom and Christine, in both the West End and Broadway shows, were Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, respectively.
The musical, best known for songs like "Think of Me," "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You," was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1988. It won seven: best musical, best performance by a leading actor in a musical (for Crawford), best performance by a featured actress in a musical (for Judy Kaye), best direction of a musical (for Harold Prince), best scenic design, best costume design and best lighting design.
A film adaptation of "The Phantom of the Opera" was released in 2004, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler as the Phantom and Emmy Rossum as Christine.
