Profile for martinsmithfan

Well I was wrong about them announcing it on the anniversary of the closing of the Broadway production - but they’ve heavily ramped up the marketing this past week:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photos-Promotion-Underway-with-Masks-Mirrors-for-MASQUERADE-20250420?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR62JIKPwPW8vMFJgiWc6IRYKgdjf4A9fmtmQE6j6RHw1N1-Pu5aaK3auek3NQ_aem_OTHmUUG0OjBJg8hAf3MIGg

The tags had a phone number on them that you could call and it’s actually kinda neat:

(212) 505-5666

It recently occurred to me that they will be officially announcing all the details on April 16. You know, two years after it closed. So I'm looking forward to that.

Articles have begun appearing in more mainstream publications about it, though it seems still no official press release providing info:

Page Six

People

Parade

Was surprised to see ALW had been seen lurking about the building.

Influencers on TikTok have been receiving actual letters in the mail, sealed shut with a wax seal with the Phantom mask logo, and in the same red font and "handwriting" as what we've seen online.

Jeremy Stolle dropped a hint that he is either going to be involved in this, or the upcoming USA tour - to me I'm pretty certain it will be this as he was involved in workshops for it:

Jeremy Stolle Instagram post

Excited to get full casting info and details on how exactly this production is going to work!

Edit: Checking the comments on the Instagram post, Eryn Lecroy also posted a comment that could be implying involvement as well...or just being cheeky in reference to Stolle's hint.

Some further tidbits were shared over on theatreboard from user 42ndBlvd - unsourced but interesting if true:

• There's going to be 3 separate casts and audiences each night moving from room to room
• No live orchestra
• Tickets from $200
• "Definitely" going to be an abridged version
• Audiences will be ushered, not allowed to roam
• 200-300 people every night

https://theatreboard.co.uk/thread/12909/immersive-phantom-opera-masquerade

There’s a mockup of one of the sets below with some other little bits of plans for the building:

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads/pdf/presentation-materials/20240213/218-West-57th-Street.pdf

It looks like they’re gearing up to make an official announcement with proper details:

https://masqueradenyc.com/
 

Also it appears it’ll be mounted at the former Lee’s Art Shop on 57th street, this article was posted back in March:

https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2024/03/05/theatre-opera-lees-art-phantom-asher-young.html

I haven’t seen this mentioned but during the scene where they are talking about the blonde wigs, when Herbie asks why he made June wear those wigs Rose answered “it makes her look…” and she paused/hesitated and then finished with “…like a star”

I thought this was an interesting moment with everything that was talked about with the intention of casting a June that was of a more mixed skin tone.

Does anybody have the early access or promo code for the PA academy of music shows? Been waiting to grab my Les Mis tickets and would love to be able to grab them now. Thanks!

Per their instagrams:

For the January 17-February 7 block of shows, the role of Sweeney Todd will be played by Nicholas Christopher Wednesday thru Saturday, and Paul Jordan-Jansen will play Sweeney Todd on Sunday.

Jeanna de Waal will be playing Mrs. Lovett for all evening shows and Sundays, while Delaney Westfall will play the role for the matinees.

Won’t be surprised to see this on TDF for this entire duration, so very excited to get to see these pairings!

This show has been showing up on TDF intermittently so grabbed a ticket for tonight’s performance after seeing the initial positive reviews here. Still optimistic despite the slight shift in opinion recently haha. Haven’t had a good cry in the theatre since Phantom closed so wondering if that part will ring true for me.

Has anyone else here seen the show through TDF yet and can report on what kind of seats you got?

disregard!

I’m curious what everyone’s thoughts are on Ben Crawford’s Phantom?

Also,
Thank you everyone for all your replies and suggestions to help me with the dilemma I was in, it means a lot and was really helpful.

Very happy ending to this story, I was venting on the phone with my grandma about that performance I attended and what I was trying to plan to do for April 3—and she offered to cover the price of the ticket for April 3 as a gift.

So I’m curious, have folks here gotten a chance to see this company and touring production yet? And if so what were your thoughts/feelings?

 

I’ve now seen it twice in Philadelphia, and have some mixed thoughts on a few things and am curious what other folks are feeling. 

I did a write up about this in the r/Broadway subreddit and it’s only kind of related but this situation with Beanie Feldstein and every surrounding her now cut short time with the show reminds me of when Martin Smith was brought in as the third principle Phantom in the West End production of POTO in 1989…you can read about that here if you like, it’s an interesting story and again shares some parallels with Beanie:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/vx969c/beanie_feldsteins_situation_in_funny_girl_reminds/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

I've spoken to people who recorded his performance and lost their tapes, as well as old collectors who had several tapes of his performance but are lost as to where they are now. So I know he was recorded in the role in some capacity.

 

He was in the London production but I wanted to be sure to cover all my bases.