It's far from my favorite show anymore, but this tour was a huge part of my childhood. I'll never forget seeing it for the first time the night before thanksgiving when I was 9. My mom's co-worker suddenly had an extra ticket and she brought me. My dad gave me money to buy souvenirs which still sit in my closet and my folks bought me the cast album for Christmas that year. I listened to it start to finish everyday.
It visited here in Denver several times over the course of it's 20+ year life and every time it came to town it was such an event. It's certainly the end of and era, and I congratulate all of those who worked on the tour over the years for their success.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
Always sad when a show closes and actors, musicians and crew become unemployed. This tour has been running for 18 years - that's an amazing feat! Think of all the millions of people, both young and old, who went to the theatre and enjoyed themselves.
"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert
Very sad the tour is ending tonight. I first saw it in 2006 and it was AMAZING! I went back this year to see it one last time and I am so glad I was able to see it. The actors were also so nice at the stage door.
It's times like this I wish I was a billionaire, I would buy the sets and set them up in a warehouse someplace so I could go play with them whenever I wanted.
Pity the demand isn't high enough for some city to set up a sit down using this set.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
I congratulate everyone who worked on this tour or astounding millions of people. I saw this as my first show in 2006 in Philly. WOW! Practically identical to the one on Broadway! Some of the actors who I saw are still on the tour! This show inspired me to want to become a performer. Congrats!
"What I've heard is more a possibility than a non-union tour, is a cut-down show that can play in smaller cities---some day"
That would be quite the scale-down. A large percentage of the major cities had to do some pretty big renovations to accommodate the show when it first went out. I can't imagine many of the smaller theatres that I've seen back when I used to tour with NETworks being able to host even a scaled-down version of the show.
Don't know if this has been posted, but at last night's closing show, Andrew Lloyd Webber was in attendance and came out on stage at the end of curtain call. After thanking the company and saying a few words, he surprised everyone (including the cast) by dedicating the show to the "woman who inspired it all" and brought Sarah Brightman out on stage.