Phantom Closing? — Page 7

See my P.S. -- they fully intend to, and it's getting a new name.

Bought a ticket this afternoon for a date in December. Went back in now and some of the ticket prices have nearly doubled. All the front seats that were orange are now blue on Telecharge. $248!

I hope they can restore the proscenium as well as everything else that’s been covered with black paint for the last 3 1/2 decades! I also agree, this theatre MUST be renamed the Hal Prince Theatre! TBH, they should’ve done that years ago while he was still alive!

How many weeks can they shut down if they want to move theatres and still count performances as part of the original run? I’m trying to think of other examples and the only recent ones that come to mind are Mamma Mia and particularly Beauty and the Beast which very similarly moved from the Palace to the Lunt, significantly downsized the physical production, and still continued to count performances as part of the original run. Is that not part of the plan in this instance?

Per Cameron Mackintosh's recent statement, it's no great surprise that he has plans to bing Phantom back to Broadway in the not-too-distant future:

“As a producer you dream that a show will run forever. Indeed, my production of Andrew’s Cats proudly declared for decades ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that show’s extraordinary Broadway run. But all shows do finally close, and after considerable discussion between The Shuberts, The Really Useful Group, Andrew and myself, we concluded that the right time for ‘Phantom’ was after the show’s 35th birthday, on February 18 – a double celebration of ‘Phantom’s’ phenomenal success.

Gaston Leroux’s opera ghost may be disappearing for now, but there is no doubt that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece will continue to enchant audiences in London and around the world – and one day will return to Broadway.”

As much as I will miss this beautiful production, if the show is going to close only to just come back in a scaled down version, I can accept it as long as it's the current production playing in London rather than the Lawrence Connor-helmed production that toured the US in 2013 and scheduled to open in Melbourne later this year. Despite a modified set and smaller orchestra, it's still recognizably the Phantom I know and love.

Updated On: 9/17/22 at 12:33 AM

How different / small is the London version? I’d also love to know how much more money ALW and Cam will get now? Is it a significant amount?


If they picked a smaller theater and made it feel and look like the Paris opera house that would be pretty cool.

Maybe there is another story here, but I tend to take the simplest explanation. I can believe the show was losing the amounts quoted in the various news articles. Some years ago, about fifteen to be exact, I was a lowly intern working for the GM of a large, hit musical in NYC. Our show had long since paid back its capitalization, but it still had weekly operating costs of about 700-800K. It had a large cast, large orchestra; very similar to Phantom. I'm not saying Phantom cost as much to run back then, but it was probably pretty close. Remember this was fifteen years ago. It's conceivable that Phantom's weekly operating costs are closer to a million dollars now, especially with inflation, than the half million to three quarters of a million folks around here seem to be suggesting. In that case, it is no surprise that the show is losing money. These hit broadway shows don't sit on piles of cash to get through a lean winter, etc. While there is a reserve fund, they probably looked at the books and said, "We're treading water during the summer, and we lost money last winter and will when it comes again, it's time to close." It's as simple as that. No show lasts forever. Maybe it'll play the extension game? If they're able to get some more cash out of it by doing that, I don't blame them. But, overall, I think the situation is simple. It's losing money so it has to close. I don't think folks appreciate how expensive it is to run a Broadway show these days. I was shocked to learn Music Man still hadn't recouped! I thought for sure, even with whatever Jackman's salary is, it should have recouped in about six months with its three million dollar grosses!

“It grossed $867,997 during the week ending Sept. 11, which is decent but not good enough to sustain a run of a musical of this scale (with a large cast and large orchestra and elaborate set, all of which drive up running costs).” -NYT article

I always thought the low numbers during the winter was due to lack of foreign tourists plus the whole mask mandate. I definitely saw a ton of tourists this past summer and I guess Phantom thought grosses would be higher without any vaccine/mask mandate. If Phantom hired more swings in case a cast member is out due to covid, then that would increase costs. Plus Covid tests are not cheap either.

I liked watching Phantom throughout these years since it always gave me a sense of nostalgia on how Broadway was back in the 1980s.

Fun fact: Cameron Mackintosh originally rejected the Majestic for Phantom. The Martin Beck or Minskoff were considered most likely options. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/18/theater/shuberts-are-rejected-on-phantom-of-opera.html

I still remember listening to the double CD of Phantom again and again back in the 90s. I plan to watch this production (the way Hal Prince and his creative team envisioned it) one last time.

I gave it more thought and I'm also guessing the backstage folks who have been with the production since 1988 may be too 'expensive' now in terms of salary (whereas producer Cameron Mackintosh has net worth of roughly $1 billion.)

Updated On: 9/17/22 at 10:59 AM

Phantom4ever said: "Ughhhhhhhh Lot666 you just made me cry at work! Dang! I haven't cancelled my December airfare but I did cancel my hotel. Maybe I could go see it again at Christmas, perhaps a couple times. I suppose for the rest of my life I will wish I could make such a trip."

I'm sorry, but it's clear to me that we're kindred spirits when it comes to this show and I already live with too many regrets in my life. My husband is constantly reminding me of the RENT mantra, "No day but today". Consequently, we flew to London to attend the final performance by the original cast (Karimloo/Boggess) of Love Never Dies at the Adelphi, and then returned to London to attend two of the three 25th anniversary performances at the Royal Albert Hall. We flew to Las Vegas to attend the last two performances of Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular, when that production closed. We attended the Broadway 25th and 30th anniversary performances, as well as the post-pandemic opening night performance at the Majestic. If I can get tickets, I will be at the 35th anniversary in January and the final performance in February.

joevitus said: "Don't really get the antagonism towards Mackintosh in this instance (or with Les Miz). Both Les Miz and Phantom ran so long in their original forms; it isn't like he started economizing instantly. It's hardly surprising that at some point he'd decide to scale down, as demand decreases while expenses continue to rise. That's how producing works.
"

Not when you're doing so to directly screw people out of their rightfully deserved royalties and increase your personal revenue. Rest assured that even though costs went up through the years, Cam Mack's cut has always been consistent. Reducing the royalties to Prince, Lynne, Bjornson's estates is a means to enrich himself, not to continue the legacy of the show. Phantom was not bleeding money necessitating this closure or London's transition to the cheaper production.

Lest we forget when he attempted to buy her out of stake in Cats and it's choreography a few years before her death and how upset she was when Blankenbuehler was brought on to choreograph the revival again as a means to cut her royalties on the project. And again how she was not AT ALL credited on the movie.

RippedMan said: "Exactly. He's kicking people out of their 35 year old job just to get himself more money."

But...no one in theater can expect their job to last forever. He employed them for 35 years, which is extremely rare, and extremely lucky for them.

I can't speak to the estate issues. If Prince or Bjornson or Lynne were alive, I'd see an issue. But really? He owes their kids and grandkids an easy living? And won't they have an easy life just based on the money already generated?

It just seems a bit silly.

Updated On: 9/17/22 at 02:23 PM