Phantom closing soon? (HYPOTHETICAL)

[Radioactiveduck]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 3:43am

The news of the music box tour coming to an end after 18 years got me thinking...

The broadway production is 22 years old now, holding it's own, but hardly selling out...Will ALW pull a Disney and close down one long running show to free up the theatre for a new project?

Thoughts?

[winston89]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 4:36am

Actually, you're incorrect about this show not selling out. I understand that this is a hypothetical question. However, come every summer and holiday season you can bet that Phantom is selling out.

[Chrranke]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 5:33am

Phantom is not closing on broadway. It has great numbers and makes a profit. Just stupid to think that he would close that to make way for "Phantom 2 - Electric Bogaloo"

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 7:16am

No, that's stupid. Why would he?

He can make bank with tourists seeing BOTH shows.

[winston89]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 7:19am

Furthermore, unlike Disney with Little Mermaid, he has a different theatre in mind for Love Never Dies On Broadway. There is no need for him to close down one to make room for the other the same way Disney did.

For Disney, they really only had one theatre that they could use so it was a case of out with the old in with the new. Whereas, the Nederlanders basically let Webber put a hold on The Neil Simon until the fall when Love Never Dies is slated to open there.

[James885]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 8:11am

Yeah closing Phantom would be a very stupid move, especially in today's economy. It's still raking in the bucks, so why on earth would he want to close it?

[Parks]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 8:27am

^ To make room for the highly anticipated Lestat revival! DUH!

[winston89]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 8:54am

Now Parks, I do believe the question is as follows. Is the Majestic big enough to house the Lestat revival and will it have a rush?

[wicked4l]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 11:15am

It's weird thinking that a show and it's sequel will probably be on broadway at the same time. Is it just me?

[Baylink]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 11:44am

> Whereas, the Nederlanders basically let Webber put a hold on The Neil Simon until the fall when Love Never Dies is slated to open there.

It's good to be the king, isn't it?

[winston89]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 2:10pm

Wicked4l, no. That's the point. That Webber thought it would be great for both shows to be running at once. At least on Broadway and in London.

[Justin D]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 2:45pm

I still think it would have been a blast to have Phantom and the Sequel running on the same street, too bad that can't happen.

[winston89]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 4:21pm

That was never even an option up for consideration. Webber wanted The Neil Simon for a long time.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 8:46pm

Chrranke- Ugh....EVERYONE knows it is Phantom 2: Electric Karimloo

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 2/22/10 at 9:54pm

Mmmmmmmm, I wish Karimloo would electrify me...if you know what I mean.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 2/23/10 at 12:24am

Phantom made $916,411 last week.

Phantom's grosses are fairly predictable throughout the year. It comes close to selling out every week throughout the summer and winter holidays. It does marginal business in the lean month of January and does very steady/good business the rest of the year. At this time there doesn't seem to be a reason to shut down.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/23/10 at 11:43am

"The broadway production is 22 years old now, holding it's own, but hardly selling out...Will ALW pull a Disney and close down one long running show to free up the theatre for a new project?"

What would be the point? Disney's "one princess" rule was a contrived excuse to explain while they were closing a profitable show. Disney WAS concerned about cannibalizing its own shows, so BatB was the logical show to close. Disney couldn't close the fairly new Mary Poppins, and at the time Tarzan was doing decently. The idea at the time was to close BatB and bring it back as a holiday engagement (like the Grinch).

Family shows tend to be seen as a "pick one" choice. A family, generally speaking, will choose ONE of the shows to see. However, if you had five ALW shows, people aren't going to categorize them and would see more than one. Plus the people seeing Love Never Dies will have more than likely have already seen The Phantom of the Opera, so he isn't losing audience members. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see packages that include BOTH shows.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/23/10 at 3:53pm

with it so close to reaching 10,000 performances; ALW will keep it open until that milestone(at least).