Report: The Phantom of the Opera May Be Readying an Off-Broadway Return — Page 3

The “abridged version” is likely the Vegas edit. Which works quite well. The live orchestra would be INCREDIBLY hard to manage with three casts performing the show at the same time in different rooms. There would be virtually no way for the conductor to follow all three casts & not run into major problems.

starlightlocamotion said: "The “abridged version” is likely the Vegas edit. Which works quite well. The live orchestra would be INCREDIBLY hard to manage with three casts performing the show at the same time in different rooms. There would be virtually no way for the conductor to follow all three casts & not run into major problems."

The Vegas production, among other edits, cut the Don Juan rehearsal scene, which has always been one of my favorites. And I get that managing a live orchestra for three companies would be virtually impossible, but Phantom is a sung-through musical and logistics don't negate the fact that an orchestra to play all that music is simply a must for me.

Updated On: 1/2/25 at 02:59 PM

Just saw an article about this on musicalsdaily.com, where ALW is quoted as saying that the production will open on March 15.

This seems awfully soon…

I know that there are people here incredibly devoted to the original staging of the show, but I think it's better to see this as an entirely different thing from the Broadway production and adjust expectations accordingly. An immersive staging at the scale at which this seems to be is, for all intents and purposes, a different property with different demands.

The second rumors appeared that this was going to be a full-building immersive experience with a much smaller cast, it seemed pretty obvious that a live orchestra and unabridged version of the score were not going to be feasible or practical.

A recent flurry of posts indicate a March 15th start to previews, wheras the usually (and unfortunately) reliable content creator Sweaty Oracle claims this will start in August. Does anyone have any perspective as to whether or not I should be taking some extra work shifts so I can afford to see this in april?

TotallyEffed said: "Jarethan said: "This seems wrong to me. The longer it is off-Broadway, the longer the delay is for a next Broadway production. I would imagine that much of the spectacle would be gone / diluted, and they are not going to have a lush orchestra. Mark me skeptical. It just doesn’t seem like the right strategic decision."


It’s a musical, not a religion."

Actually, it kind of is to many people.

Updated On: 1/2/25 at 08:07 PM

“Actually, it kind of is to many people.”



and that’s the issue.

I've dreamed of doing Sweeney Todd or Rocky Horror in this kind of format for years. But a show as massively huge as Phantom? Either it's going to be extraordinary or it's going to leave people cold, and I'm fascinated to see which way it leans.

Have always been a big fan of Brooklyn Diner, next door to the new production venue. Our last visit there - before a matinee of Ragtime at City Center - was on Marathon Weekend. It was “scary” crowded with folks wedged into “extra” seating created where there likely should not have been. We waited around 30 minutes for a table at 11:30 am.
Anyway - I can only imagine what their queues will be like when Phantom opens next door. At least, come spring, they’ll be able to use their (limited) outdoor seating.

HogansHero said: "I have no idea how this will turn out, because at this point there is a blind-leading-the-blind aspect to it but I think if you are a person who wants to see first previews, I would hold offon buying tickets right now. (And I don't mean a couple of days.


i'm not saying it will never happen, but i am convinced this entire project is an elaborate money laundering scheme and i will eat my hat if a single ticket is sold in 2025

Let me guess: in the words of Nickelback, "lip sync 'em every night so we don't get 'em wrong?"

Those proposal documents use the term “scenic activation” for the rooftop graveyard scene, which seems to me to be an odd phrase to use in the context of immersive theater, even in a document like that. I’ve never seen “activation” used outside of the marketing world to describe larger scale interactive brand pop-ups. I’m wondering if this is going to be closer to an “experience” like Secret Cinema’s Stranger Things or Guardians of Galaxy ones than things like Sleep No More, Life & Trust, or Third Rail’s productions.