Will Phantom Ever Close?- Page 3

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 4:42am

Oh, please. All arguments, new and old, on this thread as to why it should close are idiotic.

Newsflash: No one is going to shut down a business because you don't like it or because you "feel it's time" for it to close.

Also, no show "steals" audience members from others - I promise people willingly choose to see a show.

Updated On: 7/28/12 at 04:42 AM

[aagaard99]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 4:55am

If I didn't see Phantom back in 2005, I wouldn't love musical theatre so much as I do today.
Phantom creates a lot of new musical fans!

[junkyard]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 3:06pm

it will be running as long as there are Asian tourists paying full price at the box office and as long as they have that group sales department targeting high schools in the tri state area. Love the sight of those school buses clogging up 8th and 44th every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 3:13pm

German tourists seem to love this show, too.

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 4:50pm

Sooner or later it will, just inevitable IMO. I remember reading article a few years ago on how they were trying to be creative to keep the show alive. It does not bother me if it stays open forever but my wish is that they try to keep the show in good shape.

[bdn223]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 5:42pm

IMO the only way Phantom will close while it is still making money is if ALW finnally succeds in forcing Love Never Dies to Broadway in a situation similar to Disney closing Beauty and the Beast for The Little Mermaid. Although he didn't do this in the West End...space is much more limited on Broadway, and unless the Shuberts, Neaderlanders, or Jujamcyn needs to fill a theater desperately, I don't think they would give one to ALW for the clunker. The only way Love Never Dies will get a theater to fail at within the next 5 years is if he can close Phantom, and replace it with Love Never Dies. ***I/anyone with a brain knows this will never happen.


People need to realise that the 4-6 weeks of million dollar summer grosses mean nothing to Phantom's longevity. The grosses one really have to look at are its fall and winter grosses which teeter between $600,000-$800,000. Spring, Summer and Holiday grosses can only make up so much in losses. Also realise the running costs are likly greater in the off months due to the additional marketing and running costs rise over time especially in a lavish production like Phantom.


Phantom's producers have already (and recently) gone through a series of cost cutting measures, which they can only do so often. The also spent tons on a brand new look/marketing scheme. With that said odds are the show will close within the next 10 years (which i know is a long span, but when a shows already run 25 years, 10 years isnt that long a time)

Updated On: 7/28/12 at 05:42 PM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 8:10pm

ALW actually planned to replace The Phantom of the Opera with Love Never Dies in London at one point.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 8:33pm

Even during the slowest weeks of 2012, the Phantom still turned a profit.

Shows like Chicago and Mamma Mia, which still cannot pull decent numbers even when the tourists are in town should be worried. Phantom does incredible business when the tourists are here, and it gets by when the tourists are not here. That is enough to keep it running indefinitely.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 9:02pm

Beyond 2012, the show hasn't had a loss week since February 2011.

[Playbilly]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 9:13pm

ALW is not going to let Phantom leave B'Way until he has another monster hit. His ego won't let him NOT have at least one show on Broadway.

[RENT_is_Wicked2]

Posted: 7/28/12 at 9:23pm

Well no show lasts forever, it'll close at some point. As of right now it's doing pretty good though, it's making $800,000-$1,000,000 per week recently. So right now it's unpredictable when it'll actually close.

[jv92]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:09pm

What I don't get is why tourists see PHANTOM (and WICKED and MAMMA MIA and THE LION KING)

I don't really follow national tours like I follow NY Theater, but if they can see these musicals closer to home, what difference does it make if they see it at the Majestic or Winter Garden? They show the same lack of respect for these sacred houses that they do for the ones across the country. What does it matter?

It's not like people are going to see Hugh Jackman as The Phantom or Bernadette Peters as Meryl Streep's part. (Do the characters in MAMMA MIA have names?) Wouldn't they rather see something they CAN'T see an hour away from their house when they come to NYC?

That's just me. If I went to the West End, I wouldn't go see something I could see in my own backyard, which happens to be close to New York City. I'd see something else.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:15pm

This PHANTOM should never have opened.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:23pm

What I don't get is why tourists see PHANTOM (and WICKED and MAMMA MIA and THE LION KING)

I don't really follow national tours like I follow NY Theater, but if they can see these musicals closer to home, what difference does it make if they see it at the Majestic or Winter Garden?

Not to mention the fact that Wicked, Lion King, Mamma Mia!, and Phantom will revisit cities over and over again. I guess it is just the idea of seeing these shows ON BROADWAY that drives the tourists to see these shows even if they do stop in their hometown every few years.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:39pm

Well, to be fair, the tour of Phantom closed here in the U.S. two years ago, so they can't see the show in their own town anymore.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:42pm

It's because they wanna see it on Broadway. Why is that a bad thing?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 7:55pm

Well, to be fair, the tour of Phantom closed here in the U.S. two years ago, so they can't see the show in their own town anymore.

That's true. I actually saw Phantom on my first visit to NYC even though I had seen the show before and knew the tour was coming back. It was a Monday night and it was either Phantom or Chicago. Plus, Phantom is my favorite show. If I can squeeze it in on a trip to the city, I will definitely try and see it if there is nothing else that particularly sparks my interest.

It's because they wanna see it on Broadway. Why is that a bad thing?

It's not a bad thing. I can also understand tourists wanting to spend money on something they are familiar with and know they will enjoy. I don't have a problem with tourists (or anyone for that matter) seeing Wicked, Lion King, Mamma Mia!, or Phantom... it's their money and time, and everyone has different tastes and choices. The idea of seeing one of these big shows on Broadway is exciting even if the shows are often available near their hometowns every few years.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 8:04pm

^Okay you hit it on the head lol

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 10:43pm

Some tourists know there's a difference between a road company/national tour of a show and the version of the show on Broadway. I know on my first trip to New York I was beyond thrilled to see the Broadway company of Les Mis, Phantom, Rent, etc......all the shows that I saw on tour before. I was not interested in celebrities in the least.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 7/29/12 at 11:41pm

Taking into account most people that aren't fans of musical theatre and casually attend a few performances a year (which includes making sure they take-in a Broadway performance while visiting New York City), chances are Phantom gets chosen for its familiarity of its title, it's theme song, or as some have already mentioned, by chance or availability of seats at the time of their visit and is mostly motivated by the popular idea that Broadway is THE place to see any show, even if you've previously seen it elsewhere in a production said to replicate the Broadway version in its entirety.

Fans make it a point to fly to NYC to see it there because fans are more attuned to slight differences and the nuances a company of different nationality and culture infuse a production with, regardless of how hard the show's producers try to make every single version worldwide indistinguishable from each other. All that may seem like no big deal, but it's a big deal to a fan. I know I experienced different shows between attending performances of Phantom's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd national tours and on Broadway, even as I took note of the impressive way they've replicated the physical production to meet the Broadway standard everywhere. People who grew up attending shows at the height of the so-called British Invasion usually did not view Broadway as THE place to see a version of a show because that same standard had been reproduced for them back at home. I was head over heels when I first got to see Les Mis on Broadway and the experience--not the show--was incomparable to any other time I've seen the show. Broadway is undeniably a special place and I'm glad people continue to flock to it for that reason alone.

I assure you it isn't as simplistic as taking the time and effort and spending all that money to travel thousands of miles away to see a show that's playing across the way.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 1:12am

Also, national tours don't necessarily stop by every couple of years. It took 5 years for Wicked to come back to Toronto, a city of 5 million people in its metro area. Five years can be a long time, especially for people who didn't live there the first time and didn't know when or if it would be coming back. Other shows that aren't running two touring companies come even less often. And in smaller but still populous cities like Vancouver (2.5 million people in metro area), not that many shows stop by at all, and those that do certainly don't swing by every couple of years. Even smaller cities would have even more pronounced dearths of musicals to see. Then also, timing is a factor - if one goes to New York to see other new shows but will be there on a sunday or monday evening, the selection of shows to see on those nights is smaller.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 4:17pm

I can't speak for other cities, but in Houston, there is a strong belief that the tour casts are never as good as the Broadway casts. So they may be choosing to see shows they've seen at home to see "better" casts.

Anyway, I hear Phantom has some new eyes/younger eyes on it and that they've really cleaned out the cobwebs through layoffs, ensuring a better live performance in NYC than it had been having... so maybe it will run for another 26 years? Who knows...

[theminutepast]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 4:27pm

I think there's a difference between tourists who come to New York to see theater as part of their trip and tourists who come to New York for the city. The former are going to see new shows and a favorite show, if they have one. For me, when I first came to New York in 2007, I had to see Les Miserables but I also saw quite a few other shows.

The latter kind of tourist is the most likely to see Phantom because it's a trusted brand they know. These tourists are only going to see one show - just so they can say they went to Broadway. And since they are only seeing one show and going to pay full price, they want it to be good. The NYTimes wrote recently about how Phantom has become a brand of sorts and how other musicals have sought to emulate that.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 4:58pm

If it is making money it is keeping actors, musicians and everyone associated with the production in a solid job. Regardless of whether or not anyone loves the show it will stay in place as long as there is a demand by people to fill the seats. Long live any show that keeps people employed AND an audience amused. Would you prefer an empty theater? electricians, wardrobe, ushers, etc reading classifieds and praying for the next big Phantom? Viva Phantom...