Broadway in New York: the musical “The Phantom of the Opera” canceled – culture

The musical “Phantom of the Opera” in New York will be discontinued in February after 35 years. No show can be seen longer on Broadway. It will be performed for the last time on February 18, 2023, industry website broadway.com said. Experts blamed the decision for the loss of spectators caused by the corona pandemic.

The musical with the music of the British Andrew Lloyd Webber premiered on January 26, 1988. As a rule, eight shows were shown on Broadway a week and nearly 20 million people visited the musical in New York alone. Even the New York Times signals the end. As a result, the show’s box office results had recently declined. After the end of the pandemic restrictions, “The Phantom” initially got off to a good start in the fall of last year, but the high operating costs could not have been covered.

In the week that ended on 11 September, around 867,000 euros were recorded. This income isn’t high enough to maintain a musical with a large cast and elaborate set design. According to the Broadway League, the Broadway musical grossed a total of $ 1.3 billion, is a tourist magnet and an integral part of New York’s Broadway scenic landscape.

sea New York Times the musical can continue to be seen elsewhere: London production closed in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, but resumed a year later with a smaller orchestra. The first production in Mandarin will be staged in China next year. Antonio Banderas is also working on a Spanish-language production.

Since it first premiered in London in 1986, the show has been seen by more than 145 million people in 183 cities around the world. It was performed in 17 languages. The model of the “Phantom of the Opera” is the 1911 novel by the French Gaston Leroux about a musical genius with a disfigured face who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera around 1870 and falls in love with a young singer. The murderous ghost hides his face behind a mask.

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