In the past three years, theater fans have noticed a rapid depletion of Broadway musicals. Dear Evan Hansen, Beetlejuice, Come From Away, and now, the longest running show in Broadway’s history, Phantom of the Opera, have been among the recent few to shut their doors to the public. This trend has led many to question, what exactly is going on that is causing so many seemingly loved shows to shut their doors?
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s cult classic, The Phantom of the Opera, is a musical retelling of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel by the same name. The musical opened in London (West End) in 1986, and on Broadway two years later in 1988. Both productions have received numerous awards, including both the Olivier and Tony Award for Best Musical. It is estimated that Phantom of the Opera has grossed approximately $1.3 billion. Though the Broadway production is often deemed as a tourist trap by theater connoisseurs, it has still captured the hearts of the millions of people who have seen one of the various productions of the show. However, after inhabiting the Majestic Theatre for 35 years, on September 16th, the show announced that it will be closing in early 2023.
Why now, then, after a record-breaking 13,925 performances, is the Broadway classic ending its run? Simply put, ticket sales have plummeted since the COVID-19 outbreak, which forcedBroadway shows to shut down for nearly a year and a half. When shows began to reopen, The Phantom of the Opera did not seem to attract the same volume of ticket sales as it did pre-pandemic. While this phenomenon was not completely abnormal across Broadway as a whole, Phantom was a special case. Since the show had been open for so long, many Broadway-goers had likely already seen it at some point, and were more likely to lend their patronage to newer shows. This meant that the show’s audience had to thrive off of tourism, and since the pandemic, NYC has lost around 1.7 million tourists.. Phantom of the Opera was losing money and losing it fast. According to inside sources, “Phantom” had been losing $1 million per month post-pandemic. Even though its main reason for closing was deemed to be the Coronavirus pandemic, we can also point to the lack of stunt-casting (casting celebrities in roles) as a reason for the show’s inability to pull new and returning audience members. Shows like The Music Man revival and Chicago have recently cast celebrities in leading roles to draw larger audiences amidst a decline in overall ticket sales. Phantom, on the other hand, has not been known to stunt-cast, which is known to draw large tourist crowds.
While it is inevitable that Phantom of the Opera will be shutting its doors February 18, audiences can still book tickets for remaining shows. To halt the trend of other musicals closing due to low box office sales, make sure to continue to support Broadway if you have the resources to do so. If you ever find yourself in New York City with nothing to do, it is fairly easy to locate and visit a TKTS Booth and buy cheaper “rush” tickets to a show of your choice; or directly visit the box office and see if there are any tickets available. If you have a longer time frame to plan out a visit to Broadway, you can visit a show’s website, or you can try your luck at a ticket lottery. There are numerous ways to support Broadway shows, and with popular support, we as Broadway fans can keep the remaining shows from closing as well.