The curtain is about to fall on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” for the last time. On Friday, Sept. 16, it was confirmed via the Broadway show’s official website that the musical will end its history-making run on Feb. 18, 2023, at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre. “The Phantom of the Opera” is the longest-running production in Broadway history — on Jan. 26, the show will celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Currently, the production’s cast includes Ben Crawford as The Phantom, Emilie Kouatchou as Christine, John Riddle as Raoul, Nehal Joshi as Monsieur André, and Craig Bennett as Monsieur Firmin. Seth Sklar-Heyn is the show’s director and will remain so through its final run. By the time the show ends, it will have played 13,925 performances.
As reported by Playbill, the show’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh, issued a statement about “The Phantom of the Opera”‘s Broadway run coming to a close. (POPSUGAR has reached out to Mackintosh’s reps but did not receive an immediate response.)
“As a British producer who has been lucky enough to have been producing in New York for over 40 consecutive years, it has been an unparalleled honor to have presented the longest-running musical in Broadway’s history, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘The Phantom of the Opera,'” the producer said. “That this legendary show has thrilled New York for nearly 35 phenomenal years is quite astounding to me. As a producer, you dream that a show will run forever. Indeed, my production of Andrew’s ‘Cats’ proudly declared for decades ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that show’s extraordinary Broadway run. But all shows do finally close, and after considerable discussion between The Shuberts, The Really Useful Group, Andrew and myself, we concluded that the right time for ‘Phantom’ was after the show’s 35th birthday on February 18 — a double celebration of Phantom’s phenomenal success.”
Although the show will no longer be lighting up Broadway, productions of “The Phantom of the Opera” will continue around the world in places like London and Melbourne.