Broadway’s longest-running production, The Phantom of the Opera, is being dropped. The decision was made on the grounds that theatre-going audiences were slow to return to the theatre after the closures due to the coronavirus epidemic, and that tickets for the production were not selling well enough to cover the production’s operating costs.
Broadway’s longest-running production, Phantom of the Opera, will be off the air for good next year. The decision was made because audiences have not returned in full numbers after the pandemic closures and tickets for the production are not selling well enough to cover the high operating costs, according to the New York Times.
The show will commemorate its 35th anniversary in January and will take its last Broadway stage on February 18. The decision was announced to cast, crew and orchestra on Friday.
According to figures compiled by the Broadway League, the show has been seen on Broadway by 19.8 million people and has grossed $1.3 billion since opening. According to the paper, The Phantom of the Opera has grossed $867,997 through September 11, which is decent, but not good enough to run a musical on such a large scale.
In its 35 years, The Phantom of the Opera has attracted huge audiences to theatres around the world. Since its first performance in 1986, more than 145 million people have seen the musical in 183 cities in 17 languages around the world.