Phantom On Broadway

In an article from a couple of years ago, it said it cost around 650k per week to run the show. It must have increased to 800k due to inflation, but its current average weekly gross is around 775k. They may be losing money, but certainly not 1 million a month. That was just reported in the original leak article and not confirmed by RUG, Schubert or Cameron.

Those few? Half the musicians and most of the crew and music department have been there since day one! And most of the people in the ensemble have been involved with the show for a very long time. And of course I feel sorry for them! It´s hard enough to get a new job when you´re older, especially in an industry as competitive as showbusiness.
It seems like the Phans care about the people that put their 200% every night in showing the world what musical theatre can be like, and will probably be replaced with machines and cheap labor, so a producer can get even more money. This isn´t the first, nor the second but the third time Cameron has done this.

I was rather hoping to have to delay my next Broadway trip but I guess I can't if this is the only way to see the original again. I have no interest in the cheaper version; I'd rather wait for a properly rethought revival at some point to come along than see the sad ghost of something that used to be genuinely bigger and better.

They really ought to film this since it is the last link to a golden age of big production values with huge talent at the helm. The last production still around helmed by a Broadway titan.

Looking at some data here, the reasoning doesn't make too much sense. Capacity wise, it's performing at around what it was pre-pandemic and has been for a couple of months now. Average ticket sold is $92. Pre-pandemic is actually lower - average of $88 (some weeks going down to low 70s and others low 90s as a high average)

Their weekly grosses are also pretty high. If we look to mid Jan 2020, grosses were $770,000. Even going back to March 2019, gross was 837,647 and early march is in the 600,000s. Grosses over summer reached over $1m multiple times.

I know there are other costs involved and costs have risen, but with the average ticket sale actually rising and the profits are actually some of the highest they've ever seen out of holiday seasons, it's just baffling? It's true they struggled immediately after theatres reopened (January of this year was particularly horrendous for them - sometimes falling under 45% capacity) but they have rebounded to be making some of their highest weekly grosses ever (again, outside of the holiday periods). I appreciate that this still makes it on average one of the cheapest average ticket costs on Broadway, but like I said, the average ticket prices is actually pretty high compared to the years leading up to the pandemic. Which begs the question: if it is losing money, how long has it been losing money for?

Or are we really just going to see the cheapened version shoehorned in within a couple of months?

I'm going to guess about a year. It can't be done as quickly (or seamlessly, with the media not even noticing) in London since the producers don't own the theatre this time.

And then we'll have the 'for the 21st century', 'bigger and better' rubbish again etc.



The reports said the Shuberts were reluctant to do so, so I'm guessing not.

I don't have anything nice to say so I will keep it to myself. 

It's theatre dahling! Nothing's supposed to last forever. (Phantom was one of those shows which left me totally cold, though I could see why it appealed to some. Christine and Raoul were rather tedious and we don't ever learn enough about the Phantom to care much what happens to him. Nice design and clever work by Hal Prince but one viewing was more than enough.)

I have seen this show twice with a nearly 20 year gap in between and had the same experience both times.

It was fine until the last 10 minutes where they stand screeching at each other over the top of each other so I couldn't understand what either of them were saying and then it just finished.

I still have no idea what happened x

It's always difficult for those who are not huge fans of a show, to drum up basic empathy for all the people whose immediate livelihoods or career aspirations are affected by its closing, than the ones who are aware of the realities of the industry but do care a lot in addition to the average person's concerns about weekly grosses and a great night out.

I hope none of the Broadway cast see this thread and the "high horse" comments that could come across callous to some.

I assume the Majestic will be getting a long overdue refurbishment before perhaps reopening with a new show and even a new name (The Harold Prince Theatre anyone?) in Autumn 2023.

I find it odd that they're closing it rather than moving theatres etc unless the contracts are so ironclad that they have to close it in order to introduce new contracts.