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Post by mattnyc on Apr 16, 2023 15:45:47 GMT
It would have been but MacKintosh will be the final Phantom on Broadway (until the show returns, next year or two I’m guessing).
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 16, 2023 19:54:46 GMT
Can’t seem to find this anywhere online…
How many performances did the original London production of Phantom achieve before it closed? Curious as to whether Broadway is more or less. Anyone know?
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Post by FairyGodmother on Apr 16, 2023 22:53:55 GMT
Isn't it it noteworthy that a show that's begun with a Crawford playing the title role would also end with a Crawford playing the same role 35 years later? Broadway World had the headline "Crawford out of final PHANTOM; Mackintosh will play title role", and until I read the article and saw the first names, I did wonder what on Earth they'd been planning for the final show! |
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Post by sukhavati on Apr 17, 2023 6:56:29 GMT
Isn't it it noteworthy that a show that's begun with a Crawford playing the title role would also end with a Crawford playing the same role 35 years later? Broadway World had the headline "Crawford out of final PHANTOM; Mackintosh will play title role", and until I read the article and saw the first names, I did wonder what on Earth they'd been planning for the final show! I hadn't realized Ben Crawford had been out so long. Made me think of Gardar Thor Cortes, who missed so many performances during the Love Never Dies North American tour, that they made Bronson Norris Murphy the principal Phantom.
Either way, I'm pleased for Laird Mackintosh. He's one of those reliable, unsung workhorses. I did get to see him in Phantom when I was in NY five years ago - he's a wonderful performer, and he's got one of those voices that is strong and vibrates through you in the middle of the stalls over and above the sound system. He did start out as Raoul in Toronto, so it's lovely that he had the opportunity to finish the show on Broadway. I'm so sad over no more original productions as Hal conceived the show anywhere.
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Post by sukhavati on Apr 17, 2023 7:27:27 GMT
Can’t seem to find this anywhere online… How many performances did the original London production of Phantom achieve before it closed? Curious as to whether Broadway is more or less. Anyone know? According to Official London Theatre, between the 1986 opening and 7 Feb 2018, Phantom had 13,877 performances. So I suppose the rest could be calculated if you're familiar with their normal calendar prior to lockdown, including schedules for the festive season. Going by the standard eight shows a week model, with no extra performances that would be 416 shows per year, so I'm guestimating 14,741 going into March 2020, but not being completely familiar with the show calendar, I'm uncertain.
IBDB says 16 previews and 13,973 performances for Phantom B'way.
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Post by ncbears on Apr 17, 2023 13:42:52 GMT
The final Act One Chandelier lift at the Majestic Theatre in the Hal Prince production:
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Post by ncbears on Apr 17, 2023 13:44:42 GMT
And down comes the chandelier one last time in the Hal Prince production:
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Post by mkb on Apr 17, 2023 14:02:06 GMT
The final Act One Chandelier lift at the Majestic Theatre in the Hal Prince production: The audience response is ruining that magical moment. Some dork is even doing wolf whistles. |
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Post by anthony40 on Apr 17, 2023 14:38:16 GMT
35 years is an outstanding achievement.
(Possibly it's of its time but) it seems inconceivable that a new show opening today- regardless of the hype, the cast and awards won, would run that long!
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Post by mattnyc on Apr 17, 2023 17:25:27 GMT
Walking by the Majestic about an hour ago, there are people literally clawing the signage off the side of the building.
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Post by sukhavati on Apr 18, 2023 6:09:43 GMT
Walking by the Majestic about an hour ago, there are people literally clawing the signage off the side of the building. It will be on eBay by the end of the week. |
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Post by sukhavati on Apr 18, 2023 6:25:56 GMT
35 years is an outstanding achievement. (Possibly it's of its time but) it seems inconceivable that a new show opening today- regardless of the hype, the cast and awards won, would run that long! Entirely different world today. No internet (at least not publicly accessible) in '88. Mobile phones prohibitively expensive and no such thing as a camera phone then. For most of us then, theatre was a pure ephemeral experience - listening to the soundtrack recording was just an echo of sitting in the dark living in the moment with the cast and orchestra.
There have been so many productions that have come and gone in those intervening 35 years. Didn't they say they expected it to run a few years and that would be that? For me, Phantom is pure escapism. The music itself is lush, even if some of the lyrics are maudlin. The production design, the costume design, the atmosphere - it's so removed from our contemporary existence. And at the end of the day it's a love story featuring a lost soul yearning for acceptance and physical touch. For whatever reason, it captivated NY and everywhere else that people got to experience it.
Who on earth could now mount a show that costs $1MM a week? You certainly see limited productions at Covent Garden that are its visual equal, but they don't quite speak to the heart in the same way. I'm surprised how melancholy I feel knowing there's no more original production anywhere. The "bigger and better" version at HM's just doesn't appeal to me - without the black box and low lighting, it's lost its mystery, and in my book, its magic.
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Post by louonthegogo on Apr 18, 2023 20:27:33 GMT
ALW was on Fallon last night, I think this letter he's read from the Phantom shows that it'll be back in NYC within the year just in a new theatre.
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 19, 2023 8:04:39 GMT
When ALW says he takes instructions from the Phantom, what he actually means is he does whatever Cameron Mackintosh tells him to do.
So, a New York production of “The Phantom of the Opera” coming soon then. (What a legal and financial difference a missing “The” makes).
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Post by sukhavati on Apr 19, 2023 12:23:08 GMT
When ALW says he takes instructions from the Phantom, what he actually means is he does whatever Cameron Mackintosh tells him to do. So, a New York production of “ The Phantom of the Opera” coming soon then. (What a legal and financial difference a missing “The” makes). I'm completely expecting the "due to popular demand" tag.
Now really surprise us and try out the restaged Greek version instead...or the Simon Phillips directed Australian version. Something new. Don't bring the gawdawful NA tour to Broadway.
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Post by steve10086 on Apr 20, 2023 4:40:36 GMT
Can’t seem to find this anywhere online… How many performances did the original London production of Phantom achieve before it closed? Curious as to whether Broadway is more or less. Anyone know? According to Official London Theatre, between the 1986 opening and 7 Feb 2018, Phantom had 13,877 performances. So I suppose the rest could be calculated if you're familiar with their normal calendar prior to lockdown, including schedules for the festive season. Going by the standard eight shows a week model, with no extra performances that would be 416 shows per year, so I'm guestimating 14,741 going into March 2020, but not being completely familiar with the show calendar, I'm uncertain.
IBDB says 16 previews and 13,973 performances for Phantom B'way.
Thanks for doing the maths  So sounds like the original played longer in London than New York. |
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Post by sukhavati on May 16, 2023 7:14:55 GMT
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So sounds like the original played longer in London than New York.