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To The New Chandelier

When most people think about musical theatre, there are many that come to mind. I’m not just talking about the classics like South Pacific and Guys & Dolls (I know, I know, I could list forever). But when we look around the time of the 80s or so, there are going to be musicals that are the sole ones people know. Part of this is that a lot of these have been made into movies over the past 15 or so years. Part of it is just that everyone knows these iconic musicals. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, and Cats are the quickest that come to mind.

I could certainly write up a whole post about that phenomenon (hmm…) but today, I wanted to dedicate a post to Phantom of the Opera. This show had run for 35 years on Broadway…last Sunday, it had its closing performance on Broadway. Now, there are all sorts of reasons shows close, and most of these reasons are perfectly reasonable. Once upon a time, shows would close because of shock value or things that were deemed inappropriate, but I don’t think we see that as much in modern times. The problem with Phantom was that ticket sales were hit too hard by COVID. I think in some ways, the world had moved on from Phantom. Although they pushed back the closing date after ticket sales spiked again, there was really no recovery.

Here’s my thing. Andrew Lloyd Webber? Meh, I could take him or leave him. Yes, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will always have a special place in my heart (Benjamin was one of the first lead roles I ever had in a play or musical). Jesus Christ Superstar is kind of dumb, but kind of catchy, too. Catchy ends up being the operative word here. ALW wrote for the 70s and 80s. It’s obvious in the heavy synthsizers and rock style. And yes, some of that has continued to thrive. But it can’t live forever. I mean…don’t even get me started on Cats.

Despite the semi-dated sound of Phantom, there was always something about it that separated it from other ALW musicals for me. It’s not a biblical story. It’s not based on a book of poems. I mean, the novel was pretty different, but artistic liberties are often taken with these things. It’s okay, it happens all the time and is A-OK when done correctly. Phantom is the magic of theatre within the magic of theatre. Also, ALW wrote the lead role for Sarah Brightman (still one of the world’s best sopranos and ALW’s wife at the time), and that’s pretty badass.

So if we’re all sitting through 80s synthesizer and musical theatre’s weirdest love triangle, why has Phantom lived on this long? Honestly, I think it’s because people have a deep emotional connection to Phantom. There are certainly some relatable things in there, if not semi overdone tropes. An up and coming ingenue who ends up stealing the show. The outcast, someone ashamed of themself. A love that endures, and wins in the end. There are relationships between friends, lovers, mentors; and I suppose that’s just the start.

My emotional connection to Phantom came in the form of the person I shared it with. It was my brother’s friend’s Bar Mitzvah, and my best friend and I were totally bored, so someone took us to the movie theatre. I don’t remember if Phantom was our first choice or not (I actually think it might have been the only thing playing at that particular time), but it was like, 2004. Fourteen or fifteen year olds can’t be choosers. My friend wasn’t really the fan of musical theatre that I was, but she totally enjoyed it anyway. We both did.

That was the age of buying $10 albums on iTunes. My dad refused to buy the Broadway soundtrack for me at first because it was $20…he didn’t realize that it was a two disc set. So I soon got the soundtrack. And as I have a habit of doing, I listened until I had memorized every word on that damn album.

A year or two later, we were lucky enough that Phantom was on tour. Our parents bought us tickets for our Chanukah gifts. It was freaking awesome. We were pretty far up, but I will swear until the end that I felt the heat when the fires went up. In true Phantom fashion (or I guess what I assume is true Phantom fashion, as I’d never seen it on Broadway, or any other production), the whole thing was spectacular. I totally forgave the 80s synthesizers, and I totally forgive my sixteen year old self for forgiving that.

The point of all of this is that no matter what you think of Phantom of the Opera, whether you love it or hate it, or are just sort of in the middle, it’s a fucking iconic piece. It’s the longest running Broadway show (35 years and 13,981 performances), and that didn’t just happen because everyone was sort of willy-nilly about it. There was magic involved, I’m sure, but it triggered a lot of love in people. It’s triggered a lot in people in general. When people come to NYC, it was a show that was a classic and could always draw in a crowd. You’ve got to give it credit for that.

But even the best of things can’t last forever. And as much as it sucks for a lot of people that Phantom has closed, I like to think that maybe it was just the show’s time. We can’t outstay our welcome, no matter what the situation is. Besides, a million regional productions are now going to spring out of seemingly nowhere, and we’ll probably get a tour or two. I’m sure it’ll even get a revival someday. No matter how you feel about Phantom of the Opera, I’m pretty sure it’s something that is always inside our minds (haha, a Phantom joke!)

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