Dance Magazine: It’s hard to imagine New York City without The Phantom of the Opera. The announcement that the longest-running show on Broadway would play its final performance on February 18, after 35 years at the Majestic Theatre, made headlines—and made me realize, with something of a shudder, that many—perhaps most—of the people performing in it, and in Broadway’s other musicals, can’t remember West 44th Street without Phantom’s iconic white mask and red rose looming overhead. But I can.
2 comments:
I think that this article is a really important article and I found it really interesting. I did a production of Phantom of the Opera when I was in high school and it was a really rewarding experience. I was devastated when I heard that it was closing and, along with the author of this article, I too thought about the many people that would be without a job who have known only this show since they’ve been in New York City or on Broadway. The reason that I think that this article is so important is that most people don’t think about the chorus part of this musical and it is so vital to the story and couldn’t be done without the huge chorus of ballet dancers. Most people just think of the Phantom and Christine and maybe Raoul but there are so many other things that are vital to this story.
Well broadway is never without an Andrew Loyd Webber musical for long. But I will ver very curious to see if Bad Cinderella has the same impact on the theatre community that The Phantom of the Opera did. I personally was never overly taken by the show, even though It is undeniably a good show, it just didn't grab me in the way some other shows do. However, it is impossible to talk about phantom without talking about its incredible impact on the theatre community at large. And as this article points out, the dance community. Everyone I know has done a production of the phantom at some point in their lives or career, though I had no idea that it had become such a reliable home for dancers. I hope that the end of phantom will not be the end of that safe place for the amazing dance community.
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