Theater staged a pandemic comeback, but audiences didn’t get the memo.
Nearly a year after Broadway raised its curtains — marking an end to more than 18 months of COVID closures — one of its most storied shows announced it will go dark for good. “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show in Broadway history, plans to stage its final performance in February. The not entirely unexpected move marks an end to 35 years at the Majestic Theatre, and an era in which many adult theatergoers could not imagine Broadway without the iconic marquee’s white mask and red rose.
Like many shows across the country, “Phantom” could not summon back the audiences that sustained it before brutal pandemic closures drained the lifeblood out of the industry. Contradictory messaging around masking in theaters, continuing COVID-related cancellations and a stubborn pattern of audiences sticking close to home combined to create a perilous landscape for the performing arts.
