Image Credit: Joan MarcusAndrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera is creeping up on its 23rd anniversary this month, and the top-grossing, longest-running musical in Broadway history shows no sign of retiring its mechanical chandelier. In fact, the show just broke its own weekly box office record, grossing $1.39 million for the week ending Jan. 2. (Phantom‘s previous record was $1.37 million, for the same Christmas-New Year’s week one year ago.) And it’s not the only Broadway record-breaker this week. Over at the slightly larger Gershwin Theatre, Wicked shattered the mark for the top-grossing week in Broadway history: $2.23 million for the week. (Previous record: $2.15 million, set just last week by the eight-year-old hit.)
Across the Great White Way, box office was up 28 percent over the previous week, to a robust $34.7 million. Even better, every single show on the boards showed an increase in ticket sales for the week. Unfortunately, eight shows were entertaining their final audiences last week — and another five shows will have their final curtain this weekend. That will leave roughly half of all Broadway houses dark for the traditionally slow winter months, though producers promise many new arrivals by the late-April deadline for this year’s Tony Awards.
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I’m still totally in love with that show. Here’s to another 23
I love that show and I sincerely hope he doesn’t try to do the whole Phantom sequel bulls— he’s been trying to do since his other musicals have been flops.
Considering the sequel has already played in London and is scheduled to open in New York in the Spring, you’re a bit out of luck.
Actually, Ryan, there are no current plans to mount the Phantom sequel, “Love Never Dies,” on Broadway – and definitely not this spring. Sir Andrew is reportedly retooling the show before he considers a New York run.