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Audience members wear phantom masks before the start of the fourth anniversary performance of “Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular” at The Venetian hotel-casino on Thursday, June 24, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The audience is invited to become ‘Angels of Music’ by donning the masks for what is being described as the biggest gathering of Phantoms ever. (DUANE PROKOP/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL)
A costumed ticket holder attends “The Phantom of the Opera,” final Broadway performance at the Majestic Theater on Sunday, April 16, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Theatergoers attend “The Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s final performance at the Majestic Theater on Sunday, April 16, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Theatergoers attend “The Phantom of the Opera,” Broadway’s final performance at the Majestic Theater on Sunday, April 16, 2023, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
“Phantom – The Las Vegas Spectacular” at The Venetian hotel-casino made history for its fourth anniversary as the audience turned into ‘Angels of Music’ to create the largest gathering of ‘Phantoms’ ever place, June 24, 2010, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Duane Prokop/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
A chandelier in the Phantom Theater at The Venetian hotel-casino is shown on December 29, 2010, in Las Vegas. (JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL) JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL The chandelier at the Phantom Theater at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Dec. 29, 2010.
A chandelier in the Phantom Theater at The Venetian hotel-casino is shown on December 29, 2010, in Las Vegas. (JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL) JASON BEAN/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL The chandelier at the Phantom Theater at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Dec. 29, 2010.
Head of automation William Stephenson controls the chandelier at the Phantom Theater at the Venetian in Las Vegas on Dec. chandelier at the Phantom Theater at the Venetian in Las Vegas on December 29, 2010.
“Phantom of the Opera” played its final performance Sunday on Broadway, a run of 35 years and nearly 14,000 performances.
As Playbill reports, at the invitation-only show, it’s a who’s who of current and former stars of the show. Sarah Brightman, Sierra Boggess, Meghan Picerno and current lead Laird Mackintosh, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle—they all walked the pre-show red carpet.
But there is an opera ghost missing. The original performance of the Phantom, Michael Crawford, was notably absent. It’s not because he’s trying to pull a disappearing act. In fact, he left a note. In a Facebook post, Crawford wrote that his absence was due to some “ill-timed emergency dental surgery.”
The New York City closing comes more than 10 years after the popular “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular” closed its six-year, 2,691-performance run at The Venetian on Sept. 2, 2012.
“Millions” attended the desert play, according to producers as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The run began on June 12, 2006, when it played 10 shows a week.
Prince, the 21-time Tony Award winner, helped revise his London and Broadway plays to the specifications of a new $40 million theater — and to the taste of Las Vegas tourist audiences. Vegas, who tend to like their shows attractive and under two hours (so they can do more gambling, shopping or dining).
Prince did not accept his Special 2006 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in New York City that year — he was in the middle of rehearsals for this incredible Phantom.
Contact Marvin Clemons at mclemons@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Marv_in_Vegas on Twitter.