NEW YORK CITY — On Sunday evening, the curtain will be raised and the candlestick will be lowered for the last time Phantom of the Opera says goodbye to Broadway.
After 35 years and nearly 14,000 performances, Sunday will be the end of Broadway's longest running production.
“It's a really beautiful classic story about love and hopelessness and longing and we can all relate to it in some way throughout our lives, and then you have this sumptuous score,” said Phantom of the Opera actor Marie Johnson.
The beautiful story and score will be shown for the last time on Broadway.
“I just knew that it would be so special to be in this room with all the passionate people in the greatest city in the world,” said Hamilton actor Tamar Greene.
Greene will be supporting his wife, Lindsay Roberts, who is in the ensemble and has appreciated every performance leading up to this.
“Oh, so many different emotions. I mean people have been here for decades. My roommate has been here for 20 years,” said Roberts.
For actor Richard Poole, it's been 24 years, 11 months, and 5 days.
“25 days less than 25 years, so yeah, that's exciting,” said Poole.
Laird Mackintosh on Sunday night as The Phantom, returned to the show unexpectedly and hoped to do justice to headmaster Ben Crawford, who was ill and had a vocal break.
“Unfortunately, that sometimes happens to a performer putting on eight shows a week with this intensity, so I'm the lucky one,” Mackintosh said.
James Gartler, a fan from Montreal saw Mackintosh in the role Saturday night and said Sunday's audience would be in for a treat.
“It was so moving. You can play Phantom in different ways, sometimes it's scarier and crazier, sometimes it's sweeter. I think he sensed the emotion in the room and gave us a kind of very sentimental Phantom that was quite scary but who's really feeling any time,” says Gartler.
The show has been selling out for months. For the final night, only invited guests and lucky lottery winners get to witness this moment in Broadway history.