On a recent night in Midtown Manhattan, about 60 people dressed in suits, shimmering white, black and silver ball gowns, and masks were ushered into a dimly lit upstairs room.
Inside, more than a dozen actors in colorful cloaks and towering headpieces took them by the hand, danced with them and murmured in their ears, plunging them headfirst into an immersive recreation of the masquerade ball scene from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera.”
“That opening always just puts a grin on my face,” said Andrea Goldstein, 39, who has seen the show, a reimagined and immersive version of Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom” musical, now titled “Masquerade,” 14 times since it began performances in July.
After “Phantom” closed on Broadway in 2023 (where it had a record-breaking run of 13,981 performances, 35 years and more than a dozen Phantoms), Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s novel — about a musically gifted man with a facial deformity who falls in love with a young soprano — returned last summer in a slightly modified form that plunges audiences into the macabre world of the musical.
No expense was seemingly spared, with the production — including the renovation of its home, the former Lee’s Art Shop on West 57th Street — costing $25 million. (That’s about the capitalization costs of a large-scale Broadway musical.) A cast of 40 actors, many of them alums of Broadway and the West End, was enlisted. A director of masks was employed. The chandelier alone had more than 30,000 crystals.
“Phantom” fans — or Phans, as they call themselves — went crazy for it. After the production released a series of social media teasers and staged a series of pop-up scavenger hunts around the city, tickets for the first six weeks of the run sold out in three hours.
Michelle Antoinette Wakefield, 34, a receptionist from Butler, N.J., snagged four tickets the day they went on sale.
“I saw the original six times,” said Wakefield, who spent about a month making her outfit for the evening: a black bustier and white skirt gussied up with ruffles, rhinestones and sequins. “So I just knew I would fight tooth and nail and do whatever I had to do to see it.”
Since performances began in July, thousands of people — about 360 per night, spread among six staggered start times — have donned their finest tuxes and ball gowns, most paying at least $195 per ticket, to watch the Phantom and Christine glide by on the boat in the catacombs, then climb six stories to the roof — weather permitting — to watch climactic scenes unfold.
“I was like, ‘$250 is a lot,’” said Wakefield, who paid $966 for four tickets for herself, her husband and their two best friends. “But it was so worth it.”
Some cost relief has arrived: The production now releases (slightly discounted) standby tickets and holds in-person lotteries for a handful of tickets per performance ($66.60 each, a reference to the infamous chandelier’s auction lot number).
The production is the latest in a string of unconventional remounts of Lloyd Webber’s hit shows, including Jamie Lloyd’s stripped-back take on “Sunset Boulevard,” which won last year’s Tony Award for best revival of a musical; a drag ballroom-inspired “Cats,” set to open on Broadway this spring; a gender-blind “Jesus Christ Superstar” concert at the Hollywood Bowl last summer that starred Cynthia Erivo as Jesus; and a pop diva-inspired “Evita,” also directed by Lloyd, in London last year.
“I think a good show will always stand the test of time,” Lloyd Webber, 77, said in a phone interview. He had been exploring an immersive production of “Phantom” since 2019 when he saw “Sleep No More,” a reimagining of “Macbeth” in New York, and later contacted one of its producers, Randy Weiner. (Staging the rooftop scene on an actual rooftop? “Irresistible,” Lloyd Webber said.)
When the director Diane Paulus (“Waitress,” “Jagged Little Pill”) came on board, she knew what the driving force would be: Fan service.
“These are people who saw and loved the original,” Paulus, 59, who is married to Weiner, said in a recent phone conversation. “So what more thrilling prospect than to actually get to step into that world?”
With Lloyd Webber and Weiner, she combed through the novel, adding in scenes that delved into the Phantom’s back story, and invented a carnival sequence featuring a fire-eater. In addition to the musical’s beloved score, Lloyd Webber wrote a new song and restored one he’d written for the 2004 film adaptation that was ultimately cut.
Overlapping groups of attendees navigate the more than 30 scenes, some unfolding simultaneously, spread across six floors and the roof. To pull that off, the production enlisted a team of more than 100, including sound and lighting designers, a choreographer and dressers.
It’s impossible to catch every detail in one performance, but fans say that’s part of the appeal of repeat viewing. Unlike a Broadway musical, which traditionally makes no major changes after opening night, “Masquerade” has added new elements, like installing a rose garden on the roof in September and iron gates fashioned by Bob Dylan in October.
Weiner said the team also worked with neighboring tenants to coordinate the volume and timing of the rooftop scenes, which they agreed would conclude by 10 p.m. every night.
“It’s been cool to see the neighborhood embrace us,” he said.
It’s not just fans who have been swept up in the success of “Masquerade”: Many of the cast members had previously been in productions of “Phantom.”
“It’s so special to get to be a part of this,” said Hugh Panaro, 61, who played the role of the Phantom more than 2,500 times on Broadway. “The Phantom is perhaps more human than he’s ever been in this production.”
“Masquerade” has been running for only about six months, but Goldstein, a Navy reservist who lives in Washington Heights, already has plans to see it a 15th time.
“I discover new things each time,” said Goldstein, who saw the original musical more than 40 times. “It’s never the same show twice.”
Sarah Bahr writes about culture and style for The Times.
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