'Phantom' Beats 'Cats' for Longest-Running Show

January 10, 2006
'Phantom' Beats 'Cats' for Longest-Running Show

By JESSE McKINLEY

Poor "Cats."

After 7,486 chandelier crashes, gondola rides and dramatic endings, "The Phantom of Opera" officially became the longest-running show in Broadway history last night, knocking the musical "Cats" off its throne.

The "Phantom" coronation, at the Majestic Theater, was attended by all manner of Broadway royalty and presided over by the two men largely responsible not only for the new record-holder but also the previous long runner - the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and the producer Cameron Mackintosh.

The two collaborated on both "Phantom," which opened in 1988, and "Cats," which played a mere 7,485 performances at the Winter Garden Theater from 1982 to 2000, when it closed.

Last night, both Lord Lloyd Webber and Mr. Mackintosh took to the stage after the performance - and a symbolic passing of the baton from a woman dressed as a cat to the Phantom - to comment on their accomplishment.

"I've got to say I don't think I've ever been more nervous in my whole life," said Lord Lloyd Webber, before thanking his cast, crew and creative team.

Likewise, Mr. Mackintosh embraced Lord Lloyd Webber. "I don't think I've ever thanked Andrew publicly for what he's done," he said. He then recounted the show's genesis in a conversation two decades before. "Andrew said, 'Don't you think it would be fun to do "Phantom of the Opera?' " Mr. Mackintosh recalled. "And I said, 'That's a very good idea.' "

The show, based on the 1911 Gothic novel by Gaston Laroux about a masked, romantically minded composer haunting the Paris Opera House, first opened to a blaze of publicity and ticket sales after wowing crowds in London.

Chief among its selling points - besides the swelling Lloyd Webber melodies - were its special effects, which included a simulated ride through subterranean canals and a chandelier that dropped from the ceiling of the Majestic, over the audience, right to the stage. Frank Rich, then the chief drama critic of The New York Times, called the production "as much a victory of dynamic stagecraft over musical kitsch as it is a triumph of merchandizing über alles."

Over the years, that combination churned nearly $600 million in sales into the Majestic's box office, another Broadway record. The show also spawned numerous road and international productions, which have brought the show's worldwide take to more than $3.2 billion.

During the onstage celebration, Harold Prince, the show's director, tried to give a sense of the show's statistical and financial importance to an industry that was in the doldrums when it opened.

"I've been reading a lot of statistics over the last week, most of which don't interest me," Mr. Prince said, before mentioning one statistic that did interest him: "Since 'Phantom' opened, this show has been responsible for the employment of 6,850 people."

After the post-show congratulations, and the dropping of a silver cloud of confetti and balloons, crowds retired to the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria, where a black-tie, masked ball was to take place. (Masks were provided for those who didn't arrive with the appropriate facewear.)

Nearly 11 million people have seen the show at the Majestic, including the 1,600 theatrical bigwigs, V.I.P.'s, and alumni of the production who took in last night's the record-breaking performance.

Some of them had seen the show before at the Majestic - where it broke box office records as recently as last week - and were hoping to see it there for some time to come.

"It's got years to go," said Philip J. Smith, president of the Shubert Organization, which owns the theater, and collects rent. "There's no end in sight."

New York Times