the phantom of the opera the music of the night

(I’d played the main theme earlier that year in the spring piano recital the next spring, the acquisition of those tickets would make its way into one of my bar mitzvah speeches.) I went to the Majestic last week, an adult Jewish man for nearly three decades, to find out what it’s like all these years, and millions, later. (That’s just in New York.) When I last saw it, in October 1988, I was 12 years old and it was the hottest ticket on Broadway. Twelve thousand-plus performances, 18 million tickets sold, over a billion dollars in box office. Phantom is the greatest warhorse on the Great White Way. Every English-speaking theatergoer has seen it, and the Shuberts haven’t had to renovate its bathrooms in three decades. Since January of 1988, the Majestic Theatre has been home to The Phantom of the Opera. And then you’ll further realize: Of course, on both counts. You’ll wave your hands for a while in front of the men’s room sink, before realizing you need to turn the knob. You’ll be the only people in the will-call line who speak English. Ali Ewoldt and Ben Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera.

The phantom of the opera the music of the night