In New York’s theatre district, musical fans are saying farewell to Phantom of the Opera, which will come to an end after nearly 35 years and 13,500 performances to 19 million people. It’s the longest-running show on Broadway having started in 1988, and despite also being the most successful – and spawning the 2004 movie starring Gerard Butler – producer Cameron Mackintosh says the final curtain will fall in February 2023. The pandemic shut down the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic for 18 months, and it never fully recovered with increasing production costs, combined with stagnant ticket sales meaning it often runs at a loss. Mackintosh says people in his line of work “dream that a show will run forever… But all shows do finally close”. Phantom will continue elsewhere, including in Australia from October at the Sydney Opera House, so in the words of the Phantom himself, “Lead me, save me from my solitude… Anywhere you go, let me go, too.”