The chandelier crashed to the stage for the last time as The Phantom of the Opera ended its record 35-year run on Broadway. After 13,981 performances to over 20 million audience members and grossing US$1.36 billion, the musical ended its Broadway show with a glamorous final performance. Composer Andrew Lloyd Weber was there, as were a bazillion celebrities and acting alumni from the show’s decades on the stage. The final performance was frequently interrupted by applause, and not just for the actors: favourite props like the monkey music box or the famous chandelier also got their own send-offs by the appreciative crowd. After a COVID shut-down, Phantom sometimes struggled to break even on its approximately US$1 million weekly running costs, and the decision was made to call curtains on the production. But the show’s producer Cameron Mackintosh isn’t counting out an encore: “Of course it will return,” he said. “All the great musicals do.”