The Broadway production + US tour

ML6 wrote:
EEEEE! You saw MSL live! Sweet. Honestly, he's so cute and precious. (Yes, I said precious.) I'm glad he was so sweet and he signed your prop note! Because, dude, he'll sign your shirt if you asked him to. Oh MSL. <3

And he was so much cuter in person.

True, I and I forget that - so I do apologize if I offended anyone. I've just been spoilied (won't go into any details) so to me, well, it's just so blah. But yeah, to other people it might not. Idk, I'm just wanting some different names. But I bet it's hard getting people to stay on the road and travel a lot.

No offense taken. I think diehard fans do get pretty spoiled. By the time the tour came here, I'd seen the show on Broadway about a dozen times so I was hung up on issues like principle vs. alternate Christines, chandeliers sliding in from the wings instead of rising, etc. But my friend who is local and had never seen it on Broadway was just thrilled to see it at all and it didn't matter to her how Gary Mauer compared to Howard McGillin or how Jim Weitzer compared to Tim Martin Gleason or how Kris Koop compared to Beth Southard.

Anyhow, this is pretty official...

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/PHANTOM_OF_THE_OPERA_National_Tour_to_Take_Final_Bow_in_Los_Angeles_20100205

Road trip!

Wow. That's really sad. I honestly thought it would just turn out to be some rumor.

Phantom on a Budget wrote:I might cry.

I wholeheartedly agree. While I've complained with the best of them about how some of the same people (and not necessarily people I like) keep rotating through the Tour, it'll be strange and sad to see it gone.

~Madame~

Maybe there will be a fourth national tour someday (and I'm still holding out hope for an official stage DVD). Ah well, looks like I'll be making a trip to the Venetian next time I'm in Vegas.

~LCD

LadyCDaae wrote:Maybe there will be a fourth national tour someday
~LCD

Hopefully. I'm saddened by this, but it doesn't affect me too badly since the tour wasn't coming back here in the immediate future and I'm close enough to NYC. But it just felt good knowing there is/was a tour, too.

I almost started crying when I heard this news on a forum, and immediately came here to have it debunked. Now I'm sobbing. I feel like a part of me just died.

I'm mostly surprised. I know the Phantom tour is an expensive one because of the sets and costumes, and relies on long and successful runs. I know also that some of the tour stops these last two years has been less successful. But I never imagined this was enough to close the tour entirely.

I guess, though, with two permanent productions running, in east (New York) and south (Vegas), there are certain areas the tour could not "enter", and that the rest had too frequent visits? I dunno, just a thought I got. Might be wrong.

Either how, I think it's very sad news, and it makes me even sadder that the US tour will be "replaced" by the opening of Phantom II in New York at the same time (if everything goes as scheduled/rumored). Bleurgh.

ML6 wrote:I'm a hard person to please. I have a friend who's bff's with MSL. I'm going to ask her if he's thinking about returning any time soon. That's a Raoul that I could at least sit through and think dreamy thoughts about. :] Excuse me...

I highly recommend Sean MacLaughlin. Much of the touring cast is bland, I agree, but MacLaughlin is a Raoul to see (and the managers are still top-notch, as well). I'm not a big fan of MSL's Raoul; he's just alright.

LadyCDaae wrote:If this is true (and I'm not entirely convinced), could it be that they're releasing the rights for regional production? That could be a silver lining...

Probably eventually, but with Vegas and Broadway still going strong, I doubt it'll be anytime within the next decade. I would welcome regional productions, as long as they're of good quality, which is hard to do on most regional theaters' budgets. Certainly people who grew up on the show should still get the chance to do their takes on the roles they love.

MasqPhan wrote:Wow. That's really sad. I honestly thought it would just turn out to be some rumor.

MacLaughlin posted a cryptic Facebook status yesterday; I didn't take it to mean the tour was ending, but others in the comments did, so I had a feeling this was coming.

operafantomet wrote:in east (New York) and south (Vegas)

West, you mean?

there are certain areas the tour could not "enter", and that the rest had too frequent visits?

Perhaps. I know OH and FL got the tour several times a year, but I'm sure neither the venues nor the tour management would have booked those so frequently if business didn't support it. I think it mostly comes down to an unfortunate confluence of the economy and the waning newness of the show, with Wicked and other shows now more popular (no pun intended) on the road.

I'm surprised but not surprised the tour is closing. It doesn't seem to generate the same buzz it used to. On the other hand, it did seem like Phantom would be touring forever because it has been since I was 7 or 8, and the show is still selling pretty well, from what I can tell. It doesn't much affect my ability to see the show, though, because it only came within a few hours' driving distance of me every five or six years, which is not much more often than I've been to NYC.

The saddest thing, more than the phans losing this production, is all the cast and crew members who are losing the steadiest of gigs. Some will probably find their way into the other two productions should openings arise, but it could be tough times for others. Hopefully there'll be severance pay to tide them over and retirement benefits from having been in the production for a certain amount of time.

It'd be nice if they brought back some beloved former cast members to close out the show; maybe flip-flop David Cryer and Bruce Winant (both are very good, but Cryer opened the 3NT and did the vast majority of its run) and bring back a great tour Phantom like Davis Gaines (which would give him performances in all 3 tours, plus Broadway). Better yet--how about Franc D'Ambrosio, who also opened the tour? There was a rumor he would return to the production a few years ago (I think after the Mauers left), but it never happened. Both Gaines and D'Ambrosio have ties to CA, each having performed in the 1NT in SF and Gaines in LA, where the tour will close. Then I'd have to try to see the show again before it closes.

I'm sobbing so hard right now. Looks like I'm taking a road trip next Fall.

SenorSwanky wrote:

operafantomet wrote:in east (New York) and south (Vegas)

West, you mean?

Eh? Isn't New York on the east coast of the USA?

So is this why the US tour was celebrated with a cake and stuff, for what seems like the first time in the tour history? As to say "We've had a helluva run, now we can pack our bags and go home"?

operafantomet wrote:

SenorSwanky wrote:

operafantomet wrote:in east (New York) and south (Vegas)

West, you mean?

Eh? Isn't New York on the east coast of the USA?

Yes but Vegas would be Western, or Southwestern, but not South.

SenorSwanky wrote:

MasqPhan wrote:Wow. That's really sad. I honestly thought it would just turn out to be some rumor.

MacLaughlin posted a cryptic Facebook status yesterday; I didn't take it to mean the tour was ending, but others in the comments did, so I had a feeling this was coming.

I didn't see Sean's post until very late...after the official news. But I did see a cryptic post from Kimilee Bryant yesterday and assumed it was connected to all of this. Until I saw her post, I was holding to the possibility that it was a rumor.

The saddest thing, more than the phans losing this production, is all the cast and crew members who are losing the steadiest of gigs. Some will probably find their way into the other two productions should openings arise, but it could be tough times for others. Hopefully there'll be severance pay to tide them over and retirement benefits from having been in the production for a certain amount of time.

Very true...but on the positive side, while the announcement is sudden, the actual closing is still many months away and that gives them a lot of time to plan ahead. It would be so much worse for them if they were faced with a closing only weeks aw

Theatermania has a short piece on the news with the nice cake photo...

http://www.theatermania.com/touring-productions/news/02-2010/phantom-of-the-opera-national-tour-to-conclude-in_24782.html

How sad. Truly. Granted, I do live only 40 minutes from NYC, so, seeing Phantom is never an issue, funds permitting. But I remember QUITE fondly the excitement of going to Philadelphia a couple times just to catch the tour. It's not even coming that close this time around before it's gone, unless I want to go to Baltimore. Which isn't that far fetched of an idea.

Well, I think that they won't close the tour forever. Hopefully, it'll only take a break for a little while.

Callie Daae wrote:Well, I think that they won't close the tour forever. Hopefully, it'll only take a break for a little while.

I was thinking that maybe they would just close it a year or two and do a bit of a redesign.

phantom10906 wrote:

Callie Daae wrote:Well, I think that they won't close the tour forever. Hopefully, it'll only take a break for a little while.

I was thinking that maybe they would just close it a year or two and do a bit of a redesign.

Redesign?

Obviously, if there were to be another tour, it would be a new company, so the 3NT as a production will be over when it closes in LA. But I don't think there will be another tour anytime soon, or else they wouldn't close this one. I could maybe see limited engagements of four to six months like the 2NT did in major cities like Chicago and Boston.

SenorSwanky wrote:

phantom10906 wrote:

Callie Daae wrote:Well, I think that they won't close the tour forever. Hopefully, it'll only take a break for a little while.

I was thinking that maybe they would just close it a year or two and do a bit of a redesign.

Redesign?

Obviously, if there were to be another tour, it would be a new company, so the 3NT as a production will be over when it closes in LA. But I don't think there will be another tour anytime soon, or else they wouldn't close this one. I could maybe see limited engagements of four to six months like the 2NT did in major cities like Chicago and Boston.

I didn't mean like a total redesign. Just modernize some of the scenery so that its more economical to run. I'm actually quite surprised they decided to close the show in LA, considering its proximity to the Las Vegas production. I would have thought they would have picked like San Francisco or Chicago, or even Seattle where it opened.

phantom10906 wrote:

SenorSwanky wrote:

phantom10906 wrote:

Callie Daae wrote:Well, I think that they won't close the tour forever. Hopefully, it'll only take a break for a little while.

I was thinking that maybe they would just close it a year or two and do a bit of a redesign.

Redesign?

Obviously, if there were to be another tour, it would be a new company, so the 3NT as a production will be over when it closes in LA. But I don't think there will be another tour anytime soon, or else they wouldn't close this one. I could maybe see limited engagements of four to six months like the 2NT did in major cities like Chicago and Boston.

I didn't mean like a total redesign. Just modernize some of the scenery so that its more economical to run. I'm actually quite surprised they decided to close the show in LA, considering its proximity to the Las Vegas production. I would have thought they would have picked like San Francisco or Chicago, or even Seattle where it opened.

Yeah, but I imagine it just came down to where they could schedule the tour. They probably didn't originally book LA with the intention of the tour closing there, since they book years in advance. The decision to close probably came more recently, and Seattle wasn't available. Having said that, a major market like LA isn't a bad place to take a final bow.

I can't see how the sequel has anything to do with the tour closing. If it's profitable, it's profitable; if it's not, it's not.

I think I agree with Senor Swanky on that point -- and even over and above his point, I would think that the "synergy" of having two Phantom musicals at the same time might actually increase interest in the original. The decision to close the touring production at this point seems a little strange. I'd be interested to hear more about how well tickets have been selling over the past couple of years.

I wouldn't say the presence of the sequel would have a positive impact on the original, but my point was that the sequel has yet to open, so the only way it could impact any existing productions is if somehow the budget for the producers is affected, but since CamMac is not producing the sequel, that's not likely.

Yup - Senor, I understood your point. I see no current link as of right now between the sequel and the touring production closing this fall, but I was speculating that maybe the producers of the tour might have reasoned in their minds that the publicity surrounding a Broadway opening later this fall might "wake imagination" about the original all over again -- people will read about Phantom in the papers, etc. I guess that they didn't reason that way, though. Yes, it's true that there are different producers, but the public doesn't necessarily know that.

Anyway, this is still unfortunate news. I wonder where TMG will end up now?

Quick question, and this is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOng way off....

I'm thinking of going to NYC January next year and would like to attend the Jan 26 anniversaty performance (since they dont do the invitation only thing anymore it seems) but Jan 26 next year is a wednesday. It must have happened before that an anniversary year fell on a double show day. Do they do the speeches/cake on th earlier show or the later show?

justin-from-barbados wrote:Quick question, and this is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOng way off....

I'm thinking of going to NYC January next year and would like to attend the Jan 26 anniversaty performance (since they dont do the invitation only thing anymore it seems) but Jan 26 next year is a wednesday. It must have happened before that an anniversary year fell on a double show day. Do they do the speeches/cake on th earlier show or the later show?

I would imagine the evening show, for an occasion like that.

Speaking of Anniversary's. I think that POL/DP should have a group meet up for the anniversary.
Like, we all get tickets to the evening show or something? I haven't been to NY and I really want to. So I would love to see Phantom for the first time with a whole bunch of fans. (But like Justin said, that's a LONG way away...)

Chiming in to add another voice of sadness that the US tour is closing I've loved seeing them so much over the years (first production I ever saw - way back in 1992!) and have had so many wonderful, happy memories of seeing the production, visiting with phan friends and cast members, road trips, etc. It's a real gem, and I'm going to miss it tremendously....

We're planning to catch it while it's in East Lansing, MI (at my Alma Mater, MSU) and possibly one of the other (relatively nearby) stops. I'll be so sad to think it'll be the last time I see them....

~Rebecca

Rebecca wrote:Chiming in to add another voice of sadness that the US tour is closing I've loved seeing them so much over the years (first production I ever saw - way back in 1992!) and have had so many wonderful, happy memories of seeing the production, visiting with phan friends and cast members, road trips, etc. It's a real gem, and I'm going to miss it tremendously....

We're planning to catch it while it's in East Lansing, MI (at my Alma Mater, MSU) and possibly one of the other (relatively nearby) stops. I'll be so sad to think it'll be the last time I see them....

~Rebecca

Oh, it's going back to MSU? I live in Livonia, about a two hour distance or so. I have friends who go to MSU. Perhaps I can make a stop while it's there.

I'm definetly going to attend one of the shows at MSU. I now live just minutes from Wharton Center! I told my boyfriend that now we haaaaad to see it, since this may be the last time I can see the tour for a very long time.