By Comet Ziemer
Broadway has been in the eye of the public recently as many of its most popular shows have announced their departure from the stage capital of the country. Shows including Phantom of the Opera, Come From Away, Beetlejuice, Music Man, and many more are taking their final bows off of their stages for good.
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started, stages on Broadway have been deeply suffering. Even when stages opened back up, many shows found that they only had a small fraction of their original audience and were losing money. Phantom of the Opera has been a big example of this hit. It went from originally gaining over $1 million each week to only reaching around $870,000 each week, which is a loss of $130,000 every week.
While that may sound like a lot of money to some, with the cast, orchestra, and technical aspects the show has to pay for, barely any money is left for the show. Phantom of The Opera is scheduled to close down permanently in February 2023.
Another example of the effects of the pandemic is Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice originally opened on Broadway in April of 2019. I was forced to take an early leave from its original theater in early 2020 right before the pandemic hit. Since then, Beetlejuice opened at a different theater in April of 2022. But its numbers have not been the same from when they were originally open. Beetlejuice announced that it would be closing in January of 2023.
Many Broadway fans are wondering what could be happening next for the stage palace of the US. Broadway hasn’t announced revivals or new productions. So while everyone still can, go see your favorite shows while they are still on Broadway because they are at risk of shutting down permanently.
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