For Reasons Unclear, West End 'Phantom' is Being Revamped
On June 19th, Shaun Tossell at Theatre Fan, a British theatre site, reported that the long-running West End production of The Phantom of the Opera would be undergoing major changes before it reopens after the COVID-19 shutdown.
Tossell reported that the changes include:
“Everyone in the production has been let go which includes the cast, the front of house staff, the stagehands, the orchestra etc.”
“This would no doubt be because of the current situation with COVID-19. Though the cast apparently have not been given first right of refusal for when the production returns.”
“This “all-new” production would reportedly reduce the size of the orchestra to the size of the of the touring version, that is 14 musicians instead of 27, the rest will be pre-recorded.”
“The Gillian Lynne’s choreography and Hal Prince’s staging would be updated, which would mean the production would not have to pay royalties to the estates of the original creatives.”
Tossell also noted that these rumored changes are very much like what producer Cameron Mackintosh did to his other long-running West End property, Les Misérables, last year. That decision was met with an uproar from fans demanding that the production remain untouched. A petition was even started that over 3,000 people signed.
While the Phantom changes began as rumors, they were more or less confirmed by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber himself who tweeted that he would do “my power to ensure that when the Phantom returns it is the brilliant original.”
It’s unclear from this tweet if Webber is for or against the changes and is just saying this to reassure panicking fans.
In any event, those fans have started a new petition calling for producers not to change the show. At the time of publishing this article, over 1,900 people have signed it.
So, I have a couple of takes on this. Needless to say, if you’re a longtime follower of this blog, you know that I have a bit of a tumultuous history with this show. But I also recognize its importance to musical theatre history and how it propelled the business in the 1980s.
Having said that, I really hate the rumored changes. I understand the need to save money coming out of COVID-19 shutdowns, but to revamp the show in this way, it just feels wrong. Also, the thought of having canned music playing in the pit seems blasphemous.
There are certainly changes they could make, for instance treating its lead character better, But many of the changes I would want would change the entire arc of the show.
It’s unclear whether or not the same changes will be applied to the Broadway production but I would imagine the various unions involved might have an issue with these changes.
While The Phantom of the Opera was hardly doing well on Broadway before the shutdown(it was among the worst in audience attendance), it’s still considered a huge attraction for tourists and casual theatre fans. We’ll see if we’re getting a brand new version of Broadway’s longest-running show.