Report: The Phantom of the Opera May Be Readying an Off-Broadway Return

An unconfirmed listing on industry publication Theatrical Index (you can find a paywalled link here) claims that Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera may be readying to return to NYC. The Tony-winning musical ended its historic, 35-year Broadway run in 2023.

Appropriately, reports of a return for the Opera Ghost are mysterious at best. The Index's listing, which claims performances will begin March 15, 2025, does not share a theatre or any creative team members beyond the writers, along with Evan Bernardin Productions as general manager and Kate Lumpkin Casting handling casting. Official sources—including both companies listed as being involved with the alleged upcoming staging and Lloyd Webber's production company Really Useful Group—are keeping mum for now. Time will tell if this report turns out to be legitimate.

That Phantom would come back to New York sooner rather than later is hardly surprising, though Theatrical Index's listing indicates the production would be Off-Broadway (no venue is named). Rumors have been swirling among theatrical circles of a drastically reimagined and immersive production of the musical modeled on Sleep No More, which certainly has the potential to explain why the Opera Ghost might not aim to haunt the Main Stem once again. No official news of this plan has been made.

READ: Reflections on the Final Phantom of the Opera Performance

The musical—which features music by Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart (with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe), and a book by Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber—is adapted from the novel by Gaston Leroux. The story follows a young soprano who becomes the student, muse, and obsession of a mysterious masked man living in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opéra House. The gothic romance opened in London's West End in 1986 and came to Broadway in 1988, quickly becoming one of the biggest worldwide hits in theatrical history. A streamlined version of the original production reopened after the COVID-19 shutdown in London's West End, and is still running at the Her Majesty's Theatre, along with several international tours and sit-down productions.

Original producer Cameron Mackintosh has made it no secret that he plans to bring the musical back to Broadway, saying as much in statements released prior to the 2023 closing and onstage at the Majestic following the final performance. No official word has emerged on those plans, either.

The musical's closing (well, technically the closing of Bad Cinderella the following June) ended a historic 44-year streak of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals on Broadway. But in the time since, it's become clear the Tony- and Olivier-winning composer is not keen for that to last long. Many of his long-running hits have been returning to major stages, often for the first time in stagings that are drastically reimagined from their original productions. A ballroom-inspired Cats: "The Jellicle Ball" is currently playing a multi-extended run Off-Broadway at Perelman Performing Arts Center, and an Olivier-winning minimalist revival of Sunset Boulevard is due to bow on Broadway after its recent West End run later this year. Similarly, new takes on Starlight Express (a revival is currently underway at London’s specially designed Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park) and Evita have also been circling major stages, though with no Broadway plans announced as of yet.

READ: In This New Cats Revival, It's Jellicle Songs for Voguers and Femme Queens

Stay tuned—Playbill will continue to follow this developing story.