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http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/1/6/music/20060106123252&sec=musicPhantom of the Opera to become Broadway's longest running show
TheNEW YORK: No job in the theater lasts forever. At "The Phantom of the Opera,'' it only seems that way.
On Monday, Jan. 9, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical - with performance number 7,486 - becomes the longest running show in Broadway history, surpassing another of the British composer's megahits, "Cats.''
And while statistics can be trotted out extolling the longevity and profitability of the production, it's the people, both on-stage and behind the scenes, who make the musical work at each performance.[continued]
Do we have any Phantom fans here? Be they modern or classical, I'm not much of one for plays or operas, and I hated Cats, but I loved the Phantom. And did we get lucky on this one. Tsu and I saw the opening performance in Los Angeles with the original cast! One night while working late on my homework I took a break and saw a commercial at about 2 AM stating that extra tickets had come available for opening night, so, since our anniversary was coming up, I called and we got the last two seats in the house - fantastic seats, nearly center and only about twenty or thirty rows from the stage. It was a star studded event and you could feel the magic in the air. The performances and music were all consuming. It was a night that I will never forget.