Canadian cast members say goodbye as Phantom of the Opera ends 35-year run on Broadway

Standing just outside New York City's Majestic Theatre, Laird Mackintosh recalled joining the Broadway ensemble of The Phantom of the Opera 10 years ago. 

On Sunday, the Canadian actor will take in the iconic musical's waxy candelabras, golden chandelier and hazy opulence from the audience, as the show that began his musical theatre career in Toronto 30 years ago takes its final bow on Broadway.

"A lot of the high points in my career have been as a result of being in this show," Mackintosh said.

The longest-running musical in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera will close on Sunday after 35 years, nearly 14,000 performances, and a gross of over a billion dollars. Its Canadian cast members say that something of its likeness won't be seen again on the Great White Way.

Mackintosh, a Calgary performer who was a dancer in the National Ballet of Canada before he made the jump to musical theatre, joined the Toronto production of Phantom in 1993, when shows in the city were "going gangbusters," he said.

He played several roles in Toronto and in the show's U.S. tour, including the lead romantic role, Raoul, as well as the titular character. After joining the show's New York company in 2013, Mackintosh played the Phantom again — but he was cast primarily for the role of Monsieur André, the owner of the opera.

"Years later when I came to Broadway, because the show had run that long, I just aged up into another role," said Mackintosh. "That's something that doesn't usually happen in the run of a show, where actors are playing multiple roles in different ages."

It's a testament to Phantom's staying power among Broadway regulars and international audiences. With its gothic Victorian romance, lush candlelit set and iconic love songs like The Music of the Night, "the spectacle of the show is still one of the most stunning things that you would see in a production on Broadway," said Mackintosh.

But he believes the story, about a brutally disfigured man who haunts a 19th-century opera house before falling in love with a young soprano named Christine, is the draw that has sustained the show's success for more than three decades.

"At the core of this production, I think, is a central character that strikes a chord with people," said Mackintosh. "Somebody who is on the outside, ugly, deformed, but inwardly has all the richness of a very deep soul, talent — something to offer the world."

The Phantom of the Opera boasts a cast, crew and full orchestra of 130 people and expansive set pieces that include a one-ton replica of the Paris Opera House chandelier. Its set is manually operated by stage hands, a rarity on Broadway as newer shows rely on automation to move their sets around, according to Mackintosh.

"I think it is truly the end of an era. I mean, people who I've talked to who know, who've worked on this production from the beginning, agree that we will not see this again on Broadway," he added.

Audiences who come from around the world to see a Broadway show can expect a range of flavours: big, small, experimental, conventional, traditional Broadway shows and avant-garde shows, said Mackintosh.

"But I think Phantom does represent something that when it's gone, it will not exist anymore on Broadway."