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It was the reopening night time of “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway, and Andrew Lloyd Webber was D.J.-ing the soon after-bash.
From a booth built earlier that day on 44th street in Manhattan, Mr. Lloyd Webber, the play’s composer, whose occupation has lasted decades and who has gained 4 Tonys and an Oscar, mixed new music, clapped on all four beats, waved his arms in the air, and bobbed his head in advance of a group collected outdoors. (He was sporting paprika-hued Beats by Dre headphones for the celebration.)
The party followed the initial performance of “Phantom” due to the fact the pandemic commenced, which was attended by Laura Linney, Joel Gray, numerous contestants of “The Bachelorette,” some “Real Housewives of New York” and Senator Chuck Schumer.
Exterior the theater soon after the present, throngs of “Phantom of the Opera” devotees — acknowledged as “phans” — hoisted their phones to seize the 73-12 months-previous composer actively playing D.J. as costumed forged members danced and lip synced on the Majestic Theater’s balcony powering him.
Mr. Lloyd Webber adopted the “Phantom” topic with the Baha Men’s “Who Let the Canine Out,” most likely an oblique reference to Mojito, his new black Havanese. The puppy, sadly, experienced to continue to be household in England with Mr. Lloyd Webber’s two Turkish Van cats.
“Mojito experienced his hair reduce right now,” Mr. Lloyd Webber reported at a pre-bash at Barbetta, an Italian cafe on 46th Road. “He’s not pretty happy.”
Mr. Lloyd Webber, on the other hand, was effusive about what he jokingly identified as his “new career” as a D.J., declaring that the night’s set was just a heat-up ahead of his “big gig in Ibiza.”
The spectacle of Andrew Lloyd Webber as D.J. was novel to the position of unbelievable, but his daughter Bella Lloyd Webber, who manages his social media accounts, insisted he was executing extra than just hitting enjoy.
“He’s mixing,” she told me as she edited a online video for the composer’s TikTok account on her telephone at the rear of the D.J. booth. “Lightly mixing, but mixing.”
As he played a set that involved a remix of “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” the group typically gawked and recorded videos.
“I guess no other Broadway composer has done this!” shouted Madeleine Lloyd Webber, Mr. Webber’s spouse, as she danced in the street. “You’re seeing D.J. Webz,” she extra, helpfully spelling out her husband’s nom de guerre as Lady Gaga’s “Rain On Me” blared. “We absolutely want her to do a person of our displays one particular day,” she stated.
On the other side of the platform, Leah McSweeney of “The True Housewives of New York City” popped bubble gum and bopped together to the music in a small leopard print gown.
Ms. McSweeney, who was accompanied by her mom, Bunny, reported at intermission that the display was making her want to date once again. “It’s very pretty,” she reported. “The Phantom’s incredibly hot.”
A fellow castmate on “The Genuine Housewives,” Luann de Lesseps, was also at the demonstrate.
Motivated by the production’s established design, she reported, “I wish I had that lots of curtains,” as she left the demonstrate.
The crowd outdoors the theater resembled a goth-themed promenade, with phans decked out in velvet gowns, burgundy-and-black tuxedos and whole-on Phantom cosplay.
“The Phantom of the Opera,” which was adapted from a 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux, stays the most significant musical by at minimum a pair of steps: longest-running on Broadway, premier orchestra at this time on Broadway.
The musical options a adore triangle among Christine, an opera ingénue, her suitor Raoul and the Phantom, her mysterious svengali and from time to time-captor. When the tale is simple — feel Persephone satisfies 42nd Avenue — the audio and costuming are decidedly maximalist.
Phans seeking to emulate the passionate ruffles, lace and capes from the demonstrate have spurred a cottage sector of material designers and fabricators producing garments that mimic precise costumes from the exhibit.
Kara Ritchie, who attended the just after-social gathering, boasted that her dress, made by Wenda Lynne Layouts, was a facsimile of the gown worn by Christine during the track “The Place of No Return.”
Another attendee, Christina DiCillo, who wore a blue costume created by Prima Donna Designer, was observing the exhibit for the 38th time. She came with her twin sister, Francesca DiCillo — also in costume — who has witnessed the exhibit only 24 occasions.
Some audience customers experienced traveled hundreds of miles for the reopening. Emma Rose Lewis, the lately topped Miss Clayland 2022, had driven by yourself from Ohio. She stood close to the theater’s entrance, beaming in her sash and tiara, cloaked in a denim coat fringed in rhinestones.
Trevor Fezza, who wore the Phantom’s signature mask and black cape, said that he discovered with the title character. “He’s misunderstood, but he has a side that you love,” he explained.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the patron saint of earnestness and enthusiasm, also confirmed up to the pre-social gathering sporting his personal plastic phantom mask. Requested which character he most identified with in the present, he mentioned: “These days, I guess the owners of the opera residence.”
At the pre-bash, Mr. Lloyd Webber’s daughter Imogen wore a Phantom mask decorated with rhinestones. She said that she had procured the mask from Etsy, incorporating, “Don’t notify Cameron,” gesturing to Cameron Mackintosh, the show’s producer, who was chatting close by with Curtis Sliwa, who is jogging for mayor.
Mr. Lloyd Webber’s established lasted about 30 minutes, but he managed to squeeze in two various remixes of the “Phantom” concept. Then, like the Phantom himself, he seemingly vanished from the bash.
Mike Borowski, a push agent for the show who is also a D.J. on Hearth Island, took over, closing his established about 11:30 p.m. with Donna Summer’s “Last Dance.”
By midnight, site visitors had returned to 44th Road and factors had been seemingly back again to regular on the block exterior the theater. For all those who seen the return of “The Phantom of the Opera” to Broadway as a image of New York’s recovery, again to typical essentially appeared really distinctive.
