With tickets for Broadway shows hitting $900 this year, a free show has never been such a windfall. So some Midtown residents have really gotten lucky, it seems.
Residents of West 57th Street have found themselves with prime views of rooftop rehearsals for “Masquerade” — the new immersive spin on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”
The show — which is said to be similar to the recently closed “Sleep No More” and is taking over the building that once house Lee’s Art Supply — has been mostly shrouded in secrecy while cast and crew prep inside the building.
But recently, performers have been practicing their roles of the roof as well, and Page Six hears that neighbors have been making the most of it.
The Phantom, along with the characters Christine and Raoul, have been spotted performing on the rooftop, and some nearby residents have been singing along.
One die-hard fan even donned the Phantom’s mask and cape to watch the action from his living room, we’re told.
The “Masquerade” team is mindful of their neighbors (just in case they’re not down for free entertainment all the time), enforcing a strict 10 p.m. rooftop cutoff time. (Although Page Six thinks it wouldn’t be so bad to be lulled to sleep by the dulcet tones of the Phantom.)
The show is generating a ton of buzz — the first six weeks of performances sold out in just three hours.
It opens at the end of the month.
The “Phantom of the Opera” first opened in London’s West End in 1986 and then on Broadway in 1988.
It closed in April 2023 after 13,981 performances and a 35-year run, making it the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Box office stubs for “Othello” starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal stunned at $900.