The "music of the night" has ended in San Francisco.
The longest running musical in the city's history -- "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Curran Theatre -- closed on Sunday, Jan. 3.According to Steven Winn, who covers the theater beat for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical drew 3.15 million patrons over the past five years. It earned $160 million for London-based producer Cameron Mackintosh and the local presenter, Carole Shorenstein Hays and Messrs. Nederlander. The latter's "Best of Broadway" series brings touring productions to the Curran, Golden Gate and Orpheum theaters.
Plus, as it has in other cities where it's played, "Phantom" also enriched the coffers of countless nearby hotels and restaurants -- and cab drivers. It was a major tourist attraction, as attested to by frequent ads in the Deseret News travel section promoting package tours tied directly to the musical.
According to one spokesperson in the Hays/Nederlander office, the Curran will be closed for five or six months for extensive renovations, including the addition of new restrooms for those seated in the historic theater's upper balcony.
"Have you ever sat in the balcony?" she asked. "Patrons up there have resorted to using restrooms in nearby hotels."
There are no definite dates yet for the Curran, "Art," the 1988 Tony Award-winner for "best play," and a new touring edition of "Cabaret" have both been mentioned as possibilities later this year.
The Best of Broadway subscription office in San Francisco also voiced interested in "Phantom" coming to Salt Lake City, indicating that tourists unaware that she show is no longer playing in the Bay Area may be told they can catch it here during it's seven-week run from June through mid-July.
There's also a chance that a retooled version of "Ragtime" will be playing in San Francisco later this spring, but definite dates for this entire Broadway tour are still up in the air.
(This national touring company has been stalled by producer Livent, Inc.'s bankruptcy mess, although New York-based Pace Theatricals managed to salvage the show's scheduled Seattle and Boston runs. Variety, the entertainment industry news magazine, has reported that Pace may take over the entire touring "Ragtime" company. Livent will continue to present the show in the two theaters it owns in Chicago and New York.)
"Rent" -- the same ensemble which recently played here -- is scheduled to begin a 10-week run in March at the Golden Gate Theatre. It could actually evolve into a longer, open-ended run, depending on ticket sales.
If you're interested in the "Best of Broadway" series, you can access their Web site at www.bestofbroadway-sf.com.
Meanwhile, the cast of the Curran Theatre's long-running "Phantom" is moving on after 2,126 performances in the City by the Bay.
According to a story in last Sunday's Chronicle, Lisa Vroman, who played ingenue Christine Daae, has a CD deal in the works, while Christopher Carl (Raoul) has a role in "1776" in Santa Barbara, and Franc D'Ambrosio (Phantom), told Winn that he planned "to take a nap before he thought about anything else."
Winn also said that the production's musical director, John David Scott, had a more practical plan.
"First I'm going to the unemployment office," he said, "And then the movies, 'Shakespeare in Love.' "
There's a possibility that some members of the San Francisco company could eventually end up in the "Phantom" company traveling to Salt Lake City this summer.