{"id":2058825,"date":"2025-09-30T02:09:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2058825"},"modified":"2025-09-30T02:09:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:09:58","slug":"secretive-off-broadway-phantom-of-the-opera-riff-is-a-sexy-hot-ticket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/secretive-off-broadway-phantom-of-the-opera-riff-is-a-sexy-hot-ticket\/","title":{"rendered":"Secretive off-Broadway &#8216;Phantom of the Opera&#8217; riff is a sexy, hot ticket"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F09%2F112416350.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--review alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n\t\t<span class=\"inline-module--review__eyebrow subsection-heading-semi__label\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tTheater review\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"inline-module--review__title subsection-heading-semi\">\n\t\t\tMASQUERADE\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"rating\">\n<div class=\"rating__stars\">\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 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stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--filled\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rating__star rating__star--half\"><?php \/**\n * Review star.\n * \n * @package nyp-editor\n *\/\n\n??><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n\t.review-block-star {\n\t\t--review-block-star--empty-color: #585858;\n\t\t--review-block-star--fill-color: #000;\n\t}\n]]><\/style>\n<p><svg class=\"icon-star review-block-star\" stroke=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\" fill=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\" stroke-width=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 16\" height=\"13px\" width=\"13px\">\n\t<defs>\n\t\t<lineargradient id=\"half-gradient\">\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"50%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--fill-color)\"\/>\n\t\t\t<stop stop-opacity=\"1\" offset=\"0%\" stop-color=\"var(--review-block-star--empty-color)\"\/>\n\t\t<\/lineargradient>\n\t<\/defs>\n\t<path d=\"M3.612 15.443c-.386.198-.824-.149-.746-.592l.83-4.73L.173 6.765c-.329-.314-.158-.888.283-.95l4.898-.696L7.538.792c.197-.39.73-.39.927 0l2.184 4.327 4.898.696c.441.062.612.636.283.95l-3.523 3.356.83 4.73c.078.443-.36.79-.746.592L8 13.187l-4.389 2.256z\">\n\t<\/path>\n<\/svg>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Two hours with no intermission. Through Feb. 1 at Lee&#8217;s Art Shop, 218 W. 57th Street.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>When \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d closed on Broadway in 2023 after a mirror-shattering 35-year run, everybody figured it would eventually come back.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody, however, foresaw that the return of Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s musical to New York would take up an entire department store and require comfortable shoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But, as soprano Christine Daae says, \u201cThings have changed, Raoul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s \u201cMasquerade,\u201d the hot-ticket, magical, immersive spin on the show that opened Monday night\u00a0off-Broadway\u00a0at that old hallowed hall of theater, Lee\u2019s Art Shop on 57th Street.<\/p>\n<p>Directed by Diane Paulus, it\u2019s \u201cSleep No More\u201d meets \u201cThe Music of the Night.\u201d You\u00a0journey\u00a0from the basement to\u00a0an\u00a0open-air rooftop \u2014 all of which has been transformationally and gorgeously designed and decorated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"inline-module inline-module--more inline-module--columnist inline-module--more--thirds\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h2 class=\"inline-module__heading subsection-heading subsection-heading--single-line \">\n\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"subsection-heading__sub\">Johnny Oleksinski<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The chandelier still falls and the gondola glides through the mist. I had tremendous phun.<\/p>\n<p>The way the dream-like experience works is 60 people enter at each of six performances a night dressed in black, silver and white. If you\u2019ve seen \u201cRatatouille,\u201d you know what color the critics wore. Everybody also has to don a mask.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lacey face coverings are provided. But plenty of people brought their own from home, which begged some questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Sixty audiences per performance enjoy the immersive \u201cPhantom of the Opera\u201d take called \u201cMasquerade.\u201d  <span class=\"credit\">Oscar Ouk<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course, twelve\u00a0straight\u00a0hours of poperatic singing is next to impossible. So, there is a sextet of talented Phantoms and Christines, and varying numbers of Raouls, Madame Girys and other roles acting out a tantalizing Tetris.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I saw Jeff Kready as the opera ghost and Anna Zavelson as diva Daae, both of whom sing\u00a0at a\u00a0Broadway caliber\u00a0just\u00a0a couple feet from your face.<\/p>\n<p>The orchestra unfortunately is canned \u2014 logistically that\u2019s the\u00a0only\u00a0option \u2014 but\u00a0at least\u00a0the overture is played live by a devilishly good violinist, who lurks around\u00a0throughout.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The audience goes through a dizzying array of rooms. <span class=\"credit\">Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Where \u201cMasquerade\u201d is unlike the now-shuttered \u201cSleep No More\u201d at the McKittrick Hotel is that patrons don\u2019t dart off wherever they\u2019d like to go \u2014 be it the Phantom\u2019s boudoir or the fly loft of the Opera Populaire.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re guided through a dizzying array of rooms, often with a glass of Champagne. And outside of the opener at the New Year\u2019s Eve ball and the plummeting of a certain famous light fixture, the rest of the performance unfolds in the usual order.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most pleasurable \u2014 and jumping off Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe\u2019s lyric \u201cand in this labyrinth where night is blind\u201d \u2014 is that wading through the\u00a0luxurious\u00a01881 Parisian maze is totally disorienting.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s like trying to find the exit of the world\u2019s sexiest Whole Foods.<\/p>\n<p>When a blast of fresh air hit me as\u00a0our\u00a0group walked out\u00a0under the stars\u00a0for the love duet \u201cAll I Ask of You,\u201d I had no idea we were already at the\u00a0very\u00a0top of the building.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The show takes place from the basement to the roof of Lee\u2019s Art Shop. <span class=\"credit\">Rosario Arcuri for MASQUERADE<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Traveling\u00a0such a\u00a0vast\u00a0distance requires hopping on escalators, which do, for a second, yank you out of 19th Century France\u00a0and back into a building where you could once buy paint brushes.<\/p>\n<p>A few smart, artful additions raise \u201cMasquerade\u201d to something far greater than a jolly tourist attraction. Paulus, when she\u2019s firing on all cylinders, knows how to fuse the commercial with the profound.<\/p>\n<p>At one point, we\u2019re whisked into a circus dungeon to witness the origins of the Phantom, called Eric, as a frightened boy in a circus freak show.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0three-ring\u00a0visit isn\u2019t all a downer. One performer puts a nail through her nose. Another swallows fire.\u00a0There are shots.<\/p>\n<p>Later, poor Eric returns in the show\u2019s final seconds in a brilliant move involving our masks that\u2019s strikingly beautiful. The inspired idea\u00a0takes the \u201cMasquerade\u201d lyric \u201chide your face so the world can never\u00a0find\u00a0you\u201d and wrings\u00a0fresh new\u00a0tears from it.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cMasquerade\u201d features six different Phantoms and Christines.  <span class=\"credit\">Oscar Ouk<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This entire revitalized gothic romance with its 1980s guitar riffs has that invigorating effect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d may have\u00a0vanished\u00a0from the Majestic Theatre, but there\u2019s plenty of majesty to be found on 57th Street.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Theater review MASQUERADE Two hours with no intermission. Through Feb. 1 at Lee&#8217;s Art Shop, 218 W. 57th Street. When \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d closed on Broadway in 2023 after a mirror-shattering 35-year run, everybody figured it would eventually come back. Nobody, however, foresaw that the return of Andrew Lloyd Webber\u2019s musical to New [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2058826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25174],"tags":[324114,21741,345885,383632,24047,345886],"class_list":["post-2058825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gossip","tag-andrew-lloyd-webber","tag-entertainment","tag-musicals","tag-off-broadway","tag-theater","tag-theater-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Secretive-off-Broadway-Phantom-of-the-Opera-riff-is-a-sexy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2058825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2058825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2058826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2058825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2058825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2058825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}