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Is this ‘Phantom of the Opera’ revival the new ‘Sleep No More’?
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Jul 9, 2025
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Jenny Anderson / Courtesy of "Masquerade"
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Jul 9, 2025
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A new immersive show is opening in Manhattan later this month and it’s already sold out its first six weeks.
“Masquerade” is an Andrew Lloyd Webber-approved take on “The Phantom of the Opera,” staged in a four-story French Renaissance Revival-style landmarked building at 218 West 57th St. in Midtown.
The show will feature some former cast members from “Phantom of the Opera,” which shuttered after a record-breaking 35-year run in 2023. The Broadway sensation tells the story of a disfigured composer who lives beneath the Paris Opera House.
Previews start on July 31, and what was originally set to be a six week run was extended through mid-October after the first batch of tickets, which are selling for more than $200 a pop, sold out in hours on June 30.
Additional tickets were added for sale Wednesday and there were still spots available as of publication time.
“It's a real homecoming – Phantom returning to its rightful place in New York City,” said Andrea Goldstein, who already has tickets to see “Masquerade” three times and moderates a Discord server for fans to discuss it.
The show's official website – accessible only to those who sign a digital ledger – offers limited information and its Instagram is mostly just full of red and black detail shots with “Phantom” lyric captions.
Lloyd Webber’s website offers barebones details: “Masquerade” will “take audiences inside, behind-the-scenes, and closer than ever before to the strange affair of The Phantom of the Opera – a mystery never fully explained.” It will involve “over 30,000 crystals.” And it’s directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, whose credits include “Waitress” and “Jagged Little Pill.”
“Masquerade” representatives declined to comment.
Despite the lack of details, theater fans are expecting great things.
For Goldstein, an Upper West Side native, the excitement is largely due to her love of “Phantom,” which she describes as a “constant in a place where everything changes.”
She recalled moving away for college, then the U.S. Navy and coming back to see cabs were taking credit cards, or some forbidden neighborhood had become trendy.
"Phantom was always there," she said. Ever since it ended its run two years ago, she added, it’s felt like “a part of New York’s soul has been missing.”
For others, the most exciting part of “Masquerade” is that it puts a Broadway classic in a new context.
“Taking a musical that has been the longest standing musical on Broadway and playing with the format and being open to experimentation and pushing Broadway in a more innovative direction sounds pretty promising to me,” said Jasmin Jodry, an immersive experience designer who has tickets to “Masquerade.”
Others are hoping the show might fill New York’s sudden lack of sprawling, immersive performances.
“Sleep No More,” which is based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, closed in January after a 14-year run. A short-lived follow-up based on the tale of Faust called “Life and Trust,” abruptly closed not long after, this April.
“Masquerade” has the opportunity to fill this void with a plot that's likely a little easier to follow.
“I imagine ‘Masquerade’ intends to make the immersive theatre genre more palatable for the Broadway tourist,” said Nathan D. Manna, who saw “Sleep No More” more than 50 times.
“I've taken so many people to ‘Sleep No More’ who were disappointed that they couldn't follow the whole plot, didn't understand the dancing, and so on," Manna said. "From the rumors I've heard, 'Masquerade' is a more linear experience because of the musical format, so it will be impossible to miss the major scenes."
Julian Rad, a creative director and designer who scored tickets in a drop on Wednesday morning. He said he's looking forward to the experience but was uncertain “Masquerade” or any other immersive show, for that matter, will be able to reach the same high-water mark as the immersive theater granddaddy.
”It may be that ‘Sleep No More’ was lightning in a bottle," he said.
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Hannah Frishberg
Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].
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