‘Phantom of the Opera’ to close in Las Vegas

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Cue the organ one final time. ‘Phantom -- The Vegas Spectacular,’ the truncated version of the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical playing at the Venetian, has set a closing date of Sept. 2.

The Las Vegas production originally opened in 2006. The show runs a casino-friendly 95 minutes, versus the full-length Broadway version at the Majestic Theatre that runs two and a half hours, with an intermission. (Both versions are staged by Hal Prince.) By the time it closes, the Vegas ‘Phantom’ will have had 2,691 performances, producers said.

The Broadway production, which opened in 1988, is expected to reach 10,000 performances in February.

The September closing of the Vegas ‘Phantom’ means that there will be only one production of the musical still running in the U.S. -- the Broadway version at the Majestic Theatre. The last U.S. touring production concluded its run in 2010.

Lloyd Webber said in a statement: ‘The Las Vegas production of Phantom took all of the classic elements of the show and added unique aspects that created a whole new experience... It enjoyed remarkable success in Las Vegas, was enjoyed by millions of fans and proved that a timeless love story told in a fantastic theater will always be in vogue.’

The Vegas ‘Phantom’ is staged at the Venetian in a theater built to resemble the Paris Opera House where the musical is set. The show features all of the Lloyd Webber songs from the original musical but with an abridged storyline.

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-- David Ng