‘Phantom’ set to outlive ‘Cats’

updated 1:11 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2006

NEW YORK - No job in the theater lasts forever. At “The Phantom of the Opera,” it only seems that way.

On Monday, Jan. 9, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical — with performance number 7,486 — becomes the longest running show in Broadway history, surpassing another of the British composer’s megahits, “Cats.” And while statistics can be trotted out extolling the longevity and profitability of the production, it’s the people, both on-stage and behind the scenes, who make the musical work at each performance.

Some have been there from the very beginning: Jan. 26, 1988, when “Phantom,” the tale of a deformed composer haunting the Paris Opera House and his love for the beautiful soprano Christine, first opened at the Majestic Theatre.

Among those on Broadway who have found steady employment for nearly two decades are musician Lowell Jay Hershey, who plays the trumpet in the show’s orchestra; Thelma Pollard, the musical’s makeup supervisor; and George Lee Andrews, one of three actors who have been in the production ever since the curtain first went up in New York.

Why have they stayed so long in “Phantom”? It’s good, steady work, they say.

In a career that has spanned over 30 years, Hershey has done other successful musicals, including “Big River” and “Nine,” but it was the trumpet player’s experiences in such short-lived duds as “Rockabye Hamlet” and “The Three Musketeers” that made him realize, “There is not really much advantage in leaving a hit show.”

And “Phantom” has been among the biggest. The money it has made, not to mention the other numbers accumulated during its long run, has been staggering. Its gross in New York alone has been nearly $600 million. Almost 11 million people have trooped into the Majestic, one of Broadway’s prime houses — home in the past to such legendary musicals as “South Pacific” and “The Music Man” — to see the show.

And that doesn’t take into account foreign companies, including the original London version, which opened in October 1986 and is still running.

Record-setting costs
Pollard still has memories of that magical opening night nearly 18 years ago — she was able to go out into the house and watch bits of the performance in-between her cues backstage.

“I was in awe,” she says. “Even before the curtain went up, we could hear the buzz of the audience on the monitors backstage. During the show, they applauded everything. And when you hear applause like that, you know it’s going to be a great night.”

In 1988, the New York production cost a then-record $8 million. Today, the figure would be $12 million. “Phantom” won seven Tony Awards, including the best-musical prize as well as the Tony for its original star, Michael Crawford.

Ten actors have followed Crawford as the title character, including Howard McGillin, now in his second stint in the show. McGillin has put on that mask in more than 1,400 performances, more than any other Phantom on Broadway. He’ll play the role Monday at a special 6:30 p.m. performance, which will be followed by a lavish masked ball at the WaldorfAstoria hotel, presided over by producer Cameron Mackintosh.

Mackintosh is producer of the top three longest running shows on Broadway — with “Les Miserables,” holding third place. Worldwide grosses have topped an astonishing $3.2 billion.

Pollard started in the show’s hair department, working on several characters including Raoul, the dashing young hero who wins Christine’s heart. When Tiffany Hicks, the makeup artist who came over from England to work with Crawford, left, Pollard took over — and has worked with every Phantom since then, including Crawford. All have sat in a barber chair in the star dressing room, waiting patiently while Pollard creates the Phantom’s intricate facial deformity, hidden for much of the evening beneath a ghostly mask.

It originally took her one hour and 20 minutes to complete the transformation; now she does it in an hour. her workday usually begins at 6:30 p.m. — one of her three assistants does the matinees — and ends around 11 p.m. She remains on duty during the show for touchups — actors do perspire — and helps with makeup removal after the curtain comes down.

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