Legendary composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber receives Key to the City
NEW YORK -- Legendary composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber received a Key to the City on Friday before the final curtain falls on "The Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway.
Sunday is the final performance at the Majestic Theatre, which has been home to "Phantom" for 35 years.
"You have brought us so much joy, so much happiness," said Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said Webber defined the genre for more than 50 years.
"We are looking at the, really, the greatest of all time," said Adams.
Adams thanked Lloyd Webber, the show's creator, with a Key to the City. Webber held it with pride as he was photographed alongside Adams, as well as the very first Christine, Sarah Brightman, and the star of the latest Lloyd Webber Broadway musical, "Bad Cinderella," Linedy Genao.
"Broadway is the reason that so many people come to New York and I felt very, very much a part of the community even though I'm British. But I still feel that this is the home of musicals and where I want to be," Lloyd Webber said.
The composer signed autographs for fans, including Jack Krahe.
"I really love this show," Krahe said.
Krahe is visiting from from Houston to celebrate his 70th birthday at his favorite musical.
"He stopped and signed the book for me. I was extremely ecstatic," Krahe said.
Costumes and artifacts from "Phantom" are at the Museum of Broadway. The Broadway run of the show is ending, but the celebrations of the show will continue.
"In theater, there is never goodbye. It's always see you next time, see you soon," actor Luann Aronson said.
Playing Christine in "Phantom" was Aronson's Broadway debut in the 1990s. She came to New York from Los Angeles, checking out the Museum of Broadway exhibit, attending "Phantom" parties and will be in the audience Sunday evening.
"It's embedded. It's part of my entire makeup as a person," she said. "You feel it. You know what it feels like, you know with the whole riding in the boat [sequence in 'Phantom'], it just becomes an embedded memory, which is wonderful."
Broadway will feel a little bare without "Phantom," but Aronson and others say it is musical cannot sail away into the mist; it's too timeless and gorgeous for that.
Lloyd Webber has won six Tonys, an Emmy, three Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
"The Phantom of the Opera" premiered in 1988 and is the longest-running show in Broadway history.
Actors who originated the roles of the Phantom and Christine are expected to attend the final performance at the Majestic Theatre on Sunday.