'Phantom of the Opera' ends on Broadway after 35-year run

April 17 (UPI) -- The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running show in Broadway history, went dark for the last time on Sunday night.

Composer Andrew Lloyd Weber dedicated the final show to the memory of his son Nick, who succumbed to gastric cancer at age 43 in March.

"Thank you to absolutely everyone who has made this extraordinary run possible... It is just amazing really what has happened, and in the last few months I don't think any of us thought that Phantom would go out quite with the bang it has," Webber said to the audience.

The Phantom of the Opera has been enormously successful in its three-decade run earning over a billion dollars. It originally opened in London's West End in 1986 with Webber's music, lyrics by Charles Hart, and the libretto by Webber and Richard Stilgoe. Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford originated the lead roles as Christine Daaé and the Phantom. Though the production's end was announced last September, surging ticket sales extended its run for another two months.

The original Phantom, Michael Crawford, couldn't make the last show due to dental surgery. But he shared a tribute to the production.

Wishing the cast, crew, orchestra and alumni of The Phantom of the Opera an unforgettable closing night," he wrote. "Thank you for carrying on the legacy of this beautiful show for thirty-five years. Though I can't be there for the final performance due to ill-timed emergency dental surgery, my heart is full of love and gratitude for everyone involved in this production including all who are celebrating tonight at the Majestic Theatre, and those from the original and truly special creative team and Broadway company who are no longer with us."

Laird McIntosh, who stepped in for Ben Crawford who was sick, and Emilie Kouatchou, were the last to perform The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

"It's like no other show I've done," McIntosh told WPIX News. "And I've done my share of them. But there's none like Phantom. So if audiences are feeling a melancholy that the show is closing, I'm most certainly feeling it."

Kouatchou talked to WPIX before the show.

"I feel excited and overwhelmed and anxious but mostly just happy that I get to do this with all these people over here," Kouatchou said.

Brightman remembered Nick, saying that he was around when Webber was writing the music. "When Andrew was writing it, he was right there. So his soul is with us. Nick, we love you very much."

The last night ended with Brightman singing one of Phantom's most famous songs, "The Music of the Night" along with the current and past cast members and crew.