‘Phantom’ extends Broadway goodbye
NEW YORK, Nov 30, (AP): The masked man of Broadway is going out strong.
“The Phantom of the Opera” – Broadway’s longest-running show – has postponed its final performance by eight weeks, pushing its final curtain from February to April after ticket demand spiked. Last week, the show raked in an eye-popping $2,2 million with a full house.
The musical – a fixture on Broadway since 1988, weathering recessions, war and cultural shifts – will now play its final Broadway performance on April 16. When it closes, it will have played 13,981 performances.
“We are all thrilled that not only the show’s wonderful fans have been snapping up the remaining tickets, but also that a new, younger audience is equally eager to see this legendary production before it disappears,” lead producer Cameron Mackintosh said in a statement.
The family said in a news release that they worked with an amateur genealogist to help interpret the DNA results and mine public records to find Melissa, who reunited with her parents and two of her siblings this past weekend in Fort Worth.
“It was just a mixture of joy and terrifying. Being terrified and excited and just trying to understand, you know, make sense of everything,” Melissa Highsmith told KDFW-TV. A woman who sent out a news release on behalf of the family said that at this time, is planning to change her name back to Melissa.
In a statement Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department said it was “overjoyed” to hear that 23andMe led the Highsmiths to Melissa, and added they will conduct official DNA testing to confirm her identity and will provide an update once those official results are in. The investigation into her kidnapping will continue. (AP)