Three musicals that once ruled Broadway are briefly sharing New York again, though none has returned in its original form.
Since “Les Misérables: The Arena Concert Spectacular” opened at Radio City Music Hall on July 23, it has played alongside “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” on Broadway and “Masquerade,” the immersive Off-Broadway adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera.”
The overlap ends Saturday, Aug. 8, when “The Jellicle Ball” closes. “Les Miz” concludes the following day, while “Masquerade” continues Off-Broadway.
“Cats,” “Les Miz” and “Phantom” defined musical theater in the 1980s. Cameron Mackintosh produced the original Broadway productions of all three, spectacles built for long runs and worldwide replication. He also produces the current Radio City “Les Miz.”
Les Misérables The Arena Concert Spectacular, Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean.Photo by Danny Kaan
All three were on Broadway in the 1990s, when I saw them with my family. We bought orchestra seats at TKTS for less than $40 each. They were major attractions and dependable fixtures.
“Miss Saigon,” considered the fourth British mega-musical, may be less likely to return because of longstanding criticism of its treatment of Vietnamese women and children.
The other three have proved more adaptable, but are now revivals rather than new sensations. “Cats” is receiving its second Broadway revival, “Les Miz” has had two, and “Phantom” closed only in 2023. Each must offer audiences more than the same show again.
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” makes the strongest artistic case for reinvention and offers the clearest example of how difficult it is to sustain an expensive Broadway revival.
Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch replace the junkyard with a runway and queer Ballroom competition. The concept feels less imposed upon “Cats” than uncovered within it. A plot-light musical becomes a celebration of performance, identity and community.
The production received rave reviews and three Tony Awards, yet it will close four months after opening. Seemingly respectable grosses reportedly failed to cover its weekly running costs.
Its fate shows that reinvention alone may not be enough. “The Jellicle Ball” offered an unmistakably new “Cats,” but it still had to overcome Broadway’s costs and persuade people to pay premium prices for a musical they may feel they have already seen.
Following the announcement, Andrew Lloyd Webber warned that Broadway was in “dire danger” and implored theater owners, unions and producers to “come together urgently.” His warning captured the anxiety: If an acclaimed, award-winning revival with a brilliant original concept of what was once the long-running show in Broadway history cannot survive, what can?
“Masquerade” takes a different route by selling something other than a conventional revival.
Director Diane Paulus and producer Randy Weiner have placed “Phantom” inside an immersive environment on West 57th Street, combining fragments of the musical with formal attire, champagne and a journey through multiple rooms.
Kaley Ann Voorhees and Nik Walker in MASQUERADE.Photo by Oscar Ouk
The results are mixed. The prerecorded score cannot match the original orchestra, and the narrative does not naturally fit the format. Commercially, however, “Masquerade” is revealing. It turns “Phantom” into a branded experience with a dedicated venue, staggered admissions and a nightclub atmosphere.
Weiner has expressed interest in finding a similar future for “The Jellicle Ball,” perhaps in a club built around it. Its runway and Ballroom atmosphere may be better suited to a nightclub than a Broadway theater.
“Les Miz” takes a third route: scarcity.
Rather than mount another Broadway revival, Mackintosh has brought an existing international arena concert to Radio City for just over two weeks. It minimizes scenery and movement while emphasizing the cast, orchestra and score.
That approach plays to the musical’s strengths. “Les Miz” is sung through and built around impassioned solos and ensemble climaxes. The engagement feels like an event, with a landmark venue, rotating stars, a 40th-anniversary celebration and a firm closing date.
Seeing all three in New York again underscores the durability of the British mega-musical. Their original runs may be over, but the memory remains, the music of the night plays on, and there is always one day more. The challenge is finding a new theatrical form and a workable business model for the next life.