World-renowned composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, 75, received one of the highest honours on Friday as he accepted the key to New York City to memorialise the final performance of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
The musical is currently the longest-running show in Broadway history with 35 years’ worth of performances, all of which will end on Sunday, April 16.
Andrew has spent much of the past few days “reminiscing” over the decades spent at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre, sharing some snaps from his big moment on social media.
Posing with the golden key alongside Mayor Adams, Andrew wrote on Instagram: “Way back to Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971, Broadway has been my beloved second home.
“This Key will be a treasured symbol of my deeply felt connection to the City of New York— the site of my greatest professional triumphs and some of my most profound personal joys.
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“I am so grateful to Mayor Eric Adams for this special honour, and to the citizens of this great city for consistently being the best audiences anywhere.”
Andrew was joined on the special occasion by two of his “leading ladies from past and present”; Sarah Brightman, who was one of the first actresses to portray the now iconic Christine Daaé, and Linedy Genao who is currently leading Andrew’s latest musical Bad Cinderella.
To further mark the end of an era, Andrew penned a new version of the iconic song Think of Me, featuring three characters instead of one and making one of the first adjustments to the musical in decades.
The new song, which was also released on Friday has been recorded by the final three stars to grace the Broadway stage as the Phantom, Christine and Raoul; Ben Crawford, Emilie Kouatchou and John Riddle.
Although Phantom’s final show had been announced months ago, these last few weeks have marked a few more goodbyes than Sir Andrew had originally intended.
On March 25, the composer revealed that his family were “totally bereft” at the sudden death of his 43-year-old son Nicholas, who was also a composer.
Nick had been moved into hospice care shortly before his death as he battled gastric cancer, and in a touching statement, Andrew declared he was “shattered” at the “devastating” news.
Due to Nick’s death, Andrew also missed the opening evening of Bad Cinderella at New York’s Imperial Theatre.
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