Broadway’s summer season has plenty to offer, including new ‘Phantom’

With its swirling fog, crashing chandelier and sexy vocals, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” was deemed plenty immersive for Broadway audiences when Mr. Music of the Night first haunted the Majestic Theatre in 1988. 

But the bar now has risen for the money-spinning masked warbler. 

When the scourge of the Paris Opéra returns this summer after little more than two years away from New York, he’ll be at the center of a new, immersive “Phantom of the Opera,” continuing a trend of brand extension perhaps best typified by the London spinoff of the Abba phenom — “Mamma Mia: The Party,” a boozier, more interactive version of the much-loved jukebox musical. 

Although we surely know that running costs will be lower than the old epic attraction with a set of a size we never will see again on Broadway, the new “Phantom” will be shrouded in secrecy for at least a couple more weeks. 

But he has whispered a word or two in my ears.

The new show is to be called “Masquerade,” is to be performed in the old Lee’s Art Shop building at 220 W. 57th St., just around the corner from Carnegie Hall, and it’s a pretty good bet, given the title, that the show’s Act 2 opening number will encourage audiences to become part of the Victorian operatic glitterati as the familiar ghoul appears to assert his will. 

The show now has lots of digital options at its disposal; in 1988, everything was analog, heavy and came in three dimensions. Certainly, this won’t be your daddy’s “Phantom,” kids, and it is indicative of the so-called “immersive” trend that has Broadway producers looking beyond traditional theaters to entrance audiences who want to be surrounded, if they’re being expected to put down their phones. 

You’ll have to wait for the rest of the details. But I saw the 90-minute “Phantom” created for Las Vegas in 2006 and I bet that’s the new roadmap for “Masquerade,” at least in terms of the book and the score.  The chandelier came down in Sin City at such a break-neck speed, audiences were scared out of their wits. Let’s hope “Masquerade” gets the same. 

What else does the summer hold for the theatergoer?

Speaking of “Mamma Mia,” that show returns to Broadway this summer for a limited run. I’ve already seen this touring cast (not to mention the show at least a dozen times) and Christine Sherrill, the current Donna, is for my money the very best to play that role. You might not know her name, but you’ll appreciate her talent. Who needs to be immersed when you’ve got the right star? 

On Broadway itself, we’re in the post-Tony of shows giving up the ghost: “Smash” has posted its closing notice already, although at the time of writing, everyone else was still going. But in the case of several of the fiscally struggling new musicals, such as “Boop! The Musical” and “Real Women Have Curves,” it might be best not to wait. 

The 2025-26 Broadway season already officially opened Thursday night with “Call Me Izzy,” a vehicle for the fine actress Jean Smart. It’s hardly a seasonal escape, given the show’s exploration of marital abuse, but Smart’s performance will more than satisfy her fans.

Beyond Broadway, summer highlights include “Joy,” a new musical from AnnMarie Milazzo and Ken Davenport all about the entrepreneur Joy Mangano, the inventor of the Miracle Mop!, once a fixture on the QVC shopping network. You may recall the Jennifer Lawrence movie. 

“Downton Abbey” fans will be interested in “Ava: The Secret Conversations,” a show starring Elizabeth McGovern, the American actress best known for playing Lady Cora in the British TV and movie franchise. Penned by McGovern and directed by Moritz Von Stuelpnagel. 

The show is based on the series of real-life (and revealing) interviews given by the Hollywood star Ava Gardner.

“Heathers the Musical,” the show about teen cruelty first seen off-Broadway in 2014, will make its campy return to New York this summer with a new production at the New World Stages.  

And speaking of campery, “Ginger Twinsies” will send up Lindsay Lohan, Nancy Meyers, “The Parent Trap” and 1990s culture in general at the Orpheum Theatre. Over at the Atlantic, there’s an intriguing new play coming from Abby Rosebrock called “Low Country,” all about the perils of looking for love in the digital age.

Finally, New York’s beloved Delacorte Theatre is now illuminated again in Central Park. In August, Peter Dinklage, Sandra Oh, Lupita Nyong’o, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and other familiar names will star in “Twelfth Night,” out under the glittering stars. Or so one hopes.

That in-yer-face “Phantom’ will likely suck up a lot of oxygen this summer, but you also can’t beat being immersed in the fresh air.