At the masquerade you can be anyone and no one all at once.

The staff of The Broadway Banner saw a performance of “Masquerade,” the interactive retelling of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” now playing eight shows a week in a building on West 57th Street that once was home to an art supply store.

The Broadway production opened on Jan. 26, 1988, and ran a staggering 13,981 performances. When it closed on April 16, 2023, it left “Phantom” superfans with no place to go.

Until now.

Now, they can go to “Masquerade” — dressed up in black, white or silver. Over the course of more than two hours, masquerade mask in place, they’ll travel up stairs and down, from room to room, watching the story unfold and becoming part of the action.

The Phantom breezes by, his cape brushing you. Carlotta asks you to hold her throat sprayer. Madame Giry teaches you the song “Masquerade.”

No photos at ‘Masquerade,’ a lived experience

Before the performance began, we were all given stickers to put over our phone cameras, ensuring that pictures wouldn’t be taken during the show. It was hard to even remember I had a phone during the show, it truly felt like I was in the musical.

The show began with a champagne toast, with mocktails for those underage or not interested in drinking. Soon, we were under the spell of a violinist playing the famous Lloyd Webber melodies.

The stern ballet mistress Madame Giry appeared and led us in a dance, making us part of the masquerade.

“Masquerade, paper faces on parade
Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.”

Before long, guided by the actors and by the white-masked attendants the production calls “butlers,” we danced, held props, read letters from the O.G. Opera Ghost. (I got one!) The actors even sat with some of us (or on our laps) while asking questions or singing.

Home

Seeing ‘Phantom’ on its feet, a moving experience (literally)

Going up and down stairs and up and down escalators and into tiny rooms that held no more than 20 of the approximately 60 audience members at a time, we made our way through the story, seeing the musical in a brand new way.

I was never sure which floor I was on. I just kept wondering how many rooms there were and how many floors there were.

I later learned that our 7 p.m. show was being followed by five other performances, one every 15 minutes, a stunning work of logistics, timing and theatrical magic. There were six Christines and six Phantoms on the night we attended, crisscrossing and trading rooms without us ever knowing we didn’t have the place to ourselves.

The actors were remarkable, singing effortlessly and never once breaking character while also ducking from sight, vanishing from the ever-moving audience.

The lighting changed the mood in every room, and the fog effects made the floor disappear at times.

Sharing the space with actors was emotional at ‘Masquerade’

All of us in the audience were dressed up, complete with masquerade masks. It felt cool not knowing who anyone was but knowing we were all there for the same reason. I soon forgot I was even wearing a mask, because I was so interested in the show.

While we wore masks, we could see the actors’ faces, except for the Phantom’s, and it made us different, like we were hiding while watching the story unfold.

I heard some audience members behind me crying and even saw a man wipe away tears. The silence at the end spoke loudly; everyone in that room seemed to be affected by what they had seen.

I’m not sure if this style of immersive theater is the future of Broadway, but “Masquerade” made for a great night out and an unforgettable experience.

A night where we could be anyone and no one all at once, at “Masquerade.”

Khloe JeanBart is a senior at Park Slope Collegiate in Brooklyn.