Masquerade a Phantom of Opera Experience.
Feb. 22nd, 2026 05:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
traykorIf you're going to be in NYC before June, you should see Masquerade. Especially if you are disabled.
We arrived at the venue early. They checked us in and asked if we needed the stairless route. I said yes. I was with my rollator as I figured the larger scooter I have would be too big.
We were ushered in to a side hallway and met by a staffer, who introduced himself as our butler for the evening. He got us our masks, took our coats, and asked if we wanted the alcoholic or non-alcoholic toast. Then he asked--and it was an ask--how we would like to move about the experience--I could walk with the rollator or one of their chair canes and he'd ensure a good path and when to go to the elevator (the main audience goes up and down stairs a lot), or they had wheelchairs available and he would push me. He talked briefly about the speed of transitions but I didn't feel pressed to choose any one option. I opted for the wheelchair.
Throughout the night him moved me into and out of the rooms quickly, the other staff were very on top of moving curtains, moving chairs, it was very well coordinated.
In the first room, as everyone else is standing, I was right in front. A cast member stopped and asked my name. A few minutes later, Andre entered and greeted me by name (he then went on to say hello to other attendees). I thought that might be it for the name but it was not!
Throughout the show there are notes from the Phantom, of course. These actually get handed out to people and you get to keep them, which is just fun in general.
So we are moving through the show, and there's a moment when the main audience is doing a long staircase down so you, in the elevator, end up in the next scene well ahead of them. It's Carlotta's dressing room. She also greeted me by name as an 'old friend', and started complaining about not having a big role in Don Juan (if you know Phantom you know what's being adapted here), we chat, the rest of audience comes in and suddenly I'm in the scene! I got to play along as her dear friend comforting her (I suggested a vacation to Italy), and then we read the Phantom's next note together, which I got to keep.
In another moment, the bring in some of the Phantom's backstory from Love Never Dies (and one of the songs), and it's supposed to be spooky. The rest of the audience goes through a spooky hallway, but from the elevator you don't.
They had a cast member waiting outside the elevator to spook us. Just us! So we wouldn't miss out on the scare.
It was like that throughout. Always positioned for a good view, lots of cast interactions. At the end there's a bar and merch shop. They quickly brought out my rollator and our coats and gave us directions on how to leave when we were ready.
So truly a magic night. It's a very different version of Phantom, but I've seen the musical live on stage 5 times, different was appealing. I could not have loved it more.
We arrived at the venue early. They checked us in and asked if we needed the stairless route. I said yes. I was with my rollator as I figured the larger scooter I have would be too big.
We were ushered in to a side hallway and met by a staffer, who introduced himself as our butler for the evening. He got us our masks, took our coats, and asked if we wanted the alcoholic or non-alcoholic toast. Then he asked--and it was an ask--how we would like to move about the experience--I could walk with the rollator or one of their chair canes and he'd ensure a good path and when to go to the elevator (the main audience goes up and down stairs a lot), or they had wheelchairs available and he would push me. He talked briefly about the speed of transitions but I didn't feel pressed to choose any one option. I opted for the wheelchair.
Throughout the night him moved me into and out of the rooms quickly, the other staff were very on top of moving curtains, moving chairs, it was very well coordinated.
In the first room, as everyone else is standing, I was right in front. A cast member stopped and asked my name. A few minutes later, Andre entered and greeted me by name (he then went on to say hello to other attendees). I thought that might be it for the name but it was not!
Throughout the show there are notes from the Phantom, of course. These actually get handed out to people and you get to keep them, which is just fun in general.
So we are moving through the show, and there's a moment when the main audience is doing a long staircase down so you, in the elevator, end up in the next scene well ahead of them. It's Carlotta's dressing room. She also greeted me by name as an 'old friend', and started complaining about not having a big role in Don Juan (if you know Phantom you know what's being adapted here), we chat, the rest of audience comes in and suddenly I'm in the scene! I got to play along as her dear friend comforting her (I suggested a vacation to Italy), and then we read the Phantom's next note together, which I got to keep.
In another moment, the bring in some of the Phantom's backstory from Love Never Dies (and one of the songs), and it's supposed to be spooky. The rest of the audience goes through a spooky hallway, but from the elevator you don't.
They had a cast member waiting outside the elevator to spook us. Just us! So we wouldn't miss out on the scare.
It was like that throughout. Always positioned for a good view, lots of cast interactions. At the end there's a bar and merch shop. They quickly brought out my rollator and our coats and gave us directions on how to leave when we were ready.
So truly a magic night. It's a very different version of Phantom, but I've seen the musical live on stage 5 times, different was appealing. I could not have loved it more.