'Masquerade' Off-Broadway review — immersive 'Phantom of the Opera' adaptation heightens each sensation

Read our review of Masquerade off Broadway, an immersive reinterpretation of the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber musical blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera.

In 2022, about a week before The Phantom of the Opera announced it would end its 35-year Broadway run the next year, I saw the show for the long-overdue first time. From the front row, I could see the orchestra playing my favorite theatrical overture, its epic swell making my body vibrate in my seat, and I instinctively flinched as the one-ton chandelier began its famous crash to the stage during the Act 1 finale. It was the closest experience I’d had to immersive theatre at the time. But Masquerade, an actually immersive interpretation of the phan-favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, builds on the Broadway production's spectacle tenfold, to entirely thrilling effect.

The multiple floors — and even the rooftop — of the venue formerly known as Lee's Art Shop have been transformed into the fictional Opera Populaire in Paris and the labyrinthine, secret world in its shadows. There unfolds a now-famous tale: Talented singer Christine discovers that her long-unseen voice teacher is the Phantom, a mysterious and facially deformed man whose interest in the young woman grows into a dangerously possessive passion.

The cast of Masquerade rotates, so you'll see a different slate of performers depending on your entry time (each night accommodates six audience groups, called "pulses," that enter at 15-minute intervals and experience the two-hour production in succession). An airy, wide-eyed Haile Ferrier and a boyish Telly Leung were my pulse's Christine and Phantom. What Leung lacks in fearsomeness, he makes up for with a crystal-clear voice and a softness that telegraphs the insecure, emotionally stunted child at his heart, a quality that successfully advances Masquerade's aim. Though this version of the show isn’t officially titled The Phantom of the Opera, it is more firmly centered around him than the original musical, diving into his disturbing memories of how he came to the opera house and acquired his instantly recognizable mask. An opening letter from the “Opera Ghost,” read by Madame Giry (a commanding Tia Karaplis at my performance) as our guide, describes the whole affair as the Phantom’s personal masquerade ball and a journey through his darkest thoughts.

Yet, telling the story from his perspective does smooth over some of its darkest themes — namely, the relationship between the Phantom and Christine is portrayed as more of a sexy gothic romance than a hair-raising tale of unchecked obsession and manipulation. Perhaps that's a somewhat necessary consequence of the immersive format: You're so close to the performers that an intimacy is inherent, and when the Phantom offers his hand to lead you to the next unknown location, or when he touches your shoulder and looks into your eyes as he whispers "Trust me" during "Music of the Night" (as Leung did to me), you can't be off-put by him such that you're not willing to keep letting yourself go with his flow. There are moments where Masquerade gets eerie — like an extended scene inside the freak show where a young Phantom was displayed for cruel amusement — but the vibe is decidedly more Disney attraction than haunted house.

And sure, that may flatten the story a bit, but damned if it doesn't make for a mesmerizing experience anyway. Only an escalator that carries us to the Phantom's lair took me out of Masquerade's mythic world, but the flow between scenes is otherwise surprisingly seamless under Diane Paulus's direction. Like Disney, Masquerade spares no expense and overlooks no detail, with signs and props thoughtfully placed even in transitional spaces. (Creative direction, art direction, and production design are by Shai Baitel, Jessie Flynn, and James Fluhr, respectively.) And to Phantom devotees' delight, all the show's iconic images — the gondola, floating atop a bed of smoke, from which Christine and the Phantom sing the title song; the doomed chandelier; the graveyard where Christine weighs her fate — are painstakingly recreated.

Oh, and that overture? We first hear a version of it in a parlor room, where we’re greeted with flutes of bubbly and a violinist (it’s an Easter egg; Christine’s late father is one in the musical) serenely playing a Phantom medley. I’ll admit, serene wasn’t what I expected upon stepping into such a larger-than-life event. But I should have known — the violin is just the pre-show muzak. When the fully orchestrated overture later exploded alongside a flash of light and a shower of confetti like broken glass, Masquerade instantly had me under its spell. I’d call it the point of no return, except I definitely hope to return.

Masquerade summary

Masquerade is an immersive reimagining of The Phantom of the Opera, the longest-running Broadway musical of all time, playing the Majestic Theatre from 1988-2023. This version largely retains the original plot about a facially deformed, masked musician living a solitary and mysterious life beneath a Parisian opera house, where he came to be known as "the Phantom" or "the Opera Ghost."

He becomes obsessed with his protégé, the ingenue Christine Daaé, and lures her into his seductive, subterranean world. As the Phantom begins to terrorize the other singers and staff in order to maintain his grip over Christine, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny — the opera house's patron and Christine's secret lover — endeavors to take him down.

Much of this action unfolds from the Phantom's perspective at Masquerade, where audiences also get a deeper look into his early years, only briefly mentioned in the original musical's script.

What to expect at Masquerade

The Phantom is an exacting host with a strict dress code: Cocktail attire at minimum, and only in black, white, or silver. The show provides masks (which are stretchy so they can be worn with glasses) for those who don't bring one, and thin heels are prohibited, as one portion of the experience involves walking over a grate. Prepare to climb multiple flights of stairs as well.

While some immersive shows let audiences freely explore the venue, Masquerade is entirely guided and linear, though sometimes a group will be divided in half for certain scenes. (If you get split from a friend, don't worry — you'll reunite later in the show!) Performers and other staff will clearly direct you to your next destination; just watch your step in the dimly lit passageways.

Select audience members are chosen for unique participatory experiences, such as playing the piano at the opera house or dancing with a masked performer during the title number. These details make Masquerade ripe for return visits; if you see the show with a different cast or even just stand elsewhere in a room, your experience of the Phantom's world will change. And there are so many surprise appearances, disappearances, and effects that to say more would ruin the thrill of the experience.

What audiences are saying about Masquerade

Audience buzz about Masquerade has been largely positive, with attendees taking to various online forums to rave about the detailed design and the various nuances of the different casts' performances of the show.

• "The best immersive theater event I've ever experienced, that I think will appeal to both Phantom fans and theater enthusiasts looking for a unique night out. The original musical has been enhanced and broken into small intimate scenes, the singers are right there, and you can touch and feel the period artifacts & scenery." - Show-Score user GreatAvi
• "Overall I thought the show was very beautiful but I was expecting more free roaming vs guided. I also felt very packed into certain spaces and I’m small so people step on me or push me a lot, which wasn’t super fun. It’s well executed though, the logistics and set pieces were impressive!" - Reddit user u/dolores_abernathy
• "I went to see the show last night and had been speaking with the accessibility team prior to my date. I want to share how absolutely wonderful my escort Talia and the whole team were! They seamlessly helped me through the spaces and we kept up with the rest of the group so I didn’t feel that I missed anything and even got some unique cast interactions!" - Reddit user u/j9r9g9
• "I really appreciate that the show used the immersive medium to tell a thematically different version of the show, where the audience identifies with the Phantom instead of Christine. It’s a clever and fresh way to tell a timeless story." - Reddit user u/sophisticatedkatie

Read more audience reviews of Masquerade on Show-Score.

Who should see Masquerade

• "Phans" of The Phantom of the Opera will be curious to see how the musical translates into an immersive, interactive format and what plot additions and rearrangements were made for Masquerade.
• Fans of the now-closed Sleep No More, the long-running noir adaptation of Macbeth, might find their newest obsession in Masquerade. Besides both being immersive reimaginings of dark classics, Sleep No More and Masquerade bear many of the same experiential hallmarks: masks, a multi-level venue to explore, and a post-show bar area where attendees can get drinks and photo ops. (If you're lucky, you may spot some cast members there too!)
• If Halloween season is your favorite time of year, Masquerade will let you revel in spookiness, not to mention dress up, whenever you wish. Some attendees at my performance arrived in formal attire that verged on costume, sporting accessories like capes that made them resemble the Phantom himself.

Learn more about Masquerade off Broadway

Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world at Masquerade, a jaw-dropping and ever-surprising experience that heightens the world of The Phantom of the Opera as never before.

Learn more about Masquerade on New York Theatre Guide. Masquerade is at 218 W 57th St.

Photo credit: Masquerade off Broadway, featuring Telly Leung and Haile Ferrier. (Top image by Oscar Ouk; in-article images by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman, and Luis Suarez)