Trump bizarrely tries to pin ‘Phantom of the Opera’ closure on Biden administration

Former president Donald Trump interrupted a string of politically themed posts on his social media website to blame the Biden administration for the closure of the longest-running musical in Broadway history.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump shared an Associated Press story about the announcement that New York-based production of The Phantom of the Opera will take its final bows in February 2023 with a caustic note: “Even ‘Phantom of the Opera’ is closing in the Biden era!”

According to the AP, the long-running production’s impending swan song has nothing to do with President Joe Biden or his administration. Instead, the show’s end to a string of what will be 13,925 performances dating back to 1988 is a result of a “post-pandemic softening in theater attendance in New York”.

In a statement, the show’s longtime producer Cameron Mackintosh said the nature of theatre is that “all shows do finally close”.

“As a producer you dream that a show will run forever. Indeed, my production of Andrew [Lloyd Webber]’s ‘Cats’ proudly declared for decades ‘Now and Forever.’ Yet ‘Phantom’ has surpassed that show’s extraordinary Broadway run,” he said.

Mr Trump is known to be a fan of broadway musicals that debuted during his own heyday as a developer and tabloid icon in the 1980s.

According to multiple reports, White House aides would often summon aide Max Miller to play Mr Trump Reagan-era showtunes — including the Cats showstopper “Memory” when the then-president was becoming upset.

Mr Trump’s love of Broadway songs also extends to the playlist which can be heard before his political rallies. Among the songs which rallygoers can hear while they await the former president are two selections from Phantom: “All I Ask of You” and the musical’s title track “The Phantom of the Opera”.