Watch Meghan Picerno Pay Tribute to Hal Prince in ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again’ From Phantom of the Opera

Broadway’s longest-running show, The Phantom of the Opera, celebrates 32 years on the boards on January 26. Set to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s epic score, the story of a mysterious masked man enchanted by the voice of a young ingenue in the Paris Opera House has won the hearts of audiences for generations. This year, the anniversary is felt by the Phantom family even more deeply with the recent passing of the production’s director Harold Prince. Meghan Picerno, who is making her Great White Way debut in the role of Christine Daaé, performed “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” for Club Broadway.com as a tribute to the milestone and to Prince, who she considered a mentor.

The late director cast and directed Picerno in Candide at New York City Opera in 2017, and is the reason why she's in Phantom now. “He immediately took me under his wing and changed my life,” she said. “He’s very dear to me.”

Picerno says that that “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" is her favorite song in the show. "It is extremely pivotal to Christine in her growth going from a girl to a woman,” she explained. “‘Think of Me’ is when she finds her professional voice, but I personally think ‘Wishing’ is when she finds her true voice. It’s so deep and big. You realize this girl has so many different colors to her.”

The ballad also takes place during a poignant moment; it's in the second act, when Christine is standing at her father’s grave. “In my mind, it’s the first time she’s been there since he’s passed so it’s extremely moving and emotional for her,” Picerno said. “The first few times I tried to get through the song, I couldn’t. I would break down. I think of people I’ve lost. The late Hal Prince was actually a dear mentor. I can’t think about him during this song. It’s too personal, and I won’t finish it.”

The audience in the Majestic Theatre also shares in the emotional enormity of “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” “It’s sniffle city,” Picerno joked. “I think that’s what’s so beautiful about this song: If it’s well-done and you do the music and lyrics justice, you ride that line of breaking. That’s exactly what it should feel like.”

Watch Picerno's take on "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" below!