Theater review: 'Phantom' fades in new staging
Advertising "the spectacular new production" of "The Phantom of the Opera" is partly the usual hype and partly a case of protesting too much.
English producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh launched a restaged "Phantom" in 2012, and the touring production made its premiere at Tempe's ASU Gammage last week. So, while not exactly new anymore, it's new to Arizona fans. At least a few of whom, if I am to judge from my e-mail, are Not Pleased.
No surprise there. Any attempt to update one of the most popular and eye-popping musicals of all time is bound to disappoint some of the faithful. What's more, one of the motivations for this version was to control costs for an enormous road show, which means some of the visual wow moments just don't have the same impact as before.
The most noticeable change might be the underground grotto where the Phantom, the masked Svengali being played by "The Voice" finalist Chris Mann, spirits away his innocent young protege, Christine Daae. A bedazzled Christine sings of a "vast glassy lake" with "candles all around," but unlike in the original staging, most of that is left to our imagination.
Nonetheless, you can't really say the revamped "Phantom" looks cheap. Yes, if there were an elephant in the room during the opera rehearsals, it wasn't nearly as noticeable as it once was. And yes, the grand staircase has been removed from "Masquerade." Yet its replacement, a glassy, candlelit ballroom, is quite beautiful and very much in keeping with the Gothic tone of the story.
Using a giant semicircular structure that rotates for the many scene changes, Mackintosh and director Laurence Connor (replacing the great Hal Prince) have crafted many visually appealing moments, including the famous chandelier drop — definitely still a wow moment — or Christine's sunrise communion with her dead father in a Paris graveyard ("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again").
The staging also has great fun with the idea of the Phantom as a crafty engineer, adding a secret staircase that magically appears as well as an array of actual pyrotechnics to go along with the vocal sort.
Speaking of which, for those who love "Phantom" primarily for Andrew Lloyd Webber's score, this is very much the same show it has always been: that is, a pseudo-operatic excursion into musical excess both lush and bombastic.
Among the scores of baritenors to have played the title role, the current star is memorable only for a certain shallow and callow impression. Not that he doesn't have legit pipes — you don't get this gig without them — but Mann lacks the booming gravitas you expect in a good villain, something that's most apparent in his speaking voice, which sounds more like the Boy Scout of the Opera than the Phantom. Most unmenacing.
For the first week at Gammage, the role of Christine was sung by Katie Travis, who sounded as crystal-perfect as you could ask for in an ingenue soprano. She has been replaced by Krista Buccellato for a week two, and Celia Hottenstein will close out the Tempe run. Storm Lineberger, who makes a fine Raoul, also will bow out for the final five performances, replaced by the Valley's Nick Cartell.
For those "Phantom" fans who prefer the original spectacle to the 2.0 version, the bad news is that this incarnation will be the touring version for the foreseeable future. The good news is the Broadway production is still going after 27 years, the longest run in history. And doesn't everyone love New York in June?
Broadway Across America: 'The Phantom of the Opera'
Reviewed Friday, May 29. Continues through Sunday, June 7. ASU Gammage, Mill Avenue and Apache Boulevard, Tempe. 480-965-3434, asugammage.com.
Reach the reviewer at kerry.lengel@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4896. Follow him at facebook.com/LengelOnTheater or twitter.com/KerryLengel.