A lot of it is over the top, but Phantom of the Opera seems to operate on a theatrical plane where bigger is better, more is merrier–and it works. This touring production is impeccably put together, from the orchestra playing Webber’s music to the ensemble giving exquisite performances, and every set piece on stage. When there are candelabras glistening as a boat rows into view, or the full ensemble dressed in ostentatious garb in the resplendent “Masquerade”, or the Phantom pelts Raoul with tiny fireballs from his staff, there’s little point to nitpick.
The big, full orchestrations and atmospheric staging shroud any plot shortcomings. Matt Leisy (Raoul) and Meghan Picerno (Christine) photo by Jaypee Maristaza There’s a tragic truth to the Phantom, but his sins remain inexcusable. The obsession grows, culminating in an abduction where Christine needed to be saved. There is Raoul ( Matt Leisy ), too–the sensible love interest, sure, but less captivating a character to Christine and the Phantom. The Phantom’s obsession with Christine manifests like a haunting: the company employing Christine is experiencing freak accidents, or threats thereof, if they don’t do the Phantom’s bidding. This is our introduction to the Phantom, he knows, and he makes it unforgettable. For “Music of the Night”, in particular, Roxmouth punctuates each ornate lyric with a performance that is equally extravagant.
Enchanted by the ingenue Christine (an enamoring Meghan Picerno ), he lures her to him. L-R: Thabiso Masemene (Ubaldo Piangi), James Borthwick (Monsieur Firmin), Beverley Chiat (Carlotta Giudicelli), Matt Leisy (Raoul), Curt Olds (Monsieur Andre), Melina Kalomas (Madame Giry), Kiruna-Lind Devar (Meg Giry) photo by Jaypee Maristazaīased on French novelist Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, The Phantom of the Opera is about a madman with a mask (Roxmouth) who has largely steered away from human contact. For the show’s eponym, he is surprisingly on stage for very little, though the Phantom’s presence is as constant and indelible as the chandelier hanging overhead. Webber and Prince’ s staging doesn’t really romanticize the obsession, but I’d be remiss not to say that Roxmouth’s Phantom gives the character a magnetic allure.
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