ĪPhantomā lives up to predecessors

By Ricardo Baca
The Metropolitan

Please get all visions of falling chandeliers and Michael Crawford out of your head. This is not Andrew Lloyd Webberās hit musical, Phantom of the Opera; rather it is just plain Phantom and written by a man youāve probably never heard of.

Phantom is based on the same Gaston Leroux novel as Webberās, just with different dialogue and songs, and a few dissimilar twists thrown in.

Lacking a touring production, Denver regional theater probably wonāt see a Webber musical for many years. No local theater company could get rights to any of Webberās shows, as they are still wildly in demand.

Cats recently surpassed A Chorus Line as the longest running show on Broadway and is still running strong. Phantom of the Opera is also selling out in New York.

That is why we must settle for Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopitās Phantom.

And as Jerry Seinfeld would say: ćNot that thereās anything wrong with that.ä

The musical tells the story of Cholet (A.K. Klimpke) and his wife, Carlotta (Joanie Brosseau-Beyette), the greedy, new owners of a French opera house. The couple decides that Carlotta should have  the starring roles in all of the shows even though her talent mirrors that of a high school talent show.

Enter Christine (Shelly Cox-Robie), referred to the opera house because of her beautiful voice. The new owners, give her Cinderella-type employment as a costume maid.

A ghostly being (Wayne Kennedy) who resides in the cellar of the opera house, overhears Christine one day, and she is immediately taken on as his student. His only condition: she can never see his face, which is covered by a mask.

As he trains her, she becomes a great singer, and gets a lead in the latest opera. Then Carlotta poisons Christineās drink so she sings horribly on opening night, hence pissing the phantom off because he has fallen in love with Christine.

Itās close to Webberās musical, the four Phantom films and the original novel, but a few zingers have been thrown in.

It turns out the former opera house owner, Carriere (D.P. Perkins), is the Phantomās ashamed father. After his wife died, he saw nothing but ugliness in his sonās deformed face, so he did what any self-loathing and immature father would do. He threw him in the basement with a mask to cover his face.

Great vocal performances, which audiences have become accustomed to at Boulderās Dinner Theatre, highlighted the night.

Although you couldnāt see Kennedyās face, his voice resonated throughout the room while he sang the balladesque laments. Also impressive was Cox-Robie, who beautifully sang the difficult, multioctave part.

Carlotta, Kopitās best written character, stole the night. Brosseau-Beyette was wonderfully erratic. She was the perfect mix of Narcissus and the little train who couldnāt.

The technical aspects were also carried out nicely. Four corner spotlights prevented the players from being engulfed in lurking shadows.

But the blocking and choreography lacked the creativity the stage designers possessed. The many songs where the entire company would stand motionless facing the audience were boring to look at. Also, many of the dance scenes were sketchy and sloppy.

I guess every dog has his day ... and I guess he has his off days, too.
Not that thereās anything wrong with that.