Review: 'Phantom of the Opera'

By Jim Rutter

For THE INQUIRER

Attention Phantom of the Opera lovers: Prepare to fall in love all over again. Cameron Mackintosh has redesigned Andrew Lloyd Webber's classical musical, which for the next month, receives its North American premiere at the Academy of Music.

Actually, re-make more accurately describes what he's conceived here. And Phantom, now almost 30 years old, needed to catch up with the times, particularly advances in stagecraft.

Accordingly, the sets (now by Paul Brown) received the biggest change. A giant, rotating tower of brick and ballast rotates across the set. Serving as the back wall of the Paris Opera House, it also enables the Phantom (Cooper Grodin) to abduct Christine (Julia Udine) and flee down a set of rapidly appearing and disappearing stairs (and gives concrete pause to his line "and though you turn from me to glance behind).

The production kept Maria Björnson's Tony Award-winning costumes, and they sparkle under Paulie Constable's new lighting, to which designer Nina Dunn adds multimedia projections and computer-generated imagery (particularly potent in the graveyard scene). New dance and fight choreography by Scott Ambler enlivens the staged opera performances (the Act 2 opener, "Masquerade" becomes a dizzying, dazzling spectacle), and fistfights between Raoul (Ben Jacoby) and the Phantom occur each time they meet, adding a layer of fierceness to this love story.

Rather than ruin any cherished memories I held of Phantom (much to the distaste of my theatre friends, I love this musical), these changes intensified the plot and deepened romantic triangle.

The large cast on the narrowed stage created a greater intimacy. Christine's ultimate rejection of the Phantom burned through greater sorrow when she left—not over a fake lake of fog, but through a door. Powerful and gorgeous singing by the principals (and particularly in the supporting roles of the opera managers Firmin (Craig Bennett) and Andre (Edward Staudenmayer)), continued to captivate.

However, NB: If you could only love the Phantom you saw for the first time, you might feel disappointed. But to me, this remake proves that the story, the sadness, and the score are timeless, in any design or set of singers.

The Phantom of the Opera. Presented through April 12 at the Academy of Music, 240 S. Broad. Tickets from $30.50. Information: 215-731-3333 or kimmelcenter.org/Broadway