Onstage at the Wharton Center, the "Phantom of the Opera" stars have grandeur and glory.

The rest of their day, however, is more mundane. The actors are like most people, only more mobile.

Every four weeks or so, they make a new home. They share books and ovens and Internet sources.

And they seem content with their complicated lives.

"I love performing," said Teresa DeRose, a dancer. "I love traveling, too."

Still, it's complex when touring is a semi-permanent lifestyle.

Most Broadway shows go on tour for a year or two, tops. The actors live cheaply and save most of their per-diem money; they need it when they return to unemployment in New York.

"Phantom" is another matter. David Cryer (Monsieur Firmin) has been on tour since 1992. DeRose and D.C. Anderson (Monsieur Andre) have done it - with some breaks - since 1990 and 1989, respectively.

Their approaches vary.

Anderson, 48, currently rents a tiny room in Michigan State University's Owen Hall.

That's part of a stripped-down, single life. He prefers to spend money producing his own CDs, songbook and cabaret shows.

"I have so few personal belongings," Anderson said. "I own no furniture, no car."

Cryer, 67, also rents an Owen Hall room, but the rest of his life is vastly different. He has a four-bedroom house back in New Jersey. He's raised six kids, most of whom went to big-money colleges. One who didn't (actor Jon Cryer) was busy becoming a movie and TV star.

"David is just amazing," Anderson said. "When he started this (tour), his youngest son was 6; now he's finishing high school."

Throughout that time, Cryer has been on the road.

"We use the phone an awful lot," he said. "We'll call three, four, five times a day."

For the younger actors, touring is sort of an extended, post-college road trip. "Look at all the places I probably wouldn't have been able to see otherwise," said Julie Hanson, 23, who stars as Christine.

For others, a realization settles in: This is real life; they have to find a way to make it work.

The approach varies from town to town.

"We get on the Internet and look for places," said Marni Raab, who is the alternate Christine. "We all trade information."

In East Lansing, she and De-Rose are living well. They combine to pay $1,500 for a month in one of the Town Place Suites.

That gives them two bedrooms and a living room. It also gives them a full kitchen; one night, actress Sarah Lawrence, the No. 3 Christine, borrowed it to make cookies.

It also puts them a block from the Michigan Athletic Club. "That's an amazing place," said Raab.

In the forever-fit world of show business, activity is crucial. The outdoor kind doesn't always work.

"This year, we're playing a lot of winter cities during the winter and summer cities during the summer," said Brad Little, who plays The Phantom.

So people scramble to find indoor action. Raab does aerobics and rides stationary bikes at the MAC; she may expand to racquetball. Cryer has a belated passion for indoor tennis. Anderson ignores the weather and takes long campus walks.

For DeRose, 13 years of "Phantom" dancing adds up to plenty of exercise, thank you.

"I'm at a certain level of fitness now," she said. "I think being in the show takes care of that."

DeRose likes to spend some of her time at museums and galleries. She also just bought a VCR, so she can catch "The West Wing" and other shows when she gets home at night.

Other entertainment varies with the town and the weather.

"For an exciting place like San Francisco, there's so much to do," Raab said. "Last time, we went ballooning over the Napa Valley."

In wintertime East Lansing, things are quieter. Raab has found an Italian tutor and is looking for Internet classes.

What about the primary form of recreation: romancing other attractive young performers?

It happens, sometimes. When "Miss Saigon" reached town, its stars had fallen in love. Brad Little, the "Phantom" star, met his wife when they were in a show; Cryer met both wives that way.

Still, the actors insist such romances are rare.

DeRose is married to an artist whose dance career was ended by injury. She occasionally flies home to New York; he sometimes meets her on the road.

Raab is dating a lighting technician. He'll soon start work as the "Phantom" advance man, setting up the lights at the beginning of each stop. "We'll see each other one week in each town," she said.

Few lives, however, are as complex as Cryer's.

After college, he was accepted to both Yale Divinity School and Harvard Law School. Still, he preferred the joy of doing shows at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. The shows were written by fellow students Gretchen Kiger and Nancy Ford.

He married Kiger and became a traveling actor. They had two children, including Jon, who skipped college.

Instead, he went to Broadway, then did movies, including "No Small Affair" (romancing Demi Moore) and "Pretty in Pink," and three TV series.

His dad remarried and had four more children; the fourth heads to college this fall.

Cryer plans to stay in the show to pay his tuition. "If I ever write a book," he said, "it will be called 'Phantom Father.' "
 

Contact Mike Hughes at 377-1156 or mhughes@lsj.com.

Tonight, "The Phantom of the Opera" starts the second half of its four-week run.

Details :
 

Where: Wharton Center
 

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sundays; through Feb. 16.
 

Tickets: Call 432-2000. For Fridays, Saturdays and the Sunday matinees, they're $67, $47 and $25; other shows are $61, $41 and $20.

Road rules

Here are details of road life for "Phantom of the Opera" actors:
 

Where they stay: The actors decide this. The company deals with a business-housing firm, but the actors can ignore that and find their own. They can live cheaply - pocketing most of their per-diem money - or expensively. Though the amount varies widely, it's often around $700 per week.
 

The variety: Some actors stay in dorm rooms within walking distance of the Wharton Center. Others go all-out, including suites and rental cars.
 

More savings: If they have friends or family in town, actors might stay with them and pocket all the money. Romance is also rewarded: Two people, with two per-diems, share one room.
 

Getting to work: Actors don't have to be there until a half-hour before show time. Some arrive earlier, for stretching or vocal workouts.
 

Fitness: The company manager usually takes a group account at one gym. Some actors ignore that and find their own.
 

The "library": Actually, it's a big trunk that the stage manager maintains. When actors are done with a book, they might toss it in there for the others.
 

Just for fun: In the summer, there have been softball games; in winter, there are bowling parties.
 

More music: At times, cast members organize benefit concerts. None are planned in the Lansing area, but actor D.C. Anderson had a cabaret concert Saturday at the Creole Gallery.

The touring life

For 11 years, David Cryer has lived a double life - touring with "The Phantom of the Opera" and living with his wife and kids in New Jersey. Here's how:
 

Between towns: The show ends in one town on a Sunday and opens in another on a Wednesday. Cryer flies home on Mondays, then to the new town on Wednesdays.
 

The good news: As the stays in each town get shorter, the trips home are more frequent. The first stop (in Chicago) lasted nine months; many current ones (including East Lansing) are four weeks.
 

The bad: In the past, shows ended on a Saturday, giving Cryer a three-day break; now that's been trimmed to two.
 

Vacations: There are only two weeks a year.
 

Summers: At times, someone will join him for part of the trip. "I usually have one kid per year," Cryer said. "Last year, Billy (his youngest) and I had a great time."
 

Personal days: Cryer gets some, because he's been with the show so long. He took last weekend off, grabbed his trombone, and met his wife and Billy for a musical weekend at a resort.
 

Holidays? Not often. This year, some "Phantom" actors flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.
 
 
 

"Phantom of the Opera," perhaps Broadway's most flamboyant musical, opens on a dark stage with people huddling around in shadows. Center stage is dominated by a huge object (1,000 pounds, actually) covered with a gray cloth with the words "chandelier" painted on it (anyone who has seen "Phantom" knows the chandelier is important enough to almost require second billing).

The beautiful baroque stage proscenium adorned with golden angels and cherubs, is also covered with gray cloth.

There is no overture or music. "Phantom" begins simply with an auctioneer selling off the remains of a once beautiful and ornate opera house.

The starkness of this scene makes the theatrical spectacle that follows more spectacular.

"Phantom" is a phenomenon. It's been on Broadway since 1988 and has played in nearly 100 cities around the world to more than 58 million people. It was last in East Lansing in 1996 and pretty much sold out its seven-week stay. This year's Wharton Center run is four weeks long.

"Phantom of the Opera" is a dark, Gothic, melodramatic musical spectacle centered on the "Beauty and the Beast" legend. As in most Andrew Lloyd Webber shows, the songs are romantic and lyrical, and at least one will stick to you like glue.

The trademark tune for "Phantom" is "Music of the Night," the song that the disfigured, mysterious and somehow sexy phantom sings to his young soprano, Christine. It culminates a startling sequence of scenes that has the Phantom - complete with his black tuxedo, fedora hat and famous white mask - taking his beloved Christine down to his lair below the Paris opera house in a gondola, floating on an exquisite lake of candles and fog. It's one of the most astonishing and beautiful scenes ever created on a stage.

When Phantom sings "Music of the Night" you get a sense of the dark appeal of this show:

"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams;

"Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before ..."

It's surprising how operatic "Phantom of the Opera" is. Set in the 18th-century Paris Opera House, we watch scenes of operas and ballets being rehearsed. None of the show's songs has the beat and rhythm fans of musical theater are accustomed to hearing in modern productions.

A bit disappointing is the diminutive 17-piece orchestra that is asked to sound lush and enthralling to support the voices.

Christine (Julie Hanson) is supposed to be an ingenue and she certainly looks like one. Onstage, Hanson appears petite and youthful - like a teenager. She is charming, but her voice is light and shrill.

As the Phantom, however, Brad Little does the trick. He lurks around the stage like a tomcat, and his voice is thrilling and dramatic. It's his show.

The costumes are eye-popping in their detail and beauty -especially the "Masquerade" scene, where one cannot stop looking at every single unique and creative costume on the stage.

The backstage crew should take a bow at the end of the show. The coordination of all the flash pods, smoke machines, explosions, 281 candles and massive draperies is astounding.

If the cues are missed, the show can be an embarrassment. However, the signature chandelier scene isn't very scary.

But generally, it's the grandiose spectacle of the entire affair that brings people to the theater. "Phantom" has suspense, romance, violence, beautiful music and lots of special effects - something for everyone.

This particular production moves a bit slowly and some voices are a thin, but when you leave the theater, you'll still be humming the tunes, thinking about that floating gondola - and of course, the chandelier.

It took 20 48-feet-long semi trucks to bring the tons of electronic props, scenery, costumes, lights and pyrotechnics to Wharton Center for "The Phantom of the Opera."

The show could have gone on with just a single limousine - as long as it carried Brad Little, who takes on the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece.

Granted, I'd never seen "Phantom" before its return to Wharton, but Little exudes the mysterious image of the Phantom.

He's loving, frightening and tortured in his portrayal of the deformed figure who has overtaken the Paris Opera House. And his singing, especially in "The Music of the Night," is brilliant.

It's hard to imagine anyone - even the show's original Phantom - outperforming this version. Little simply steals the show.

But since "Phantom" comes with all that fancy stuff from those tractor-trailers, it might as well be used - and used incredibly well.

Obviously a technological wonder when it first hit Broadway, "Phantom" uses everything from computer-operated candles coming from the floor to pyrotechnic explosions.

And it would be a crime to leave out mention of the famous 1,000-pound chandelier, which falls from the ceiling over the first few rows of the audience - just don't expect much of a scare if you're sitting anywhere else in the Great Hall.

The real scares are from the Phantom as he haunts young Christine Daaé (Julie Hanson), her young lover Raoul (Tim Martin Gleason) and the rest of the Paris Opera characters.

Phantom comes to Christine as a voice in her head - her "angel of music" - and intends for her to displace Carlotta Guidicelli (Kim Stengel) as the lead soprano on stage. But the disfigured man, who lives in the depths of the house, is put into a jealous rage when he finds Christine pledging her love to Raoul and wages war on the opera house.

Hanson plays Christine beautifully, amazing the audience with her larger-than-life voice. Gleason, too, portrays his role of Christine's lover remarkably well.

The costumes, choreography and music all hold up to the reputation "Phantom" carries. In fact, the only downfall of the performance I saw was a brief faux pas when the house lights in the first few rows came on.

Fortunately, the problem was quickly fixed and the show went on without another hitch.

Webber's music, with lyrics by Charles Hart, is amazing. And if even if you've never seen "Phantom," you're sure to recognize the music, highlighted by "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Music of the Night" and "Angel of Music."

A dark musical, "Phantom" has its lighter moments as well, including the comedic role of Ubaldo Piangi (Frederic Heringes), the slightly chubby male opera singer, and Act Two's light lead-in song, "Masquerade."

No matter where you see it, "Phantom" is bound to be a pleasure.

It just so happens it's in your backyard through Feb. 16.
 

Overall: * * * * *

Acting: * * * * *

Choreography: * * * *

Costumes: * * * * *

Score: * * * * *

Singing: * * * * *

In the musical-theater world, people dream of starring in "The Phantom of the Opera."

These are roles that rage with emotion, power and the music of the night. People covet them - and then panic when the moment comes.

"I had just enough time to really worry about it," Brad Little, who stars at the Wharton Center, recalls of his first night as the Phantom. "My stomach was turning."

That was years ago, when he was an understudy. The star was sick; in four hours, he would go on.

So he fretted - then saw everything happen in a blur. "It was exhilarating," Little said. "I felt like I was a bullet, shot out of a gun."

For Julie Hanson, who stars as Christine, it was a different situation. She had zero time to fret.

There she was, singing in the chorus and being the third person in line to play Christine.

"They had almost called everyone to their places for the show," Hanson recalled. "Then the girl playing Christine found she wasn't feeling well."

There wasn't time to call in the No. 2 Christine. Hanson - already in her ballerina costume - had to change quickly and take over.

"It was very sudden," she recalls, "very nerve-racking."

It also happened to be in Florida, where her aunt and uncle lived. "One of the ballerinas took my cellphone and tried to call them, so they could get to the show."

That didn't work. Her debut as a "Phantom" star went well; like Little's, it went unseen by friends and family.

"It was probably better that way," Hanson said. "I had enough to worry about, without knowing anyone in the theater."

"The Phantom of the Opera" isn't an ordinary Mary-meets-Johnny musical.
It's Christine meets a phantom menace with a twisted face and a tortured soul.

"I've asked women: 'What is it about this dark, murderous man that you want to love?' " said Brad Little, who has the title role in the musical, which returns to the Wharton Center tonight to begin a four-week run.

He gets a lot of answers. "Some love the mystique of it," Little said, "the romance and mystery."

Some have a more down-home emotion. "They'll say, 'I think we want to take care of you.' "

Then there's the emotion that might speak to men: In a world bombarded with images of physical perfection, most of us feel unworthy. We feel like phantoms who love from afar.

Those are feelings "Phantom" has tapped successfully. The spectacle - complete with candlelit lake and crashing chandelier - has been on Broadway 15 years and pulled in almost $1 million a week the last time it was at the Wharton Center, in 1996.

"It's amazing," said Julie Hanson, who stars on tour. "When I grew up, I used to listen to the music, never thinking I'd do the show."

At Wharton, she plays Christine, a beautiful young soprano. Little plays the unnamed Phantom, who lives somewhere in the depths of the Paris Opera House.

The real opera house is an imposing place that once used horses to pull the wheels for its machinery. They had their own stable there - and an indoor lake to drink from.

That fascinated French author Gaston Leroux. His 1911 "The Phantom of the Opera" told of a haunted and disfigured man, living there undetected.

The basic notion of a man considered hideous, loving a beautiful woman, was already popular with romantic Frenchmen. Victor Hugo had written "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" 69 years earlier.

"Phantom" became popular with readers and movie-goers. Then it was theater's turn.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, already hot from "Evita" and "Cats," created his musical. He had an in-house Christine; that role went to Sarah Brightman, who was, for a time, his wife.

Brightman worked out a rare agreement: She would do only six of the eight weekly performances; the other two (usually Saturday afternoon and Sunday night) would be done by an alternate. That practice has continued for all the Christines that followed.

"It's a very draining role," Hanson said. "Eight shows a week would be pretty rough."

There's no rest for the phantoms, though. All of them, from Michael Crawford to Robert Guillaume to Little, have done all eight shows.

"Believe me," Little said, "there are times when my body wishes I was doing six a week."

Little first joined the "Phantom" tour in 1994, then was cast by legendary director Hal Prince to play Raoul on Broadway. From there, he went on tour, first as a Phantom understudy and then stepping into the lead.

He's kept up his friendship with Prince, whose lengthy career includes producing or directing such musicals as "Damn Yankees," "West Side Story" and "Cabaret."

"Your ear is glued to every word he says. You pick up all the 'thes' and 'ands,' " Little said. "He will give you direction that's only a sentence or two long. But it means everything."

Still, Little had no need for a father figure; his own dad has been impressive. "He's my hero, just an amazing man," he said.

The Rev. Paul Little has been a preacher, including at a church in Kalamazoo. He now teaches at the University of Redlands in California.

Brad Little, who grew up in California, lacked his dad's book skills. "I'm extremely dyslexic, but I didn't know it," he said. "My SAT scores were so bad, and we didn't realize why."

What he could do, however, was sing and act. Little has had the lead roles in European tours of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "West Side Story"; in this country, he's starred in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Jekyll & Hyde" and more.

Hanson fits the Christine image of a newcomer. She's 23 and has spent most of her professional career in "Phantom."

She grew up in Tulsa, Okla., and attended Oklahoma City University. During that time, she kept almost being cast as Cosette in the "Les Miserables" tours.

"They called me back a couple of times over two years," she said. "But I never quite got the role."

Still, those casting people remembered her. "They called and said, 'Can you come to New York in two days and try out for 'Phantom'?"

That was three years ago and she's been on tour ever since - as a chorus member who understudied Christine, then as the alternate and now as Christine.

It's been a busy stretch, with little time for real-life romance. "I read a lot," Hanson said.

Eventually, romance happens.

Barbara McCulloh met Little when they did "The Robber Bridegroom" in Bristol, Pa. They were married at sunset on a New Jersey beach, with his father presiding.

It was suitable for a romantic musical, only without all the kidnapping and killing and crashing chandeliers.

Contact Mike Hughes at 377-1156 or mhughes@lsj.com.

Published 1/22/2003

What: "The Phantom of the Opera"

Where: Wharton Center

What: Opens today; continues through Feb. 16.

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: Call 432-2000. On Fridays, Saturdays and the Sunday matinees, they're $67, $47 and $25; other shows are $61, $41 and $20.

The story: In the bowels of the Paris Opera House, a disfigured man (played by Brad Little) becomes fascinated by a beautiful young singer (Julie Hanson).

The music: The haunting "The Music of the Night" is the best-known piece. Like most Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, however, "Phantom" isn't about break-out songs; it weaves emotional, melodic music throughout. That includes the title song, plus "Think of Me," "Angel of Music," "All I Ask of You," "Masquerade" and "The Point of No Return."The many different forms of 'Phantom'

"The Phantom of the Opera" has been around for 92 years, in various forms.

That includes:

The novel: Gaston Leroux wrote it in French. It was published in 1911.

The movies: The first (1925, with Lon Chaney) is considered a silent-movie classic. Others were in 1943 (Claude Rains), 1962 (Herbert Lom), 1989 (Robert Englund of "Nightmare on Elm Street" fame) and 1999 (Julian Sands).

TV tries: In 1983, Maximilian Schell coveted Jane Seymour. In a 1990 miniseries, Charles Dance wanted Teri Polo.

The variations: There have been many of them over the years. Paul Williams wrote the music for and starred in "Phantom of the Paradise," a 1974 film that Brian De Palma directed.

The first musical: In 1984, a "Phantom" used excerpts from old operas by Verdi, Gounod and Offenbach.

The big musical: After seeing that version, Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote his "Phantom" musical, which opened in Broadway's Majestic Theatre on Jan. 26, 1988. It's still there, after 6,252 performances, trailing only "Les Miserables" as the oldest show on Broadway; it's still doing close to sell-out business.

The tour: At its peak, "Phantom" had 13 companies working worldwide, including ones in Germany and Australia. When the tour reached the Wharton Center in 1996, the impact was instant. It made almost $1 million a week, topping anything on Broadway. Each week, the Wharton "Phantom" was No. 1 or No. 2 (to a Chicago "Show Boat") in the nation.

Beyond 'Phantom'

Want to hear some of the stars, outside of "Phantom of the Opera"?

Brad Little, who has the title role, has finished his first CD, "Brad Little UnMasked." Check his Web site, www.bradlittle.com.

D.C. Anderson, who plays Monsieur Andre, is also a cabaret performer. He'll perform at 11:15 p.m. Feb. 1 at Creole Gallery, 1218 Turner St.; tickets are $13, with info at 487-9549.