providence
PPAC's Phantom of the Opera sings
02/23/2003
BY CHANNING GRAY
Journal Arts Writer
Let's face it, Phantom of the Opera is one of those fail-safe shows that sells itself. At least the Providence Performing Arts Center is banking on that. PPAC has booked the Andrew Lloyd Webber mega-hit yet again, for a five-week run.
Thankfully, this latest touring incarnation lives up to its reputation, with plenty of vocal fire power and lavish production values, complete with a life-sized elephant and haunted chandelier.
PPAC's already gaudy proscenium has been duded up with even more gold and glop, with an extention meant to mimmick the Paris Opera, and to allow Brad Little's Phantom to scurry about high above the audience.
Little even pops from inside a cluster of gilded figures at the top of the proscenium, as he vows revenge on Christine, his young protégé who has fallen for dashing Raoul, played by Tim Martin Gleason.
In a lot of theaters, these extra acres of ornate trim might look out of place. In PPAC's rococo confines, they fit right in.
All the leads were a joy to hear. But Little, a Phantom veteran who has again donned his mask after a three-year break, is exceptional, not just filling the hall with glorious sounds but lacing songs like "Music of the Night" with yearning and torment.
There's great range here, too, from tenuous falsetto to bring-down-the-house baritone.
Gleason, and Julie Hanson as Christine Daae, made a great team in "All I Ask of You." Hanson, who's doing the honors for the first half of the run, until March 9, is perfect as the earnest ingénue who is learning her craft from the creepy, but adoring, Phantom.
But then Phantom is a pop show with substance, with a clever show-within-a-show format that's all really just a flash-back in the first place.
It pokes fun at opera to be sure, with characters like Kim Stengel's Carlotta Guidicelli hogging the stage with an ego as big as the federal deficit.
Frederic Heringes is a hoot as the rotund, fawning tenor Ubaldo Piangi. Heringes prances around in ridiculous get-ups, but delivers some serious singing.
Phantom, of course, is big on special effects, audience-pleasers like the head-wagging elephant -- stuffed with two wine-guzzling operators -- that glides on to the stage at the opening of the show, as a band of singers and dancers get ready to put on Hannibal.
Then there is the much-touted, bejeweled chandelier, but it's appearance was pretty anticlimactic, perhaps because it's such a much-anticipated moment.
Some of the most striking scenes relied less on special effects than good old-fashioned lighting and a few basic props. A simple seesawing catwalk creates the maze of passageways that lead to the Phantom's lair in the sewers beneath the opera house. The last leg of the journey is completed on a gondola that glides through a cloud of CO2.
And, in a jarring shift of perspective, curtains at the back of the stage open out, after the cast of opera singers does its thing. And we in the audience suddenly find ourselves backstage, looking out at an imaginary audience.
The other wonderous moment, of course, is the unfolding of the set in the first few moments of the show, as time travels backward and the opera house appears from tattered remnants that have gone on the auction block.
The price tag for this tour is a staggering $10 million, with weekly costs running just over $600,000. And it shows.
The costumes alone, especially the bizarre, Fellini-esque get-ups for the New Year's Eve masquerade ball, most have cost a small fortune.
But happily, there's plenty in the way of artistry to go along with the splendor.
Phantom of the Opera runs through March 23 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Washington St. Tickets range from $22 to $67. Call 421-2787.
