The Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe classic musical Phantom of the Opera has returned to the Orpheum Theatre. This production is no bus and truck tour but a full staging with three first rate singers who are believable in the title roles. Phantom, which had an outstanding five year run at the Curran, is a welcome even for the economy of the city. The massive sets are basically the same that were housed at the Curran, including the 900 pound, 35,000 bead chandelier overhead ready to come down upon the stage at the end of the first act. There are 36 performers, 17 musicians, 230 different costumes and even 11 mannequins for the "Masquerade" number. The opulent set of the Hannibal opera that opens the musical still amazes me; however, it looks more like Aida than an opera about the conqueror of Rome. The unbelievable mechanical elephant still raises his truck and you have the campy corps de ballet still doing their dance of the flowing veils.

My association with Phantom goes back to 1986 when Mr. Webber proposed the musical to backers in the United Kingdom. Many playwrights and musicians had previously had the idea to present the melodrama on stage, but their attempts were unsuccessful. Even with Lloyd Webber's success with prior works, many were hesitant about presenting Gaston Leroux’s penny dreadful story on stage. However, the work premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre in October 1986 with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the main roles. I saw the second night performance at the theater, and I could see that this was no ordinary musical. A watershed in musicals was happening before my very eyes.

The critics thought that the synthesis of musical and opera would run at least a year. They felt it just would not catch on with the general public. In fact, at the very beginning it was no problem to obtain tickets to Her Majesty's Theatre for the run. Then it became a mega hit overnight. Needless to say, we all know what has happened as Phantom continues to thrill audiences all over the world. In every city where Phantom plays, the local businesses profit. For instance, in Denver recently, Phantom had a record breaking ten week engagement where it attracted 224,393 people who traveled from as far away as Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming to attend performances. The Webber musical caused an estimated $22,000,000 infusion into the Denver economy.

The Phantom cast at the Orpheum is one of the best I have ever seen (this was my 9th time to see the musical). Brad Little, who has played the role off and on since September 27, 1996, is smashing. He artfully emphasizes the mad and melodramatic side of the Phantom without stepping over the line into parody. Little succeeds in bringing forth the complex character of the person that is feared and hated and yet is so tragic that you must sympathize with his plight. This is a truly great and moving performance. His baritone voice runs from the powerful gushing of reverberating, threatening whispers to beguiling singing to melodramatic command.

Lisa Vroman is back in the role of Christine and she is better then ever. She is the dramatic equal to Brad Little in singing and acting. Ms. Vroman gives an entrancing performance, and her voice is bell clear in every song she sings. She is outstanding in the sweet love song “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.” Tim Martin Gleason makes a charming Raoul. He is youthful, extemporaneous and attractive with a full voice as the romantic interest of Christine.

The supporting cast is superb, with Kim Stengel's convincing performance as diva Carlotta and D.C. Anderson’s great comic performance as the enthusiastic Monsieur André.

The large orchestra under the direction of Glen Langdon gives a full and rich sound. Sets by Bjornson are still spectacular, especially the underground scene of the opera house with its many candles coming from the floor and sides, and the boat silently floating through these illuminating objects. The “Masquerade” scene at the opening of the second act is amazing with its color and lavishness. Phantom continues to deliver in every way and this is a sterling production.

Phantom of the Opera plays at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market Street, San Francisco thru September 7th. For tickets call 415-512-7770 or visit www.bestofbroadway-sf.com.
 

Cheers - and be sure to Check the lineup of great shows this season in the San Francisco area

DURING the weekend, musical theater enthusiasts were treated to the spoofer and the spoofed. A scrappy new musical called "Bat Boy" took flight at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto in a super-charged production from TheatreWorks, and an old favorite, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera," rolled in for a monthlong stay at San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre. Both musicals feature disfigured leading men who lead a life of torment and thwarted romantic passion. Both musicals swerve wildly from lovers in full duet to angry mobs trying to kill the titular monsters, and both are, in their distinct ways, sensational. The big difference between "Phantom" and "Bat Boy" is humor. One show has it, one doesn't. While the pleasures of "Phantom" are undeniable -- the late Maria Bjornson's superlative sets and costumes, Harold Prince's masterful direction, Lloyd Webber's gift for rich, clean melody -- the show is beginning to creak. Let's face it: After 17 years, the "Phantom" is showing its age. When the drum machine kicks in during the title song, it's hard to stifle laughter. Lloyd Webber's ridiculous pop-rock theatrics have all the power of a karaoke machine going full blast at a drunken office party. "Phantom" takes itself so darn seriously that the characters, from opera ingenue Christine Daae (golden-voiced Lisa Vroman reprising the role she played for nearly five years at San Francisco's Curran Theatre) to dull romantic lead Raoul (an unimpressive Tim Martin Gleason), are more poses than people.

Only Brad Little as the Phantom is able to surprise us with his half- animal, half-wounded child take on the monster. The last third of "Phantom" is incredibly overwrought, but Little somehow keeps it fresh, and even through the layers of latex lathered onto his face, he makes a strong emotional connection.

Where "Phantom" is lush, overbearing and reliant on tried-and-true gimmicks like fireballs, magic tricks and crashing chandeliers, "Bat Boy" is altogether fresh, funny and free of pyrotechnics.

Taking its cue from "Phantom" as well as "Beauty and the Beast," "Jekyll and Hyde," "Dracula" and just about any other story you can imagine, "Bat Boy" was inspired by the half-bat, half-boy described in the pages of the Weekly World News.

Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming concocted the story, while Laurence O'Keefe composed a likable if not entirely memorable score. Both elements aim to deflate some of the pomposity of overblown musicals (hey, "Phantom"!) and satirize good ol' American prejudice and hypocrisy at the same time.

Andrea Bechert has designed a simple, cave-like set, and Allison Connor's costumes for the entire 10-person cast probably cost as much as one of the ornate opera costumes in "Phantom."

Director Linda Goodrich could stand to crank up the satire (and the volume) even more, but the "Bat Boy" fluttering around the Lucie Stern stage is loaded with laughs.

Justin Greer's performance in the title role is nothing short of heroic. He begins his evolution screeching and hanging upside down in a cage, and he ends as a civilized intellectual named Edgar who is taught to feel guilt over his cravings for blood.

With his Spock-like ears and sharp fangs, Edgar is reviled by the townspeople and blamed for plague decimating the local ranchers' cattle population.

But Edgar is loved by his adoptive mother Meredith (a pitch-perfect Heidi Blickenstaff) and adoptive sister/love interest Shelley (Britney-like Molly Bell). These three, along with devious veterinarian Dr. Parker (David McDonald), stop the show with "Show You a Thing or Two," a razzle-dazzle song that basically encapsulates all of "My Fair Lady" in one number.

A rollicking spoof of "The Lion King" called "Children, Children" becomes a pageant of animal puppet lust, and the requisite power duet, "Inside Your Heart," is perhaps the most literal love ballad in musical theater as Shelley offers up her veins to feed her beloved Bat Boy.

Smart and snappy, "Bat Boy" feels like a rowdy, rock 'n' roll relative of the fusty, grandfatherly "Phantom." You get sass, surprises and smiles for your $48 at "Bat Boy" and lush orchestrations, phenomenal production values and explosions for your $85 at "Phantom."

The two musicals, both occupied by singing creatures, are clearly products of different generations. You leave "The Phantom of the Opera" humming the tunes. With "Bat Boy," you leave humming the cynicism.

You can e-mail Chad Jones at cjones@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4853
 
 

WE probably shouldn't be surprised: The Phantom of the Opera is a big Oakland Raiders fan. When he's not making chandeliers crash or singing about the deep, dark pleasures found in "The Music of the Night," touring Phantom Brad Little is a Silver-and-Black kind of guy. "I've been a huge fan of the Raiders for a long time," says Little on the phone from a "Phantom" stop in Dayton, Ohio. "I really got hooked when I was living in Los Angeles and the Raiders were there. I'm still a fan now that they're back in Oakland. Although his father is a major 49ers supporter, Little proclaims hatred for the San Francisco team. He hopes that while "The Phantom of the Opera" is playing San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre for the next month that he'll be able to catch a little pre-season action in Oakland. "I could come straight from the theater still in my Phantom costume," Little says. "I think I'd fit right into the Black Hole." A California native from the Palm Springs area, Little is a bona fide "Phantom" veteran. He started with the mega-musical in 1994 as a swing -- someone who fills in regularly for another performer -- and understudied the role of Raoul, the romantic lead. He took over the role and then played it on the road. He graduated to the lead monster role of the Phantom in 1996. After a brief hiatus so he could be a road husband to his wife, who was playing Mrs. Darling in the Cathy Rigby tour of "Peter Pan," Little donned the Phantom mask again. During the San Francisco run, which began Wednesday and continues through Sept. 7, Little will reach a milestone: his 1,600th performance as the Phantom. His tour co-star, Lisa Vroman, who played Christine for most of the previous San Francisco run and has also done it on Broadway, has him beat in number of performances. Little estimates that she is beyond 2,000. "The truth is, I'm still shocked I love doing it so much," Little says. "The only hesitation I had about going back on the road was that it's tough to be married and on tour because you don't see your spouse much. But the producers are keeping me happy and making sure I see my wife. So that part is tolerable, though still difficult." During its record five-year run at San Francisco's Curran Theatre, "The Phantom" inspired a devoted following, a group known as Phans. Little says he's not quite sure why the show has touched so many people, but he has theories. "I've asked the fans what it is about this character that they're obsessed with," Little says. "They answer is: 'We just want to take care of you.' Personally, I think there's a little of that bad-boy thing involved and the extreme romance of it all. There aren't a lot of shows where you have a man who is so in love with a woman that he then chooses to let her go because he's learned to love her so much. As far as ladies go, I think that just touches them very deeply." The show, Little adds, also speaks to anyone who has felt they were outside the mainstream. Like the disfigured Phantom, who lurks in the shadows and sails the basement lakes of the Paris Opera House, Phans often feel they too live with something that keeps them out of the limelight. "I'm dyslexic," Little says, "and when I first saw 'Phantom,' I was going back to some childhood days when I was beaten up and shunned by my peers. I was sitting there bawling watching Michael Crawford doing the role on Broadway. It was painful. I can remember those days like yesterday, and I'm sure there are a lot of people with those kinds of powerful memories." Since its world premiere in London in 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" has been the mostpopular musical in the world. The Broadway production opened in 1988, and numerous productions still are running around the world (including New York and London). Worldwide ticket sales now exceed $3.2 billion and more than 100 million people around the planet have seen the show. In addition to Webber's sumptuous score, Little says much of the appeal comes from Maria Bjornson's elaborate sets and costumes. "People criticize the visual spectacle sometimes, but it has really withstood the test of time," Little says. "Maria, who died last December, really did an amazing job with all the rich colors and textures. Her design sense was part of everything from sets to costumes to make-up to hair. It's rare to have one person doing all of that, but in this show, I think it makes a huge difference." Little remembers Bjornson's incredible eye for detail. "She came up to me once and said, 'I need to curl your eyelashes with an eye curler,'" Little recalls. "She was that specific. She has really put her thumbprint on theater history with this show." Little says he's not sure how much longer he'll be with "Phantom" -- at last for a while. As long as his wife makes frequent visits, he'll be happy. And there is one more thing he'd like to do while in the Bay Area in addition to checking in with the Raiders: "You can tell everyone that the Phantom is looking to play Pebble Beach."
You can e-mail Chad Jones at cjones@angnewspapers.com or call (925) 416-4853.

The Phantom of the Opera: Musical drama. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Book by Richard Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber. Lyrics by Charles Hart and Stilgoe. Directed by Harold Prince. (Through Sept. 7. At the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Two hours, 30 minutes. Tickets $30-$85. Call (415) 512-7770 or visit www.bestofbroadway-sf.com).
 

Less than five years after it closed a record-busting five-year local run, Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" is back. Which is bound to be good news for all those who were wishing it were somehow here again. Even the touring company that opened Sunday at the Orpheum Theatre is here for an unusually long revisit of eight weeks (through Sept. 7), counting the previews.
Yes, it's still the huge spectacular produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Lord Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company and staged by spectacle- master Harold Prince -- though Maria Bjornson's set and costumes have been cut back and the Orpheum experience isn't as enveloping as the one in the more intimate Curran. In some respects, it's a better cast, with Brad Little's sensual Phantom and Tim Martin Gleason's engaging Raoul creating a more believably balanced struggle than their predecessors for the heart and soul of Christine Daae.
 

SWEETHEART RETURNS
Best of all, for local "Phantom"-philes, Lisa Vroman is back in the role of Christine. And Vroman -- San Francisco's sweetheart during the last long run --

is singing and acting the part better than ever. Perhaps that's because she's honed her musical theater skills with brilliant performances in the American Conservatory Theater's "Threepenny Opera" and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus' magnificent "Sweeney Todd" before returning to Christine on Broadway and on tour.

That said, "Phantom" is still, well, "Phantom." The book, adapted by Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe from the 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux, is thin. Charles Hart and Stilgoe's lyrics are banal and often as convoluted as literal translations from Bulgarian. The music is a good match for the book and lyrics.

It's one of Lloyd Webber's better scores, actually, with its clever opera spoofs and creative borrowings from sources as disparate as Meyerbeer, Pete Townshend, Frederick Loewe and Prokofiev. But it's also heavy-handedly melodramatic and wearying in its repetitions of a few thin themes: "Think of Me," "The Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You" and the particularly banal "Masquerade." It's Bjornson's inventive designs, and Prince and choreographer Gillian Lynne's inspired stagings that provide the chief rewards.

Leroux's justifiably neglected novel is best remembered as the inspiration for Lon Chaney's remarkable 1925 film. Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe's version is truer to the book, but oddly lacking -- despite the self-important orchestral swells -- in any mystery or suspense.
 

A SPARKLING CHRISTINE
The cast works hard to supply the necessary tension. Vroman is appealing and affecting as the young opera singer torn between the man she loves, Raoul, and the mad genius who exerts a Svengali-like control over her -- the Phantom who lives beside a vast, fog-shrouded, candle-strewn lake far beneath the Paris Opera House and hides his grotesque visage behind a mask.

Though Lloyd Webber never gives her a song in which to explore the conflict (oddly, Christine sings the sweetest love song, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," to the tomb of her father), it's there in the way Vroman's body melts and her voice sensually blends with Little's Phantom. And in the way she comes alive with Gleason's Raoul. There's an intelligent, resolute core to her Christine that adds drama to the story as much as her crystalline soprano enriches the score. (Marni Raab replaces Vroman at some performances.)

Little is a fairly potent Phantom, his powerful tenor cascading from resonant, menacing whisper to seductive crooning to melodramatic command. He tends to push the menace too hard at times, and his mad moments sound like comical petulance, but he's a reasonable successor to Davis Gaines and Franc D'Ambrosio. Gleason is a boyishly impulsive, attractive and full-voiced Raoul.
 

SETTING THE SCENE
For the record, this is a 36-performer, 17-musician, 230-costume, 11- mannequin, 25-sculpture gilt proscenium "Phantom." It still has that incredible elephant in the opening "Hannibal" opera, though, and all of Andrew Bridge's vivid, sculptural lighting effects. And that 35,000-bead chandelier that comes crashing down.

Musical director Glenn Langdon's orchestra provides a rich and full sound. The ensemble delivers sharply defined supporting performances from Kim Stengel's trilling diva and D.C. Anderson's comically enthusiastic impresario to Patti Davidson-Gorbea's imposing ballet mistress and Kate Wray's beguiling ballerina. The true magic of "Phantom," though, is in the special effects and Bjornson's amazing designs.

E-mail Robert Hurwitt at rhurwitt@sfchronicle.com.

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