Date: Fri 18-Dec-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Phantom-Cabaret-Stern

Full Text:

(rev "Phantom" @Downtown Cabaret Theatre)

THEATRE REVIEW: "Phantom" Is A Bit Murky, But Still Excellent

(with cut)

By Julie Stern

BRIDGEPORT -- For many people, the mention of a musical about the Phantom of

the Opera conjures up visions of Andrew Lloyd Webber and huge special effects

culminating in a bad thing happening to that chandelier that dominates the

stage for the entire evening.

In fact, Webber won the race to get to Broadway with his version, but

Bridgeport's Downtown Cabaret Theater is putting on an alternative

interpretation that was conceived a few years earlier by Arthur Kopit, in

collaboration with Maury Yeston. Titled simply Phantom , this vehicle is more

sophisticated musically, but less challenging technically, making it better

suited for small regional settings like Bridgeport.

Based on the Gaston Leroux novel of 1911, the plot centers on the mysterious

masked stranger, Erik, who lives underground in the catacombs beneath the

Paris Opera, pretending to be a ghost and threatening anyone who ventures into

his domain.

When Erik falls in love with a beautiful young amateur, he breaks his

self-imposed solitude to offer her the singing lessons that will train her

voice to the level needed for the operatic stage. But this exposure and her

subsequent success set in motion a chain of unexpected and tragic

consequences.

On one level of this work is reminiscent of what the French called "Grand

Guignol," based on the 18th Century puppet theater that featured gruesome and

macabre stories. The Phantom story could easily rely on cheap thrills and the

scary figure of the monster whose face is too hideous to be seen.

What makes the Kopit-Yeston effort worthwhile is that it turns this variant on

the Beauty and the Beast motif into a meditation on the sublime power of

music. It is the daily opportunity to hear music that leads the Phantom to

remain living in the bowels of the opera house.

The music alone is what makes his solitary imprisonment endurable. It is music

that leads Erik/the Phantom to Christine, and enables her in turn to see him

not as a monster, but as a kind and generous teacher.

Because the setting is an opera house, the music is operatic in scope. The

plot elements as well suggest the exaggerated passions that inspire the great

operas being performed on stage. Therefore the production, like an opera, is

heavily laden with melodrama and atmosphere -- in this case the world of the

Parisian stage and its hangers-on.

As Christine Daee, Kelli O'Hara makes a plausible transition from the modest

young ingenue eagerly hawking sheet music on the street outside the theater,

to a diva of genuine power. When she finally cuts loose with the confidence

the Phantom has given her, the audience breaks into spontaneous applause.

Also very strong is Verna Pierce in the comic role of Carlotta, the vain and

ambitious wife of the company's new owner-manager, whose plan to appropriate

all the lead roles for herself is clearly inappropriate, given the

dreadfulness of her voice.

As Erik, Jay Montgomery is somewhat less satisfying, not because his singing

isn't up to par -- he has a beautiful voice -- but his character lacks

definition. For most of the long first act he seems neither menacing nor

pathetic. Intended as a sympathetic hero, darting about the stage and playing

pranks on the hateful Carlotta, he almost made me think of Peter Pan.

In the second act, however, as the explanation of his mysterious circumstances

unfolds he emerges to a new more serious stature, especially in the rendition

of the William Blake song, "My mother bore me..."

In this act also, Eric Michael Gillett brings a strong stage presence to the

role of Erik's patron and protector, Gerard Carriere. What is unclear is the

depth of the love interest between Christine and Count Phillippe de Chandon,

who was responsible for sending her to the company, and who woos her

intermittently. This is less the fault of Peter Gunther, who plays de Chandon,

than that of the playwright, who seems to have been rather casual about

developing his loose ends and subplots.

The show isn't scary or spectacular in its special effects, but it is

definitely spirited, lush entertainment, with the Downtown Cabaret's typical

attention to detail and musical excellence. Gail Baldoni's costumes and Jeff

Modereger's set design are up to Bridgeport's usual high standards.

If the plot seems a little more "bland" Guignol than "Grand," this production

of Phantom is still an excellent idea for an evening at the theater.

(Phantom continues at Downtown Cabaret until February 14. Performances are

Friday through Sunday evenings. Call 576-1636 for curtain times and ticket

details.)