Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new smash hit makeover of “The Phantom of the Opera,” whose North American touring production plays through Aug. 16 in Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, is breathtaking and dazzling in every respect.
That feeling comes from the passionate loving music best exemplified from the actors involved in a love triangle — led by the Phantom of the Opera (played by Chris Mann), Raoul (Storm Lineberger) and Christine Daaé (Katie Travis). Their voices soar with emotions that range from passion and love to anger and jealousy. The range of emotions, in short, creates a dynamic that keeps you on the edge of your seat, as you anticipate what happens in the end.
The breathtaking feeling also comes from everything from the deep organ music that opens with the overture whose sound reverberates all throughout the hall while a chandelier falls with flickering lights, creating an impending sense of doom; to the opulent grandiose fictitious opera scenes that are so detailed in the carvings of the gold luxury private boxes and the fluttery richly designed dresses of the cast, making you feel like you’re somewhere in 19th-century aristocratic Europe imbued with classical taste and refinement; to the eye-catching explosions that the Phantom of the Opera himself ignites on stage, searing the eyes in blindness for a split second with flashes of orange fire amid darkness; to the wafting smoke over which the Phantom drifts on boat in one scene bathed in purplish blue light.
Overall, in other words, the set by Paul Brown, costumer design by Maria Björnson, lighting by Paule Constable and music written by composer Webber himself and overseen by music director Dale Rieling are impressively authentic and, most importantly, able to send you away from your seats and into another world — a world, which is haunting, dark, raging with jealousy and, at the same time, exploding with emotions of love and joy. The musical’s backdrop and songs, in short, create moods, which change from scene to scene, that tend to be difficult to produce authentically and successfully in many theatrical productions.
The vocal performances soar to lofty heights, filling the hall with heart and reverberating power. The music tugs at your heart, from the heights of passion and love with high pitches, to the depths of anger and jealousy with deep drawn-out voices. The cast, in short, is just as brilliant as the backdrop and costumes because the actors imbue feeling into their vocals. The experience, as a result, felt like that of a true grandiose opera whose heart and soul sear into your memory for many hours and even days after you leave the hall.
The musical’s story of how the Phantom so desperately loves Christine over the objection of Raoul in what is a complex love triangle is brilliant not in its intricate plot, but in its ability to manifest itself through scenes, lighting, costumes and music to create a feeling that transports you to another world.
