Ghost story

Another night at the Opera

by Bill Rodriguez

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Book by Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber, music by Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart. Directed by Harold Prince. With Ron Bohmer, Marie Danvers, and Jason Pebworth. At Providence Performing Arts Center through March 14.

Jason Pebworth as Raoul

Melodrama draws its impact from painting a picture larger than life. How appropriate that The Phantom of the Opera is outsized in all regards, from its Great Emotions to its operatic grandeur. On opening night the Providence Performing Arts Center could hardly contain all the excess.

Based on the 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux, the Andrew Lloyd Webber version directed by Harold Prince is not only more spectacular than the Arthur Kopit adaptation, it unwinds a far more compelling tale. We aren't asked to sit through Christine's voice lessons with her mysterious tutor or the incidental competition with a prima donna, nor is her playfully snatching off the Phantom's mask kept for the climax. No, Webber and the book's co-author Richard Stilgoe get the voice coaching out of the way in the back story and the displaced diva is left to her mutterings. And Christine enrages the Phantom by glimpsing his face early on, which makes her jeopardy so convincing in their subsequent scenes together.

The story is a simple one. The Paris Opera House has two new managers, who think it's amusing when the rumored opera ghost (Ron Bohmer) sends them friendly notes suggesting changes in the production under rehearsal and firmly insists that they continue to pay his monthly salary. When they ignore his demand that the beautiful company ingénue Christine (Marie Danvers) be given the lead soprano role in the next opera, plummeting scenery nearly kills her older rival. Speaking of rivals, a childhood friend of Christine's, Raoul (Jason Pebworth), is now Vicomte de Chagny and an opera patron, and upon reacquaintance with her he is promptly smitten.

But enough of the circumstance -- it's an old story -- were mainly there for the pomp. Which hardly lets up. The opening curtain rises on a full-blown production of the opera Hannibal, complete with dancing slave girls, ornate courtiers and a life-size roll-on elephant. Of course, the Act II opening has to outdo that in glitz, which it does smartly by filling a stage-wide stairway with dozens of costumed revelers at a masquerade ball. A carnival of colors and intricate detail overwhelms us in the extended scene, an exaggeration of what production designer Maria Bjornson accomplishes with less exotic motifs in most of the musical. Thick brocade swags may be draped in one background, lush period street clothes will enrich the atmosphere in another scene. As if the PPAC movie palace interior were not rococo enough, framing the proscenium are huge gilded nymphs and satyrs that all but leap out at us.

And that's not even to mention the much publicized special effects that audiences have come to expect in Broadway touring shows. The show is such a spectacle that the celebrated chandelier -- which rises from the stage in the opening flashback -- is rather a non-event when it comes swinging down dangerously at the Act I curtain. By then were inured to extravagant images. The Phantom poles a boat amidst a dramatic display of mist and candles beneath the opera house, when he takes Christine to his lair. When the Phantom confronts Raoul at a graveyard, the death-head on his cane bursts forth flames as fiery as his words.

Gone are the days when the leads in road shows could be less than Broadway caliber. Bohmer's Phantom isn't as seeringly fierce as Tom O'Leary's three years ago in Providence, but his sensitive timing makes the climactic scene with Christine honest and moving. As Christine, Danvers is a charming heroine with a lovely soprano. An unexpected bonus is Pebworth as Raoul. Aristocratic rescuers in such tales tend to be one-dimensional, but he rounds out the character through sheer strength of presence, anchored by a solid voice. Other welcome additions include Olga Talyn, who provides depth to Madame Giry, the stereotypical ballet mistress in black, who knows more than she lets on about the Phantom. Elena Jeanne Batman provides a beautiful voice for Carlotta, the rival soprano.

I don't know about you, but the music in Phantom -- especially the recurring melodies from the title song and "Music of the Night" -- has some staying power for me. Webber knows when the best instrument is the heartstrings, so Phantom has more than the usual share of romantic or poignant duets. Just because were approaching the 21st century, why should we miss out on the indulgences of drama that was so teary and mellow?