THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, national touring production; Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Continues Tuesdays-Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 & 7 p.m. through July 31. All seats reserved. Tickets range from $26.50 to $72.50. For reservations, contact any ArtTix outlet. For group rates, call the Theater League of Utah at 355-2200. Running time: two and one-half hours (one intermission).
There's a new Phantom lurking around the Capitol Theatre.Brad Little, who's played the title role in the national touring company of "The Phantom of the Opera" for the past 2 1/2 years, has just completed a three-month vacation and is rejoining the ensemble midway through its two-month Salt Lake City engagement.
Little, who has a strong, wide-ranging voice and a commanding stage presence, brings an emotional depth to the role. He noted recently that his early struggle with dyslexia has helped him identify with the Phantom's being teased and tormented as a youth. Little's empathy for the character he's playing gives this production an added, very moving, dimension.
(Ted Keegan, who was the Phantom during the first four weeks of the Utah run, has returned to the Broadway company, where he covers the role for selected performances.)
Little was joined on Tuesday night by two performers who aren't normally "regulars" in this production -- Megan Starr-Levitt as Paris Opera House ingenue Christine Daae (who is listed in the playbill as playing the role "at certain performances") and Ray Gabbard, a native of the Boise area, who is one of two understudies for the role of dashing, romantic Raoul.
Gabbard, who has previously performed such roles as Matt in "The Fantasticks" and Huck Finn in "Big River," brings youthful exuberance to the role of Raoul, who rescues Christine from the clutches of her "angel of music" deep in the opera house's murky labyrinths. He also has a fine, well trained voice.
Starr-Levitt, who's played Christine in both the Broadway and long-running San Francisco companies of "Phantom," is also perfectly cast as the mysterious Opera Ghost's pupil. Her youthful looks and exceptional, operatically trained voice, are just right for this role.
Seeing Little this week (and Keegan last month) in the role of the Phantom makes one wonder how the anxious and highly vocal fans of Michael Crawford -- the mega-hit musical's most popular star -- can really be serious about attempting to promote Crawford for the role in the much-delayed movie version of the show.
Sorry, but Crawford is just way too far over the hill to tackle the part, even on screen (where, perhaps, Warner Bros. could haul out the same soft-focus lenses they used for Lucille Ball in "Mame" several years ago). Unless WB is planning a geriatric version, they'd better stick to a younger, up-and-coming generation of talent.
There's certainly plenty of exceptional talent on display in this national touring company.
-- AIDS BENEFIT -- The cast of "Phantom of the Opera" will present "Phantom Voices," a musical revue and silent auction benefitting both the Utah AIDS Foundation and the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS organizations, at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 12, in the Hayes/Christensen Theater of the University of Utah's Marriott Center for Dance.
The event is being billed as "an evening of opera, theater and dance," including selections from Broadway musicals and other works. Following the performance there will be a silent auction of "Phantom"-related items.
Tickets are $25 each and can be purchased at the door or reserved in advance by calling the Utah AIDS Foundation 487-2323 or 1-800-865-5004. Information and reservations are also available via e-mail at Phantom@utahaids.org.