Opera phenom delivers

DURHAM -- ******

CORRECTION

A review Tuesday in Life, etc. incorrectly said "The Phantom of the Opera" is the longest-running musical on London's West End. "Les Miserables" opened in 1985, a year earlier than "Phantom."

****** Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" is an entertainment phenomenon. Nearly a quarter-century old in London's West End, it's turning 22 on Broadway next month and is the longest-running musical there. The U.S. national tour is having its 17th anniversary during its month-long stay at the Durham Performing Arts Center, the tour's third stop in the Triangle since 1998.

So how's it holding up? Audiences will be impressed with the touring production. The masses of scenery, props and costumes (hauled by 20 tractor-trailer trucks) still amaze and dazzle, certainly worth the ticket price alone. Maria Björnson's designs beautifully recreate 1880s Paris - the gaudily brilliant opera stage, the Phantom's forbidding lair, a romantic, starlit rooftop, a shadowy, dank graveyard. The quick-changing perspectives, the eye-popping special effects and the moodily atmospheric lighting by Andrew Bridge draw the audience into a complete world.

Lloyd Webber's sweeping score is catchy and full of character. The hit numbers "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" are more like standard show tunes, but the mock opera pieces, the Phantom's eerily dissonant monologues and the thriller-style underscoring show real musical genius.

At Saturday night's performance, conductor Jonathan Gorst kept the music tense or tender, as needed.

'Automatic feeling'

The beauty-and-the-beast plot is melodramatic but leaves room for audience empathy. Months or even years on the road, however, can take their toll on performers, and on Saturday a certain automatic feeling pervaded.

Trista Moldovan has the radiant look and spirit for ingénue Christine, and Sean MacLaughlin the handsome, heroic stature for her lover Raoul. They sing well but project little chemistry or individuality. Tim Martin Gleason (the Raoul here in 2003) has the range and dynamic control for the Phantom's agonized yearning and bitter anger. However, he engenders little sympathy until the final scene after Christine demonstrates her feelings for him. Kim Stengel's prima donna Carlotta (also her role here in 2003) is as imperious as ever, but the humor seems half-hearted and her singing seems to require more effort.

One thing that hasn't changed is the dizzying variety of names and back stories packed into the first several scenes.

Also, later plot points are often obscured in the overwhelming orchestration. The extended opera parodies, although clever, drag down the pace.

Despite such liabilities, the production remains an awe-inspiring achievement, sure to entertain both newbies and returnees.