![]() And under his tutelage, the entire cast unite and sing in perfect pitch without ever once missing a single beat, pulse, note or piece of important music. He also surrounds himself with a first-class orchestral team (Josh Sette, Gabe Nappi, Charles Casimiro, McNeil Johnson, Mark Dennis, Frank Devito, Brendan Stavris) who give tremendous life and importance to the "Phantom" musical score. Musical director Clay Zambo is the perfect fit for "Phantom." He is an exceptional musician who knows exactly how to make Yeston's musical score resonate, fascinate and dance with the magic, pulse, danger, angst and emotion intended by the composer/lyricist. Standouts include "Melodie de Paris," "Home," "Without Your Music," "Where in the World," "You are Music," "You Are My Own," "My True Love" and "Dressing for the Night." It also complements the plot machinations and wondrous inventions of Arthur Kopit's book without any forced calculation, which, often is the case, with book musicals. It enchants and cajoles when the mood is playful and rapturous. It's romantic and beguiling when it is meant to be. In turn, the "Phantom" score unfolds with charm, pistache and verve. Here, as with "Nine" and "Titanic," Yeston's many musical numbers are precise and genuinely focused. Nothing is thrown in just to give a principal character another song to sing or simply to extend the musical an additional fifteen or twenty minutes. ![]() It knows exactly where it is going, how it going to be played out musically and how it is going to end. From the start, his "Phantom" has plenty of heart and soul. It is also an homage to old fashioned, romantic musicals of yesteryear. Yes, this "Phantom" is an homage, in part, to operetta. ![]() With "Phantom," he offers theatergoers beautiful, stirring melodies, character-driven solos, unbridled musical emotions and stories, fiercely passionate choral numbers and other musical treats that drive the plot reverently as characters stand proud, their voices rich in song and conviction. The characters, are pretty much the same, with the exception of the Count Philippe de Chandon (charmingly played here by John Hahn) who, surprisingly, is not as relevant to the actual story as he was in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.Īn obvious fan of musical theater, composer/lyricist Maury Yeston knows exactly what works and what doesn't work. It is as powerful and dramatic as any of the other "Phantom" stories, but here, you get much more emphasis on characterization, the subterranean life of the Phantom and a complete back story on how he was conceived (his dark story from birth to adulthood is reenacted in Act II), which heightens the musical's angst and emotion. Here, the emphasis is on story, a "book story" reminiscent of the valued, typical Broadway musical. ![]() And that is what separates it from the opulent Broadway and West End production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera." This "Phantom" dances to an entirely different tune. Instead, this musical telling, based on the Gaston Leroux novel "Le Fantome de l'Opera," is simple and direct in execution and not controlled by grandiose automated trappings, special effects and tons of extravagant scenery. In the Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit musical "Phantom," it is the story of a disfigured man who lives below the Paris Opera House that is the centerpiece of this traditional musical and not its crashing chandelier or foggy underground lair that spins the story into motion.
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