[NEohioPAL] Review of touring "The Phantom of the Opera" at PlayhouseSquare

[Bob Abelman]

Perpetually touring ‘Phantom’ still evergreen and thoroughly entertaining 



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

  

In 1993, investors wondered whether the long-running, Tony Award-winning “The Phantom of the Opera” would draw audiences on tour if it skimped on its expensive Broadway production values and if it could earn a profit if it did not skimp on its expensive production values.



They went with big.  The touring production currently on stage at the Keybank State Theatre is performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, employs a huge contingent of crew, and requires truckloads of costumes, wigs, scenery, set pieces and technology.  At the center of the stage is a foreboding, 10-ton rotating rotunda that opens at different phases of its orbit to reveal the Corps de Ballet dressing room, the ostentatious and comically overcrowded opera managers’ office, the opulent opera house stage, the underground labyrinth, and the Phantom’s lair.  And there is tons of dry ice.



Has the show drawn audiences and earned profits?  Well, this is “Phantom’s” seventh often sold-out visit to our city, so do the math.



For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/
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