This isn’t your parents’ version of Phantom of the Opera.
The national touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical arrives in Toledo on November 30 for a 12-day run at the Stranahan Theater. But fans expecting the same version they have seen for years on Broadway and in previous touring productions are in for a surprise.
Though the original score and story remain unchanged, this production— overseen by legendary Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh— has been given a massive visual facelift. With new costumes, new sets, new lighting, new choreography, the end result is a show that straddles the familiar and the new.
“This is the Phantom that you know and love,” said Jordan Craig, who will play Raoul during the tour’s stop in Toledo. “What’s different is that, in many ways, visually, it’s been completely reimagined. … Using the new theater technology available to us, they’ve raised the tension of many of the scenes, to pull the audience even further into this amazing story.”
Reinventing the wheel
For a show with the tenure of Phantom— the original Broadway production debuted in 1988— the idea of tinkering with what works and what audiences have come to expect feels risky, a little like trying to reinvent the wheel. But Craig, who has toured with the show for six months now, sees the changes as a brave move.
“It’s so iconic. When you see the Broadway version of Phantom of the Opera, it stays with you,” Craig said. “It’s a daring thing to reimagine it after it’s been so successful, and people who have experienced the original— the Brilliant Original, they call it— I think maybe there’s a hesitancy to break from what works. But this has been so successful and [it’s an] incredible new visual rendering of the show.”
For Craig, his run with Phantom has been a whirlwind of excitement. On his first national tour as a performer, Craig has spent the majority of the past six months as an ensemble member and understudy before ascending to the principal role of Raoul in October. He actually auditioned for the tour having never actually seen Phantom before.
“It turned out, this spectacular new production is in many ways different from the Broadway version, and so my unfamiliarity with that, I think, ended up being an asset.”
The Phantom of the Opera runs from
Wednesday, November 30 through December 11.
Showtimes and ticket prices vary | $39-$134
Stranahan Theater & Great Hall | 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. | 419-481-8851
For more information, see online at stranahantheater.org or theaterleague.com.
