The music is as familiar as the image of its placid white mask. And the story, well, it borrows from the now-classic Gaston Leroux novel written in 1910.
The beloved gothic mystery/romance “The Phantom of the Opera” has settled on the banks of the Potomac for the next five weeks. It?s a triumphant return to Washington, and Broadway?s longest-running musical belongs on such a grand stage at the Kennedy Center, even if the “Phantom” chandelier is dwarfed by the Opera House?s enormous golden-snowflake conglomeration of lights.
» The Highlights
Whether you?ve seen the musical mainstay one or one hundred times, his sturdy production does not disappoint.
Harold Prince?s national tour transforms the well-tread story from hackneyed kitsch into real drama with a bleeding heart. There are genuinely tender moments between John Cudia?s Phantom and Marni Raab?s simpering soprano, and Cudia drives home the seductive force of nature seething underneath the mask and cape.
» The Lowlights
Webber?s cheesy incidental music could use some updating, with its dated electronic vibe and use of ?80s synthesizers with their rhythmic percussion pulse. Some of thescore still smacks of the kind of foreshadowing music employed by horror flicks from the same decade ? and while it worked well enough for Freddy and Jason, the device now feels as trite as a hockey mask or a glove of razor blades.
» The Cast
Prince expertly directs a 36-member company of performers, without a weak link in the cast. Cudia is an extraordinarily convincing Phantom, with his obsessive take on “The Music of the Night” and a finesse for enunciating his consonants. His disfigured creature is always a sympathetic soul, even as he exacts his revenge on the opera apes at his command.
Raab is a serviceable Christine, while Greg Mills lends an interesting and vividly vocal take on his Raoul. The handsome pair really does seem like old school chums who have fallen for each other, and Raab and Mills soar together in “All I Ask of You,” delivering one of the evening?s melodic highlights at the end of the first act.
» Munch on This
Everyone loves “Phantom” because at some self-indulgent level, it helped establish modern theater as a spectator sport. And aside from its sheer operatic urgency, “Phantom” also appeals to the darker side of human nature with its ageless juxtaposition of the beautiful alongside the grotesque. With Prince at the helm and Cudia working his magic onstage, you?ll want to catch this “Phantom” before he disappears.
“The Phantom of the Opera”
Through Aug. 12
» Venue: The Kennedy Center Opera House
» Tickets: $37 to $95
» Performances: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays; 1:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
» Info: 202-467-4600
www.kennedy-center.org
