REVIEW: ‘Phantom of the Opera’ evokes an emotional wow 

Julia Udine and Ben Jacoby in "The Phantom of the Opera" tour now at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

Returning to the Durham Performing Arts Center five years after the last tour visit, “The Phantom of the Opera” gives audiences a reimagining of the production that has become a classic. What remains the same are the gorgeous costumes and the emotion-provokingly beautiful music.

New scenic design and staging refreshes the production without taking away anything from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s original hit musical that has been on Broadway more than 25 years. Cameron Mackintosh chose well bringing in theater and opera scenic designer Paul Brown, who delivered a quite impressive central set. The wall is a rotating cylinder that lets audiences see a theater’s backstage in a new way, and the steps down to the Phantom’s lair that evoke a reaction of “ooh, cool” when they come out of the wall.

But the biggest star of “The Phantom of the Opera” is the music itself, indeed, the “Music of the Night.” The orchestra includes the touring orchestra and the DPAC orchestra, who elevate the audience’s spirits with each movement. The beautiful instruments and voices of the cast come together in a way that shows the best of what musical theater can be.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, “The Phantom of the Opera” is about a disfigured composer who lives below the Paris Opera House who teaches a rising opera singer, Christine (Julia Udine) and demands that the opera cast her, rather than soprano Carlotta (Jacquelynne Fontaine). He makes threats and carries them out when his desires are not met, and is a pitiable character who longs for what he is denied.

The Phantom was played by Allan Snyder through Saturday, then will be Eric Ruiz today and Cooper Grodin through the end of the stay in Durham on Oct. 19. Raoul (Ben Jacoby) is Christine’s love interest. Those four voices are spectacular, together or singing alone or in duet. Jamie Johns, associate music director of the tour orchestra, was conductor on Friday night. Everything came together perfectly. The duet between Udine and Jacoby, “All I Ask of You,” on the roof of the opera house was particularly moving in a production where every song evokes emotion. “Masquerade,” with a new mirrored set, is better than the original, bringing forth colorful visual appeal with the joy and depth of the music.

This new imagining of “The Phantom of the Opera” makes this a good time to see it again if it’s a favorite already, to let it wow you anew. New audiences will also delight in the spectacular.

WHAT: “The Phantom of the Opera” national tour