The Palace Theatre in Waterbury is a gleaming monument to early 20th-century opulence. Organ pipes and chandeliers are part of its everyday decor. What better place to see “The Phantom of the Opera”?
The national tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical fits beautifully into the Palace, just as another vaguely Edwardian-era musical, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” did earlier this season.
This “Phantom” — a different production than the Hal Prince one that has reigned on Broadway for the past 30 years — gets its power from old-fashioned theatricality. The show’s famed falling chandelier may rely on newfangled technology, but for most of the show the thrills come from bursts of flames, plumes of smoke, plummeting sandbags and, of course, the sight of a skulking, crooning caped miscreant in a white mask.
This is a lavish, oversized “Phantom” but one which values its human core. There are grand over-the-top operatic spectacles, but the show relies on these monumental displays quickly coming undone because one of the mere mortals onstage has to make a scene. Sometimes it’s the petulant diva Carlotta (Tristan Moldovan, hot in both voice and temper). Sometimes it’s the comical pair of opera company owners Messrs. Firmin and André, who foolhardily defy the edicts of the opera house’s longterm little-seen tenant, the Phantom. Often the showstopping outbursts come from the Phantom himself, darting out of the wings to commit murder and mayhem because he feels mistreated and misunderstood.
This production stresses sensitivity and intimacy, but in an atmosphere of exaggeration. The touching love scene between the object of the Phantom’s ardor, Christine Daaé, and her non-Phantom love interest Raoul is quiet and gentle, but staged in the shadow of gigantic statues, plus it’s snowing. When we are first introduced to Christine, she is having a compelling, deeply personal and introspective moment of nervousness—surrounded by dozens of people in Carthaginian warrior garb, as a googly-eyed elephant looms in the background.
The expected Christine on the tour, Eva Tavares, was indisposed for most of the first week of the 12-day Waterbury engagement. The diminutive but strong-voiced Kaitlyn Davis, who toured as Christine in 2016, was brought in for those missed performances (including the one this critic saw); Tavares reportedly has returned to the role in recent days. Kaitlyn Davis has a feel of vulnerability that’s well suited to this production. She seems convincingly overpowered by the madman who’s torn between controlling her and falling under her spell.
Another Davis, Derrick Davis, stars as the Phantom. He’s sleek and dashing without getting hammy. (He also doesn’t undercut the handsome romantic lead panache of his co-star Jordan Craig, charming as Raoul.) When he loses his mask, Derrick Davis is creepy but not grotesque. His voice is resonant without getting shouty. He smoothly handles the back-to-back middle-of-the-first-act punch of the musical’s two best-known songs, the title tune and “Music of the Night.”
This is the third major tour directed by Laurence Connor to visit Connecticut over the last few months. As with his production of “School of Rock” Connor vividly creates the sensation of a show within a show, to the point of making some of the cast stand in the auditorium watching what’s onstage. For his tour of “Les Miserables,” Connor eschewed that show’s traditional revolving-turntable set design, but he embraces that concept with “The Phantom of the Opera.” We see the opera house’s stage, backstage and basement from multiple perspective, depending on how far the turntable has turned. For the Phantom and Christine’s descent to the catacombs, a set of stairs suddenly appears from out of a smooth stone wall. Paul Brown’s set design is a cleverly interlocking array of rooms, yet there’s no stuffiness to the design.
Again, that’s partly due to the majesty of the Palace Theatre. The stage area is wide and deep and hard to clutter. The ceiling is high, all the better to drop chandeliers from. The Palace’s loge area is strikingly similar to the box seats of the opera house auditorium being shown onstage.
Yes, the Waterbury Palace is made to house a phantom.
The Phantom of the Opera plays through Nov. 26 at the Palace Theatre, 100 East Main St., Waterbury. Remaining performances are now through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m.; with added matinees Nov. 24 and 25 at 2 p.m. $58 to $136. 203-346-2000 and palacetheaterct.org.
