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11/08/2017 11:01 PMFrank Tavera is as excited as the impresario in The Phantom of the Opera who is bursting with glee knowing he has a big fat hit on his hands.
Or should it be called a “re-imagined hit?”
Waterbury’s Palace Theater, where Tavera has been the executive director for more than 15 years, is the only theater in Connecticut that is presenting the touring production of the musical, which runs Wednesday, Nov. 15 to Sunday, Nov. 26.
So?
The show, after all, has been running on Broadway for 30 years as of this January. College kids who first embraced the show when it arrived in the U.S. are now more than 50 years old. The original leads—Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman—are now 75 and 57 respectively.
Its touring shows have been playing Connecticut for decades, beginning with a multi-week run at Hartford’s The Bushnell in the mid-’90s when Tavera began his career working in sales at the Bushnell for that show.
“It’s come full circle for me,” he interjects.
At that time the theater—and other venues across the country—had to have multi-million dollar renovations of its facilities to accommodate the exceptionally elaborate and lavish production.
But that production was so 20th century, says Tavera.
This touring show is an entirely new production, which received the blessing of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh.
This touring show, which has all the characters, music, and big moments of the original, has been refitted physically using the latest technology and projections, and features new special effects “that envelop the whole building,” says Tavera.
And the chandelier?
Remember in earlier productions how it crashed into the orchestra (albeit in a kind of clunky and slo-mo way)? Now that effect, which again ends the first act spectacularly, has all new bells and whistles.
“Without giving too much away, it still does come crashing down, but now it happens faster and happens with some electronic pyrotechnics with a more interactive feel so the audience can sense the crash more vividly. They can actually feel the heat from the chandelier, smell the smoke, see the flashes.”
And the effects go beyond the chandelier.
“Fans who have seen the original will now get to see the show in a different, more engaged, way and from a different perspective because now the production envelopes you,” he says.
Though there have been other stage shows using the same source material which is in the public domain, this is the first time the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical has played the Palace and the central Connecticut market, though it is expected to draw devoted Phantom fans from throughout the state and region. The Palace is the only Connecticut theater to present the new version this season.
The show, performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, features new scenic designs and choreography by Scott Ambler and staging by Laurence Connor. Maria Björnson’s spectacular costumes will be the constant visual from the original. The production will also feature the only Phantom tour with an African-American in the title role: Derrick Davis.
“Because of this outsider idea of the Phantom that as a person of color, you have this extra dimension to the role,” says Davis. “It’s definitely conscious for myself, maybe subconscious for the audience.”
The audience will feel this environmental production as soon as it steps into the Palace, says Tavera, and will evoke the feeling of the Paris Opera House of the 19th century, where the musical is set.
Tavera says the Palace with its “European-classic feel” is perfect for the show’s sense of gilt and grandeur.
“When I walked in this building in 2002, I felt even then that this building with its Roman-era, European-classic feel and color palette is more appropriate for Phantom compared to other theaters—and all the more so after the Palace’s $30 million restoration.”
“For those fans who have seen the original, it’s all still there,” he says, “But you now get to see it in a different way. You’re even more engaged and enveloped.”