By Katie Potzick
The “Phantom of the Opera” will be staging one last hurrah in Louisville this winter. The musical will be at the Kentucky Center for the Arts beginning Jan. 9, offering the public their final chance to view this award-winning production.
“Phantom” has the honor of being the longest running show ever on Broadway and has won more than 50 awards. In 1988 it won seven Tony awards including Best Musical. Currently, “Phantom” has weekly shows in New York City, Budapest and Shanghai, and a touring company sponsored by Broadway Across America that will be stopping in Louisville.
The plot of “Phantom of the Opera” revolves around a love triangle between an opera singer, Christine, her childhood sweetheart Raoul and a mysterious masked man called the Phantom. The love story is pretty straight forward but offers the twist of having a deformed antagonist who dwells in the sewers below Paris. The story was made into a popular motion picture in 2004 and has since gained a legion of loyal fans.
Sophomore nursing major Tonya Webster is just one of the U of L students looking forward to the show. Webster said, “I am really excited to go see the “Phantom of the Opera, because I love the movie.? I can’t wait to see how the live show compares.”
Seeing the “Phantom of the Opera” on the big screen and seeing it on stage are two completely different experiences. The stage production presents a live projection of sentiments that bring the story to life. Patrons can expect an impressive performance with elaborate sets. “Each performance has 230 costumes, 14 dressers, 120 automated cues, 22 scene changes, 281 candles and uses 250 kilograms of dry ice and 10 fog and smoke machines.” And if that’s not extensive enough, each performance also includes a chandelier made up of 6,000 dazzling beads that drops towards the audience at a speed of 2.5 meters per second, according to www.phantomoftheopera.com.
The musical score has also presented positive results among crowds. In fact, album sales have exceeded 40 million worldwide and it is the bestselling cast album of all time, also according to www.phantomoftheopera.com.
The “Phantom of the Opera” will be on stage at the Kentucky Center from until Jan. 27 with evening and matinee shows. Ticket prices are between $17.25 and $82.25 and can be purchased at www.kentuckycenter.org or at www.ticketmaster.com.
