Hale Centre Theatre: Big-budget 'Phantom' swings into Hale Centre Theatre

Through Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's "Phantom," the Hale Centre Theatre will help audiences get acquainted with the man behind the mask, peeling back the enigmatic layers of the demented opera ghost as he's portrayed in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera."

"You find out who loves him and who doesn't, who is afraid of him, and who isn't, and the reason for his being in the catacombs underneath the Paris opera house," executive producer Sally Dietlein said. "If you ask people who have seen both [versions], they are more pulled in and sucked in with the Yeston version, by and large, because of the background that it gives."

Set in late 1800s Paris, the musical tells the story, all through original songs, of Erik's tragic reclusion. Disfigured and abandoned, Erik lives only for music and, eventually, his ill-starred love for a chorus girl named Christine. Crippled by his circumstances, he manifests his passion for music, the opera house and Christine in a strange, even violent manner.

"The phantom does evil things, but he is not a traditionally evil character," director John Sweeney said. "The audience becomes interested in his background and actually feels bad for him, the way his life has turned out. In some ways, there is no evil in the play, just the misconception of evil. If you look at 'Wicked,' it's basically the same idea. We see the witch as evil just because she's green."

The Hale Centre Theatre has an in-the-round stage, with the audience surrounding the stage on all sides. The stage has been transformed to accommodate the elaborate setting, which includes an elevated spiral staircase, arched crystal column, gold-leafed organ and a 500-pound falling chandelier.

"I tried to incorporate the real catwalks of the theater into the show," Sweeney said. "There are moments when the phantom is singing up there. We also built an extension of those catwalks so the entire audience can see. The phantom can be anywhere around you."

The exposed in-the-round stage has been especially challenging for certain aspects of the presentation, which cost over half a million dollars to produce. Erik's face cannot be concealed as it often is in live shows, so a horror-film makeup artist was hired to design special prosthetics that will be worn both by the boy and adult versions of Erik.

"I think that with the quality of the performances, I almost put a money-back guarantee on every show that people will be shedding tears," Sweeney said. "I think this is one of the greatest musicals that's never been put on Broadway."

If you go
Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's 'Phantom'

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, matinees at 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. on Saturdays and occasional weekdays, through April 18

Where: Hale Centre Theatre, 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City

Tickets: $22 for adults and $15 for children ages 5-11 on Monday-Thursday and for matinees, $26 for adults and $16 for children on Friday and Saturday evenings

Info: 984-9000, www.halecentretheatre.org

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