Photo Robart Ragsdale GLENDA BALKAN as Christine Daae in Andrew Lioyd Webber's The Phantom cof the Operais solid without stealing the show. The Phantom of the Opera. Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, book by Charles Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber. At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to Oct. 9. Res: 280 2222, T'S SPECTACULAR. Of course it is also shame- fully manipulative and almost totally without substantive characters or issties. But then se are most musicals. The temptation | fight to resist is to review The Phantom Of The Opera for what it is not, rather than what it is. I'l try. The staging is quite extraor- dinary. You will not see this amount of money thrown on stage anywhere else in Canada. And it’s not just that big glass yo-yo. Maria Bjornson’s sets and costumes are stunning, but it is her surprising sense of place and the resulting swirl of movement in the scene changes that entrance. Watching all this money go to work (the current production is budgeted at $10 million) 1 was reminded of the heyday of opera and melodrama, !t was against this backdrop Gaston Leroux set the novel upon which Webber based his musical. just as Hollywood companies now seek headlines by promoting the amount spent on a film and its special effects, rival theatres would seek to outbuild’or outcreate each other with the magnitude of “SHAMPOO AND aN, mM OUR SERVICE. Wednesday, September 8, 1993’- North Shore News - 23 Martin Millerchip THEATRE REVIEW various natural wonders or disasters, Scenes set in front of the curtain or drop were often rendered in- audible by the noise of carpenters and stagehands laboring behind it to set up the next spectacle. The richness of Live Entertain- ment’s Phaniom seems entirely appropriate in this context. Whether it is worth anywhere from $42 to $83 to see you will have to decide for yourself. Certainly, everything else about this production is just fine. While | am sure Vancouver au- diences would have loved the chance to jump to their well-prac- tised feet and applaud the triumph of hometown-boy Jeff Hyslop, substitute Chris Groenendaal and company easily achieved the same y standing ovation on opening night. But } doubt that it makes muc difference who sings the title role, since the written construction af the musical ensures that nothing under the famous white mask is ever revealed apart from obligatory heartache and what Jooks like the Phantom’s right temporal lobe. Second-hand exposition that continues into the second act, rather than the actor, tells us what little we are to know about the Phantom’s origins. If you can sing well (Groenen- daal does) and manage a couple of anguished poses, this is a charismatic but certainly not a tough role. In many ways the central figure is that of Christine Daae ~ the beuuty to the Phantom’s beast. Wednesday night Glenda Balkan was solid without stealing the show, while Byron Nease excelled as the heroically romantic Raoul. The possibilities of comic relief were wonderfully exploited by Lyse Guerin as the despotic diva, Carlotta, ably supported by Stephen Beamish as Monsieur Firmin. : See Phantom page 39 6 "YOUR CHOICE OF REPRINT SIZE PACKAGE FOR ONLY ULL FRAME NEGATIVES ONLY * ONE OR MORE NEGS MAY BE USED WITH EACH REPRINT PACKAGE * SALE ENDS SEPT, 30th, 1993 . SENSATIONAL VALUE ON FULava DEVELOPING = 2K =D a le PRINTS PER ROLL * Regular Pre-Poid Service on off C~41, Disc, 110, 135 Full Frome} 15 or 24 Eap. Rolls, * SALE ENDS SEPT. 15/92 VANCOUVER 1232 Davie St. 9217 W. Broadway 3345 Kingsway 1968 W. 4th Avenue 3618 E. Hastings 732-6271 438-4362 736-8065 298-7777 COQUITLAM #22 - 2755 Lougheed Hwy. #4 - 602 Clarke Road MAPLE RIDGE 22355 Lougheed Hwy. ABBOTSFORD 92298 S. Fraser Hwy. 464-4223 931-1485 467-3613 854-1972 858-7188 SARDIS - 7476 Vedder Road WHITE ROCK 1470 Johnston Road LANGLEY 20232 Fraser Hwy. 531-9996 §33-1100 Vv 2035 Lonsdale 987-3955 WEST VANCOUVER 1477 Marine Driva 926-0779 RICHMOND 6840 #3 Road EW W: MIN TA-555 6th Street 278-8558 524-9913 DELTA 117-8115 120th Street 594-5433