
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 28, 1990                   TAG: 9004280369
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROAD SHOW VERSION OF `PHANTOM' SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING

"The Phantom of the Opera," Gaston Leroux's 1911 novel, has legs, as they say in the movie business. There have been multiple screen versions, a four-hour television mini-series and enough touring stage productions to confuse theater-goers.

"The Phantom of the Opera - The Play" opened Friday at the Roanoke Civic Center for a two-night run. Apparently, calling it "the play" is intended to distinguish it from the Ken Hill musical and the Tony Award-winning mega-hit musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber, both titled "The Phantom of the Opera." However, the version at the civic center is indeed a musical if that's the kind of stage show in which actors periodically break into song.

Audiences responded to Webber's musical with an astounding fervor generally reserved for rock idols and televangelists.

I did not bring any Andrew Lloyd Webber baggage to the Roanoke Civic Center Friday; I have not seen that show from the music man with the Midas touch.

What I did bring were expectations of a production on the level of the excellent Broadway road shows the civic center has promoted over the years. Those expectations were not met.

This production out of California blends operatic music, pleasant but not particularly noteworthy show music from Larry Hochman and Stephanie Madden, moments of broad humor and hokey melodrama. Written by Leslie Lee, adapted by Pamela Mendelson and directed by Jeffrey R. Moss, it sticks to Leroux's basics. But it never strives for inventiveness and originality. The story's construction is workmanlike - some laughs here, some sentimentality there.

A singer in a Paris opera is coached by a mysterious, deformed figure who inhabits the cellars of the opera house. Her name is Christine and she is played here by Carina Andersson, who has a lovely voice. For that matter, all the cast members can handle a tune. The operatic moments and the humor provided by Linda Zoblotsky are the productions' chief assets.

Zoblotsky plays the vain diva whose career is endangered by Christine's talents and the obsessed phantom. Though Zoblotsky seems to have picked up her accent from old Bela Lugosi movies, she still injects the show with a much-needed liveliness. Among the other capable singers are Robert Leighton as the Phantom and Marc Rutherford as the Count who falls for Christine. These performers - and the rest of the cast - are out there on the road paying their dues and they seem to be doing the best they can under the circumstances.

On a technical level, the production doesn't receive passing marks. The music comes not from a full orchestra that accompanies most touring musicals but from two keyboardists - who acquit themselves well - and a recorded score. The sets and the set changes are low-tech at best considering the competition out there on the road. Stage hands were visible while actors were delivering their lines and at one point a curtain caught on the set. This did not appear to be a 10-truck set-up, despite the ticket prices of $20 and $25.

The final performance is tonight. For reservations and ticket prices, call the civic center box office at 981-1201.

by CNB