THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Preview
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
WHO IS THAT masked man? You can bet it's not the Lone Ranger.
Thomas James O'Leary doesn't mind the anonymity that comes with starring in ``Phantom of the Opera.'' Even when he takes off his mask, he's not himself.
``In a way, I like the anonymity,'' O'Leary said last week backstage at Chrysler Hall. ``The role itself gets so much attention. I get mail. I get the press. Then I can go out and just be myself.''
He became the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in a roundabout way. He was the understudy on Broadway for two years but only got to go on a few times. His performances, though, didn't go unnoticed. In April, O'Leary, 39, got the call to join the national company in Columbus, Ohio. Norfolk will be his fourth ``Phantom'' city.
``I always considered myself about 50 percent singer and 50 percent actor,'' he said. ``In this role, I get to do both.''
And he doesn't mind that the production's well-publicized chandelier and other special effects often get more attention than the performers.
``It's an experience to just be in a show in which you never have to worry about it closing,'' he laughed. ``For the first four or five years in New York, I struggled. I supported myself with odd jobs until something came along. This is the closest thing to job security I've had.''
Given the number of special effects, things sometimes go wrong. Most of them are minor, but O'Leary remembered what happened one night.
``The boat in which I ride through the lake stalled,'' he said. ``It's driven by remote control. After a moment, Christine (the young soprano) and I just stepped out of the boat and walked off stage. I asked an audience member later if she had notice it. She just thought the water was shallow there.''
A native of Windsor Locks, Conn., O'Leary studied acting at the University of Connecticut. His family has been supportive; in fact, when ``Phantom'' was in Hartford, ``all my relatives and friends came. It was scary, in a way,'' he said.
O'Leary was in the original cast of ``Miss Saigon'' and the national company of ``Les Miserables.'' He played Che Guevara in ``Evita.''
``I'm a belter,'' O'Leary confessed proudly. ``I really sing loudly. Yes, we have microphones in the show, but I sometimes wish we didn't. The sound man does his own thing. I try to operate separately of that.
``I try to imagine that I'm doing a performance on my own. And, no, the mikes are not a safety net. If you don't hit that high note, it'll show. The sound men mainly can help with special effects. The microphones really help in the moments when I have to sing, or speak, very softly.
``I try not to get too concerned with how it sounds. I try to create a different world up there - to get entirely within the Phantom's shoes.''
O'Leary added that he sympathizes with the Phantom's plight - a poor, disfigured creature who is madly in love.
``I think the secret to this show's appeal is that it's a love story, not a horror story,'' he said. ``Sure, the Phantom is a villain. He kills people. But he's misunderstood.
``My favorite moments are the last 25 minutes of the show, which are played in real time. By the end, you can't help but sympathize with him. It's a real beauty and the beast story.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Joan Marcus
Thomas James O'Leary plays the tortured Phantom.
by CNB