"Phantom" at LaComedia

It's been 10 years since the LaComedia Dinner Theatre stage "Phantom" at their 650-seat facility in Springboro.
A huge hit for the Adkins (Joe and David) in the spring of 2000, "Phantom" has returned for a run through May 2. This "Phantom" is a musical based on the classic 1910 novel by Gaston LeRoux, but it not "The Phantom of the Opera"written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The two-act LaComedia version, written by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, includes more than 20 songs in nearly two dozen scenes.
In the show, the disfigured Phantom (portrayed by Patrick Ryan) lives in the catacombs below the Paris Opera. Once he hears the singing voice of Christine (Megan Buzzard), the Phantom becomes infatuated. The emotional back story to the show focuses on the Phantom's need for love after a tortured childhood. The role of the adolescent Phantom is rotated by Tucker Dandenault and Brendan Plate.
Carlotta, the Opera manager, is characterized by Rachel Black. Other characters include Carriere played by Chris Beiser, Inspector Ledoux played by Bob Penny and Count Phillippe played by Samuel Perwin. The show is directed and choreographed by Kevin P. Hill.
Of course, he eventually becomes obsessed with Christine, thereby setting the love story in motion.
The story of the Phantom has been filmed three times, starting with the silent Lon Chaney version from 1925. Claude Rains played the title role in 1945 and Herbert Lom did likewise in the 1962 version. The story was also produced as an NBC film in 1991 with Charles Dance as the Phantom and Burt Lancaster as the Phantom's father.
Those theatergoers familiar with any version of the Phantom should find much to like about the LaComedia version. Theater critics often refer to "Phantom" as the "smarter version" of any stage production.
For ticket information, call 1-800-677-9505.