Beneath the Paris Opera House, a disfigured musical genius terrorizes the company to advance the career of his protégée.

About darn time I saw this! Wanted to make sure I caught the original on stage before I go to “Masquerade” in a couple weeks. Honestly, I thought it was great. I’ve learned to be a little suspicious of long-running shows either coasting on their reputations or their connections to some other, widely-known property—I’ve been hurt before—but I’m happy to report that that wasn’t the case here. I felt like I was in excellent hands with Dean Chisnall and Lily Kerhoas taking me through these iconic scenes and songs.

Jordan Donica is a surprising choice for Phantom and I think he changes the dynamic of the show quite a bit. For one thing, he’s only 32! The Phantom has this muddled up father/groomer/abuser relationship with Christine, and I can’t decide if it works if they’re near-peers in age. Does it shift some culpability to Christine for her misplaced expectations? Or maybe Jordan can play older and I’m metagaming too much here. The other thing about him is that he isn’t quite the Valjeanian pop-opera cannon that they usually cast for Phantom - far from thin-voiced, mind you, but maybe a couple ticks down the line towards character-driven. “Music of the Night” may feel a bit underwhelming if you’re adjusted to the latter-day lineage (Messrs Karimloo et al). On the other hand, I thought he was really breathtaking in the unhinged moments, when he gets to trot out his villain snarl - the rooftop, the finale. His relationship with the petite alt Christine, Colleen Rose Curran, hinges more on Jordan’s considerable physical stature and violent body language.

Sierra Boggess is so effing funny as Carlotta. You can tell she’s having a blast up there squawking and making faces. That accent is thick!