THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
The Really Useful Company,
Lunchbox Theatrical Productions,
David Atkins Enterprises
Esplanade Theatre/ Wednesday

IN THE interest of full disclosure, I must first say that Wednesday was the first time I saw this musical.

And the sheer spectacle of the show is very impressive indeed. The elaborate sets morph and unfold with seamless efficiency, and all the fuss is very pleasurable to behold, especially the over-the-top opening scene with its faux-classical gold-plated grandeur, fake elephant and twirling, whirling chorus girls.

Incidentally, the blonde tresses of musical director Vanessa Scammell, conducting the orchestra from the centre of the pit, added another bright gold tint to the scene.

As for that signature chandelier-crashing scene, I have read about it so often that it wasn't really shocking, and there was no audible gasp from the audience that I could discern. But what's not to like about a show that goes to all that trouble just to dazzle you?

If you don't know the story by now, The Phantom Of The Opera is a gothic tale set in 19th-century Paris, and was first staged in 1986. It essentially revolves around heroine Christine (Rebecca Pitcher), an orphaned chorus girl with a pretty soprano voice.

She finds herself in thrall to a mysterious masked figure who haunts the Paris Opera house, who turns out to be a disfigured man prone to throwing furniture around and killing those who get in his way.

The Phantom, as those in the opera come to call him, does have charisma, however, and plays a mean pipe organ. Which is more than can be said for Christine's other suitor, the drippy Raoul (John Bowles), an aristocratic patron of the opera.

It would be very easy to find the Phantom ridiculous, rather than menacing or poignant. He's an anti-hero whose most frequently deployed scare tactic is to write people terse notes, for crying out loud.

But somewhere in between the magic tricks (flames flare from his staff) and the histrionics ('Curse you! Damn you!' he screams at Christine when she pulls off his mask, with the all-enveloping intensity worthy of Grand Guignol melodrama), actor Brad Little manages to pull it off.

With a rich, tender voice that finds the pathos in even the most maudlin, overproduced numbers, Little's Phantom becomes a riveting figure when he simply stands still and sings.

Indeed, the musical's affinity with the genre of opera, also not a subtle genre, is what saves it from becoming dated, despite the tired echoes of 1980s baroque rock in its signature riffs.

The moments that mesmerise - the high note held for an eternity, the sea of silks and skulls during the masquerade scene, the Degas-esque beauty of a corp of lithe ballerinas posing en pointe as Christine sings of her angel of music - straddle the line between corny and breathtaking, just like the best operas do.

There's nothing phantom about the good, old-fashioned fun that this musical provides.

The Phantom Of The Opera plays till May 13 at the Esplanade Theatre, at 8pm with 2pm weekend matinees. Tickets from $50 to $180 from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg, tel: 6348-5555).