“As a director, the challenge is delivering the iconic elements that the audience expects to see like the falling chandelier,” Hetherington said. Still, not many produce the show because of the sheer size of its massive set and costume needs. The university is one of the first in the region to stage the show since the rights were first made available to colleges and high schools. Hetherington secured the rights to the show, which are still not available to professional or community theaters, more than a year ago. The musical is based on the book “Le Fantôme de l'Opéra” by Gaston Leroux.
The show made household names of actors Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman as the Phantom and Christine, respectively, and the show has had one of the longest runs in Broadway and East End history.
The 1986 musical takes place in the Paris Opera House, which has been haunted by a musically-gifted, masked specter who secretly gives voice lessons to Christine, a chorus girl in whom he sees remarkable promise.Īlong the way the phantom falls in love with her, but his devotion turns to violent obsession when her growing relationship with a childhood friend, Raoul, brings back demons of the phantom’s earlier abandonment. Hetherington said that when university centennial planners discussed the celebration, they asked him for something “really big.” What’s bigger than “Phantom,” he thought. He is also the director of the production. “This is the most challenging, expensive and demanding piece of theater that we have tried to do,” said Bob Hetherington, chair of the Department of Theater and Dance at the university.
The show, which has only been seen on university stages for a short time, will have only a brief run in Memphis as well. The University of Memphis will celebrate its centennial year in part by staging the Broadway musical “Phantom of the Opera” Feb.
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