Bryan Stewart and Annalise Webb

Fortunately, composer Yeston and book writer Kopit's Phantom has a lush score, a romantic center story, an in-depth backstory for the "Phantom" and theatre companies can easily license this version of the story. The Lloyd Webber version isn't available yet to be licensed except for school productions and pretty much lacks any backstory for the title character. And, while they won't ever be able to topple the Lloyd Weber behemoth, and will probably never make it to Broadway, Yeston and Kopit's version is continually produced across the country and is actually more interesting, with much more of a plot, than the Lloyd Webber musical.

Phantom follows the Leroux novel fairly closely, though there are some additions and eliminations, as in the Lloyd Webber version. Young, beautiful-voiced ingénue Christine Daaé, found singing on the streets of Paris, is sent to the Opera House for singing lessons by one of their biggest supporters. A strange man named Erik hears Christine sing and offers to teach her in order to provide him, and the world, with "beautiful music." Unbeknownst to Christine, Erik, who was disfigured at birth and wears a mask to cover his face, has been living in the catacombs underneath the Paris Opera House. Many people believe the Opera House is haunted by a "ghost" due to the antics Erik gets up to and the sounds they hear coming from beneath. The Opera's manager Gérard Carrière has just been ousted by new owner Alain Cholet who plans to have his wife Carlotta be the new star. Erik isn't too keen on that idea, especially since Carlotta has a horrible voice, and he wreaks havoc on the new owners and anyone who gets in his way of making Christine the Opera's star.

Hale Center favorite Cambrian James is proving to be a "David" of his own in finding a way to tackle directing and choreographing this fairly elaborate "Goliath" of a show for Hale's "in the