Revamped show better than ever

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Palace, Manchester
ANYONE worried that this old favourite might be treated badly by a retread need have no fear.

Cameron Mackintosh’s multi-million-pound revision of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest hit is like his makeover of “Les Miserables”: if anything even better.

Better because the original production was designed simply to wow: big sets, giant staircase, top director, falling chandelier and much else besides.

It was a huge event that never quite got off the ground artistically, its (frankly pretty stupid) story and characters left to fend for themselves.

This production has a similarly brilliant set, and designer Paul Brown seems to have put far more thought into making it both easy to tour and grand enough to impress — which it does.

A plank floor houses a large revolve and two theatre boxes — both full stage height and on turntables, so conversion from opera house to other settings is fast.

Central is a vast cylinder, 20ft wide, 3ft thick and the full height of the stage.

Down the outside of its dark walls is a precarious staircase to the catacombs; on the inside, as it divides out of the way, a succession of Grand Guignol settings — opera house roof, backstage, a cemetery, the Phantom’s underground lair and so on.

The boat trip is still there, but a bit puny; and the chandelier is there, but doesn’t descend quite so dramatically. Neither is a loss and Mackintosh has instead spent a lot of money elsewhere, very wisely.

The result greatly concentrates the stage pictures: the set is big yet still full of detail — the action seems pushed remarkably close to the front of the large Palace stage at times.

But it also means 26 dancers and singers in Masquerade, without the old giant staircase, can still fill the stage.

What the show also now does is to put the story and performers front and centre — and what performers!

John Owen Jones is an extraordinary Phantom, his voice stunning and his acting powerful, especially in the final scene.

Opposite him, Katie Hall is a strikingly good Christine, whether acting or singing; and Simon Bailey’s Raoul is ardent and strong. This is one of the strongest trios yet in this musical.

Have no fear about buying tickets. I’ve never been a big fan of anything but the show’s scale and grandeur before, but now the rest has caught up.