There will be lots of Lon Chaney and absolutely no Andrew Lloyd Webber in Ballet Tucson’s full-company adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera,” which makes its world premiere performance this weekend at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre.
“Our inspiration is the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux and the famous Lon Chaney silent movie from 1925,” said the company’s founding artistic director Mary Beth Cabana. “We wanted it to feel more like a silent movie. There are a few moments that have title cards in our film projections.
“We definitely don’t want anyone coming expecting to hear ‘The Music of the Night’,” she smiled, naming a hit song from Webber’s famed Broadway version of “The Phantom.”
In fact, those threatening minor chords associated with the Phantom’s organ playing aren’t used, either.
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Cheiko Imada, Ballet Tucson’s assistant artistic director, chose an excerpt from Bach to represent the Phantom playing in his lair beneath the Paris Opera House.
“This ballet is a collaboration by Cheiko and me, but she is the lead choreographer,” said Cabana. “She developed the concept and 90 percent of the movement.”
“The very first thing I did was choose the music. Getting the right organ piece to represent the Phantom was key to the whole ballet,” said Imada. “I went through two shopping bags full of classical music, listened to hundreds of pipe organ pieces and finally settled on Bach.”
Other composers represented in the hour-long dance are Gounod, Gliere and Mussorgsky.
“The 1925 movie is very different from the 2004 movie,” said Imada. “Lon Chaney is very angry. His Phantom is more evil and vicious than the Phantom in the 2004 romance.
“So at first I wanted to make him really scary,” Imada continued. “But then I saw there is genuine love behind his anger. He is angry because he loves her so much. And he is also angry at himself — which does come from his love for Christine, really.”
So at the end when Christine ends up with Raoul, added Imada, “what finally comes back to the Phantom is his sadness and his love for her.”
Wearing the white mask and black tuxedo to dance as the Phantom is Ballet Tucson’s , Daniel Precup, who is also the company’s ballet master.
“Daniel has a deep knowledge of character roles, too,” said Cabana.
Ballet Tucson favorite Jenna Johnson becomes the opera ingénue Christine Daae, the soprano who has captivated the Phantom.
To play the brave Raoul, in love with Christine since childhood, is Ballet Tucson newcomer Isaiah Sumler.
“Isaiah is gorgeous, he’s muscular, and when he lifts Jenna she seems light as air,” Cabana said.
Completing this concert program to start off Ballet Tucson’s 11th season are two shorter and lighter pieces — the 1920s-styled “Joplin” set to the ragtime music of Scott Joplin, and “Boler-O” using Maurice Ravel’s famous work to accompany choreography by Precup.
Friday’s Opening Night Gala performance includes an additional piece. Ballet Tucson alumna and Oakland Ballet member Megan Terry with her partner Gregory De Santis will present the contemporary ballet “We,” created by rising Bay Area choreographer Milissa Payne.
Chuck Graham has written about the Tucson arts scene for more than 30 years.
