More dynamic ‘Phantom’ comes to Korea in December

From left, Brad Little, Claire Lyon and Anthony Downing pose for a photo during their visit to Korea last week. They will play Phantom, Christine and Raoul, respectively, at the 25th anniversary international touring production of "The Phantom of the Opera" in Seoul opening on Dec. 7. / Courtesy of Seol & Company

The Phantom behind the mask once again returns to Korea in December. In this 25th anniversary international touring production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” Brad Little plays the Phantom, Claire Lyon, Christine, and Anthony Downing, her fiance Raoul.

The three actors visited Korea last week to meet their fans a month ahead of the show and shared their thoughts in an interview.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” has become one of Korea’s favorite musicals since it premiered here in 2001. The show drew more than 900,000 theatergoers for two licensed productions in 2001 and 2009 and a touring production in 2005.

Little, 48, a Broadway veteran who has played the role of the Phantom over 2,000 times, already has a strong fan base in Korea since he played the role on the 2005 tour. “This is going to be very exciting and the audiences will see something very different from what it was,” Little said.

He jokingly said he is “seven years older” compared to when he performed the Phantom in Korea last time, but he also seemed to have become deeper and more serious about acting.

His other credits in Korea include Jekyll in “Jekyll & Hyde” and Col. Grayson in the Korean musical “Tears of Heaven.”

Lyon and Downing have been performing together as a part of the international tour in the Philippines and Little joins them from Broadway’s “Evita.”

Little first played the Phantom on Broadway in 1996 and recalled his first performance as “like being a bullet shot through the script.”

“The Phantom is madly in love with Christine and she taught him love and how to live not being afraid of. It’s such a personal relationship they and simply ‘sarang, sarang, sarang,’” Little explained the theme of the show. “Sarang” is a Korean word for love and Little often used Korean words during the interview.

Some 16 years have passed since he first played the Phantom, but he is never bored of the role.

“I think the privilege of being the Phantom is that it is really difficult to ruin the role — you have to try hard to be a bad Phantom. There are many ways to interpret the character and none of them are really wrong. Being sympathetic, pitiful or angry — they all work,” the actor said. “Claire and Anthony will soon know that I don’t like to do the same thing twice.”

What makes this production more special is that the three lead actors “all carry three different passports,” as Little said. Little is from the United States, Lyon, 25, is from Australia and Downing, 27, is from South Africa.

“Our backgrounds are so different. Though we play certain characters, we bring our interpretations to them and there are totally different stories to tell. I think it will be more dynamic,” Downing said. He studied music in South Africa and is a talented composer as well as an actor.

Lyons’ actual career has been similar to that of Christine. She began learning classic ballet when she was three years old and danced for some 15 years before studying music and joining the Opera Australia. Then she moved to musical theater, playing Christine in both “The Phantom of the Opera” and its sequel “Love Never Dies.”

“It’s quite bizarre how my story is similar to Christine, but it helps me playing the character,” the actress said.

Each has different favorite scenes in the show. Downing picked the rooftop scene where Raoul and Christine sing a romantic song “All I Ask of You.” He also said he likes the scene where he jumps down from a bridge to save Christine being held in the Phantom’s lair as his favorite, hinting at his uniqueness. “I really love to jump,” Downing said.

The diva’s favorite was “Final Lair,” in which Phantom, Christine and Raoul confront each other. “There’s so much happening and so much emotion in the scene. It’s just the highlight for me,” Lyon said.

Little said “The Point of No Return” is the funniest part to play, “because it is so sexy.” “The scene is about just teasing — there is so much wanting, but no touching. I think it is brilliantly staged and probably one of the sexiest scenes in the musical theater,” he said.

As “The Phantom of the Opera” is emotionally draining, Little said he feels exhausted at the end of the show after performing the “Final Lair” scene.

“I have done other physically challenging roles, but Phantom exhausts me the most with intense feelings,” Little said. “At the end of the show, I do get so caught up and I don’t want anyone talking to me. I don’t like to snap out of the emotion.”

Lyon agreed with Little, saying she experiences Christine’s emotion during the show and needs to take a sip of tea or wine to recover after the performance.

They are also expecting much from the Korean audiences. “I’ve heard that they are very passionate,” said Downing.

Little who has experienced with them elaborated. “It was like being hit by a wall of sound at the curtain call when I played Phantom in Korea in 2005. I felt like all my hair was pulled back,” he said. “They are a passionate, intelligent audience I have so much respect for as they are keeping the theater alive.”

Apart from the performance, Lyon and Downing are looking forward to going shopping in Korea and the Koreanophile Little displayed confidence in guiding his colleagues to experience Korean culture.

“I think they’ll at least try their first ‘somaek’ (Korean boilermaker from mixing beer and soju),” Little said.

“The Phantom of the Opera” will open at Blue Square in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Dec. 7. Tickets cost from 50,000 to 160,000 won. For more information, visit www.phantomoftheopera.co.kr or call 1577-3363 <The Korea Times/Kwon Mee-yoo>