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COAL CITY – The Coal City Theatre Department will return to the stage this weekend with a production of the hit Broadway musical “Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running show on Broadway, reaching 34 years in January.
The production opens 7 p.m. Friday and continues with weekend performances through Sunday, March 20, at the Coal City Performing Arts Center, under the direction of Jack Micetich, with vocal direction by Shanan D’Agostino and choreography by Kim Scerine.
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The “Phantom of the Opera” tells the story of a young soprano, Christine Daae (Emma Kennie), who becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius who lives beneath the 19th-century Paris Opera House. As his obsession grows, he devotes his time to ensuring Christine finds stardom by nurturing her talent and creating havoc to ensure she is given the best roles. Despite this, Christine falls in love with arts benefactor Raoul (Derek Carlson), leading the Phantom to take devious action to ensure he is the one to have Christine.
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Micetich discussed moving the show back indoors after the COVID-19 pandemic closed an unexpected curtain, forcing all performances to be outdoors, and returning to the stage with a production of such caliber.
“Going into this we knew the caliber of the show and we knew how big it was,” Micetich said. “One of the things we have talked to the kids about is the process of getting the rights to the show. So
/ they have known the responsibility from the beginning, but building a show of this caliber is a lot different than anything we have ever done.”
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“This production, my fellow seniors and I have been talking about getting the possibility to getting the chance to do it, because it is such a big show,” said student actor Aidan Kostbade. “So, we have been talking about the possibility for a while and our senior year it finally happened, which is super exciting. We are been very privileged to have the resources we have in Coal City, in regards to theatre. It’s a very exiting show to get to put on.”
To purchase tickets of the performance visit https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/56007.