Phantom

The Phantom may be unlucky in love, but the masked man knows a thing or two about special effects.

Even by over-the-top Strip standards, “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular” has a definite wow factor going on.

The $35-million Vegas show — the only “Phantom” production in the Americas outside of Broadway — makes its home in a $40-million custom-built theater at the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino and features breathtaking special effects that include a 2,000-pound chandelier with 30,000 individual crystals, more than $4 million worth of lavish costumes and 80 life-size mannequins filling opera boxes. You don’t get any of that on Broadway.

The Las Vegas version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber extravaganza is directed by the legendary Hal Prince and stars Anthony Crivello, a Tony Award winner for a role he originated on Broadway, the Marxist revolutionary Valentin in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”

Though slightly shorter than its Broadway counterpart, the 95-minute “Phantom” show features all of the songs from the original production, which opened 25 years ago in London.

—Anne Burke, Custom Publishing Writer

“PHANTOM – THE LAS VEGAS SPECTACULAR”
Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino
3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South
702.414.9000 or www.venetian.com
$69 to $150, VIP experience available for $250
www.phantomlasvegas.com

Monday and Saturday, 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday through Friday, 7 p.m.