Another ‘Phantom’ Surfaces, This Time From Kopit’s Trunk

Here comes “Phantom” No. 3.

San Bernardino Civic Light Opera will present the California premiere of Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” Nov. 1-17.

It will be the third musical “Phantom” seen in Southern California recently. In addition to the long-running Andrew Lloyd Webber extravaganza at the Ahmanson Theatre, there was Ken Hill’s version--perhaps best described as Phantom Lite--which played Los Angeles and San Diego in 1989-90.

Kopit and Yeston have said they began working on their “Phantom” in 1983 and didn’t even learn of the Lloyd Webber competition until 1985. But when the Michael Crawford “Phantom” became a hit, funding for the Kopit/Yeston show fell through. Kopit changed his script into a TV miniseries, which was broadcast on NBC last year.

However, Frank Young, who runs Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars, had heard about the Kopit/Yeston musical and persuaded its creators to put it back together for a production that opened in Houston earlier this year.

That production, with New York City Opera star Richard White as the masked man, was considered successful enough to send on the road. Seattle sees it first, in October, followed by San Bernardino.

“It’s going to be an interesting gamble,” said C. Dale Jenks, producer and general manager of the San Bernardino CLO. Though many Californians have seen the Lloyd Webber show, “this is totally different.”

The Kopit/Yeston employs more spoken dialogue, which means more time for character development, said Young. “We tell you who these people are. You see why the Phantom is deformed.”

“It develops Christine’s story better” and the Yeston score contains “more themes” than Lloyd Webber’s, said Jenks, pointing out that Kopit (“Oh Dad, Poor Dad,” “Indians,” “Wings”) and Yeston (“Nine”) are “not chopped liver.”

Spectacle? Jenks cited with pride a scene in which the cruel diva Carlotta is electrocuted. “There are 42 in the company,” said Young. “It’s a big, old-fashioned musical.”

“Phantom” is the centerpiece of an unusually ambitious season for San Bernardino. A world premiere is also in the works: “Stringbean,” a “play with music” about the early years of singer Ethel Waters, starring Leslie Uggams and scheduled for Oct. 3-13. The author is Lanie Robertson, whose “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” about another famous female singer, played in Hollywood in 1987 and in San Diego in 1990.

Survey Says: In a recent survey, the Andrew Lloyd Webber “Phantom” placed first among shows Los Angeles Civic Light Opera subscribers would most like to see--even though it has been playing in the same city for two years now and is selling tickets at least through December.

So why doesn’t LACLO give its subscribers a taste of “The Phantom” by booking the Kopit/Yeston version--which LACLO producer Martin Wiviott saw and liked in Houston? “Because the other one is 20 minutes away,” Wiviott said. “If we ever (did) it, I’d want to do it at another time,” minus the Lloyd Webber competition.

Even more bizarre than the first-place finish for “Phantom” was the second-place show, selected from a list of about 50 possibilities: “Redhead,” a relatively obscure 1959 show loosely based on the Jack the Ripper story.

What is it with LACLO subscribers and stories about demented murderers?

Wiviott speculated that the votes for “Redhead” may have been due to the name of its original choreographer, the late Bob Fosse, which was included in the ballot’s brief description of the show.

Placing third was “A Christmas Carol.” And in fourth place was “Sugar Babies II,” which LACLO has scheduled later this summer.

Chita Rivera will appear in “Sugar Babies II,” in addition to the previously announced Jerry Lewis and Rip Taylor.

Several brand-new musicals were included on the ballot, and Wiviott said a show based on the movie “Arthur” generated interest. It will be presented in Connecticut this summer, and Wiviott has his eye on it for next season.

Wiviott also asked subscribers which stars they would like to see, from a list of 50. He wouldn’t say who placed first, but the top five, alphabetically, were Lucie Arnaz, Michael Crawford, Robert Goulet, Shirley Jones and Tommy Tune.

A few possibly pertinent facts about the LACLO subscribers: 23% reported a household income of more than $100,000, and 50% have lived in the area for more than 20 years.