STAGE : ‘Phantom’ Ticket Costs Going Up, Down

“Phantom of the Opera” ticket prices are heading up--and down.

The new price range will be $15-$60 for the just-opened booking period of Jan. 6-April 19. This compares to the previous range of $32.50-$50.

The $15 price applies to 312 seats in the upper half of the top balcony, at only four performances per week: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sunday evenings. Tickets in the front half of that balcony--and throughout the balcony at the other performances--will cost $37.50.

Thursday matinees will be dropped, replaced by Sunday evening performances, beginning the week of Jan. 6.

The top price of $60 will be charged for all 942 orchestra seats and 334 seats in the front parquet at all performances.

The Los Angeles “Phantom” celebrated its 1,000th performance on Oct. 19.

“SAIGON” IN L.A.?: The “Phantom” extension into April postpones the day when Center Theatre Group officials must decide what to do next at the Ahmanson. But it doesn’t quench the talk.

A much-discussed $12.9-million plan to remodel the auditorium after the masked man leaves--in order to make the capacity more flexible and the place more intimate--is “on hold,” said CTG board chairman Lawrence Ramer. First, the organization must cut roughly $1 million from its budget because of a shortfall in Music Center fund-raising.

Meanwhile, the Ahmanson appears to be mega-producer Cameron Mackintosh’s choice for an L.A. production of “Miss Saigon,” whenever that might materialize.

“In Los Angeles, the Ahmanson would be the most suitable theater following its planned renovation,” said Mackintosh in a statement issued through his publicist. “But since ‘Phantom’ shows no signs of letting up at this time, no one can know for certain when the Ahmanson would be ready and available. No other Los Angeles theater is ideal for the show’s needs in terms of stage size, backstage and wing space and seating capacity.”

Because the planned renovation would primarily make the capacity more flexible--and would have relatively little effect on the stage or backstage--the statement raises the question of whether “Miss Saigon” would move in before the renovation, if properly invited.

Given the Music Center’s fiscal problems, why not book “Miss Saigon” there following “Phantom” and remodel later--after “Miss Saigon” leaves?

Because it would make the renovation even more expensive, replied Ramer. “We’d much prefer to have the reconfiguration first. Every year, construction costs go up.”

Meanwhile, Mackintosh will open a “Miss Saigon” company in Chicago next October. And back on Broadway, the controversial appearance of Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian Engineer in “Miss Saigon” will end on Dec. 14, when he’ll make way for Francis Ruivivar in the role. Born in Hawaii, Ruivivar is of Filipino/Chinese descent, according to a “Saigon” spokesman.

A PALER “MUSEUM”: White actors in “The Colored Museum”?

A just-closed production of George C. Wolfe’s satiric blast at black stereotypes, at Cal State Dominguez Hills, included two white actors in a cast of nine.

Director Jim Goins, who is black, cast a white woman as “Miss Pat,” who plays a stewardess aboard a slave ship. And in sketches about an Ebony magazine photo session and a “Mama on the Couch” play, white actors donned blackface.

“Everybody’s responsible (for black stereotypes),” said Goins. “So why not have everyone a part of what’s going on in the play?”

“I had to justify myself to some of the younger brothers,” he acknowledged, saying that a few members of the campus Black Student Union objected to his concept--until they saw the finished production.

But he added that the play is supposed to be controversial. “If people aren’t really bothered by it, then it’s not good enough.”