STAGE REVIEW : ‘Phantom’ Presence Lifts Lloyd Webber : * Music: A revue of the composer’s selections showcases both the banal and the brilliant.

When a composer is as wildly popular as Andrew Lloyd Webber, one can count on opinions of his worth dividing sharply and passionately.

To hear some tell it, the composer of the mega stage hits “Phantom of the Opera,” “Evita,” “Cats,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a spirit of rare genius whose every lyric must be intoned with the greatest of reverence. Translation: If he’s popular, he must be good.

To others he is an unsubtle, sophomoric hack who panders to the public’s love of spectacle and indulges shamelessly in musical cliches. Translation: If he was any good, he wouldn’t be popular.

Surprise. The man, like any other commercially successful artist, from Neil Simon to Madonna, has both moments of banality and brilliance.

And they are all on display in “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” an elegant 12-person revue (plus special guest star Michael Crawford) presented by the San Diego Playgoers and backed up with a 37-piece orchestra at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday.

For banality, we have most of “Starlight Express” and “Love Changes Everything” from “Aspects of Love,” an encore number which has as its main lyric, repeated over and over: “Love changes everything.”

For brilliance, Lloyd Webber may just startle even some non-believers with the range and intensity of “Memory,” a shimmering song of loss from “Cats” exquisitely sung by Janet Metz; “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” a song of longing from “Phantom” passionately delivered by Catherine Hyde, and a charged “Jesus Christ Superstar” fiercely performed by Ray Shell.

Still, although the entire ensemble is strong, it was Crawford, the man who has put an indelible stamp on the part of “The Phantom of the Opera,” who brought the opening night audience to its feet three times.

Crawford sings three selections from “Phantom” as well as “Gethsemane” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” and proved that he is, even unmasked, all that he’s cracked up to be. The voice is cashmere soft--but can and does pounce with devastating accuracy and power. The hand gestures are always expressive, at times erotic. And his personality, in contrast, seems amiable and unpretentious--especially in humorous remarks to the audience about how he came to do his Phantom role.

This, by the way, may be the last chance to hear Crawford sing his Phantom part live in the United States for a while. After this show closes Sunday, he joins a tour of “The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” in Australia and, from there, goes to his native Great Britain.

But Crawford isn’t the only reason to see the show. Other stand-outs include Tami Tappan doing a funny “U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.” from “Starlight Express” in a country twang and a high-stepping “Mr. Mistoffelees” from “Cats,” presented with physical and well as vocal acrobatic flair by Ty Taylor.

Conductor Paul Bogaev provided spirited musical direction. And all the details of the show, from the sound design to the glamorous, yet simple black costumes were consummately professional.

While this revue may do little to settle the debate about Lloyd Webber’s critical status as a composer, it does offer a fresh look at his work sans the falling chandeliers of “Phantom” and the million-dollar garbage dump of “Cats.”

And as such it give fresh insight into the mind and heart of the artist who holds such sway over the masses. As the revue segues from musical to musical, themes recur. The most salient of these is about fame and the price of fame. It begins in a light vein with Lloyd Webber’s first musical, “Joseph,” in which it is predicted that a man “who interprets dreams could be a star, could be a big success.” His shows become darker and more complex as he examines the ascension to superstar status (and the cost of that ascension), including Jesus in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita” in “Evita” and even opera singer Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Fascinating portraits all, expressed in different words by Lloyd Webber’s different lyricists: Tim Rice, Richard Stilgoe, Trevor Nunn, Charles Hart and Mike Batt. These are portraits that will probably continue to intrigue the public long after the current controversy about Lloyd Webber has faded into memory.

“THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER”

Songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice, Richard Stilgoe, Trevor Nunn, Charles Hart, Mike Batt and T. S. Eliot. Conductor is Paul Bogaev. Sound by Martin Levan. Staged by Arlene Phillips. With Michael Crawford, Tom Donoghue, Eric Scott Kincaid, Cathy Porter, Ty Taylor, Dale Hensley, Jimmy Lockett, Ray Shell, Julie Walsman-Stiel, Catherine Hyde, Janet Metz, Tami Tappan and Gay Willis. Through Sunday. Performances are 8 p.m. through Saturday and 7:30 p.m. Sunday with Saturday/Sunday matinees at 2. Tickets are $22.50-$42.50. At the Civic Theatre, 202 C St., San Diego, 236-6510 or 278-TIXS.