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Caught in the act \u2026 Peter Straker and Christine Collier in The Phantom of the Opera in 1991. Photograph: Tristram Kenton\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Owen-Jones, who has played Phantom nearly 2,000 times, also believes that the venue itself has an important role to play in the production\u2019s extraordinary performance history. He says the show was originally meant to run at the Palace theatre but Les Mis\u00e9rables \u2013 the only musical to have a longer West End run than Phantom \u2013 was refusing to close. So Phantom opened in the more intimate Her Majesty\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, Her Majesty\u2019s had the only functioning Victorian understage in London,\u201d says Owen-Jones. \u201cSo the team were able to use that for things like the candelabra coming up through the floor. People hadn\u2019t seen things like that in the West End for a long time.\u201d Bj\u00f6rnson\u2019s design in this particular theatre is a huge part of Phantom\u2019s enduring appeal: \u201cWhen people watch Phantom they see this incredible set with all these old scenic elements. Flies from the top. Flies from below. Trap doors. Yet when the actors come on stage for their final bow, it\u2019s just a black box. Maria has put all these incredible elements into the space but in the end there\u2019s nothing to look at. It\u2019s pure theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone I talk to mentions the simplicity of Phantom\u2019s myth-like story, but also its flexibility. It\u2019s a simple tale but a robust one too, which allows each actor \u2013 despite the powerful legacy of Michael Crawford\u2019s haunting inaugural performance \u2013 to put his own stamp on the title role. For some that might mean imbuing the Phantom with an air of mystery, but for Owen-Jones the key was always about grounding him in reality: \u201cIn my mind the Phantom is a man. He\u2019s not a magician. He\u2019s not a wizard. He\u2019s an incredibly talented engineer who can do all these magical things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donica, who began his stage career playing Raoul on Broadway, sees the Phantom through a very different lens: \u201cI felt a kinship to Phantom my whole life. Being a mixed-race kid, raised by a single mum in the south and Indiana. Moving around all the time and being the new kid. The outsider. The person that\u2019s always underestimated and made to feel unwelcome in a lot of spaces; having to show a talent that deems me worthy to be a part of society. All of these things and more, for me, very much relate to Phantom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donica describes the very first time he encountered the Phantom in the theatre, when a touring production came through Indiana. The actor had just turned nine and, in some strange way, he could literally see the power that Lloyd Webber\u2019s music held over the audience: \u201cWe were sat in the orchestra level and you hear the Phantom before you see him. I remember hearing \u2018Brava, brava, bravissima!\u2019 and it was like a synesthetic response. I could just see the Phantom\u2019s voice hovering over the audience and wrapping around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
As we talk, Donica cannot help bursting into song. He talks to me about the frequencies contained in the score and, \u201cfrom a hertz point of view\u201d, the way that these frequencies connect with the audience. It\u2019s an interesting and unusual way to think about the show; almost as if Lloyd Webber\u2019s score is the result of some sort of physics experiment, designed to shock and move us: \u201cThe frequencies that Andrew uses in this show are what hit you to your core. You can sit there, being sceptical about the show, but when you hear those tones \u2013 \u2018Da-da da-da daaaaa!\u2019 \u2013 it automatically makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. That\u2019s why it works.\u201d<\/p>\n