"Phantom" - by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit - North Shore Music Theatre (Beverly, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Sean Seamus Thompson in the title role of the "PHANTOM" - a musical by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
"Voices in my nights will cry 'Christine' - And ev'ry drop of rain that falls will be Christine."
- ("PHANTOM" ) / Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit
North Shore Music Theatre
Presents the
Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit Musical
"PHANTOM"
Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeston
Book by Arthur Kopit
Based On Gaston Leroux's Novel, “The Phantom of the Opera”
Originally Directed by Charles Abbott
NSMT Director Robert W. Schneider
Music Director Dale Rieling
Choreographer Briana Fallon
Cast Includes: Madison Claire Parks* as “Christine Daaé,” Christian Probst* as “Count Philippe De Chandon,” Victoria Huston-Elem* as “La Carlotta,” Billy Goldstein as “Joseph Buquet,” Sean Seamus Thompson* as “Phantom,” Gregory North* as “Gerard Carriere,” Alex Syiek* as “Alain Cholet,” Andrew Leggieri* as “Minister Of Culture,” David Coffee* as “Jean-Claude,” MK McDonald as “Florence,” Lianna Paglia as “Fleure,” Rebecca Spigelman* as “Flora,” Justin R.G. Holcomb* as “Inspector Ledoux,” Dwayne P. Mitchell* as “1st Policeman,” Louis Brogna* as “2nd Policeman,” Nathan Haltiwanger as “Head Waiter,” Carlos Pérez as “Oberon,” Keliah Schertz as “Belladova,” Andrew Playford as “Young Carriere,” Quinn Murphy as “Young Erik” Performing: Oct 21 (7:30pm), 23, 22 (2pm), 27, 28 (2pm), 30, 31 (8pm), Aidan Rystrom as “Young Erik,” Performing: Oct 21 (2pm), 22, 24 (8pm), 25, 28 (7:30pm), 29, 31 (2pm), Nov 1.
Acolytes - Louis Brogna*, Nathan Haltiwanger, Emma Kantor, Esther Lee*, Anna Novak, Andrew Playford, Keliah Schertz, Brian C. Veith.
Waiters - Louis Brogna*, Billy Goldstein, Dwayne P. Mitchell*.
Ensemble - Louis Brogna*, Billy Goldstein, Nathan Haltiwanger, Emma Kantor, Andrew Leggieri*, Esther Lee*, MK McDonald, Dwayne P. Mitchell*, Anna Novak, Lianna Paglia, Andrew Playford, Carlos Pérez, Keliah Schertz, Rebecca Spigelman*, Brian C. Veith, Nicole Weitzman.
Understudies and Study Covers
Understudies and Study Covers are never substituted for listed performers unless a specific announcement is made at the time of the performance.
Understudy For: Count Philippe De Chandon - Dwayne P. Mitchell*; Gerard Carriere - Justin R.G. Holcomb*; Inspector Ledoux - Andrew Leggieri*; Florence - Esther Lee*; Opera Diva - Rebecca Spigelman*.
Study Cover For: Christine Daaé - Lianna Paglia; La Carlotta - Nicole Weitzman; Joseph Buquet - Brian C. Veith; Phantom - Nathan Haltiwanger; Alain Cholet & Jean-Claude - Billy Goldstein; Fluere & Flora - Emma Kantor; Belladova - Anna Novak.
Additional Creative Team:
Scenic and Lighting Design - Jack Mehler; Chief Operating Officer - Karen Nascembeni; Associate Producer and Casting Director - Matthew Chappell; Production Stage Manager - Marshall Lee Smith, Jr.; Assistant Stage Managers - Brendan M. Cullen and Maria Papadopoulos; Assistant Music Director - Robert L. Rucinski; Sound Design - Elisabeth Weidner; Wig and Hair Design – Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Company Manager and Casting Associate - Amanda Ostrow-Mason; Original Costume Design - Martha Clarke and Morgan Andersen; Associate Director - Brody Redman; Costume Coordinator - Rebecca Glick.
*Indicates the actors and stage managers as members of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
Performances:
October 21, 2026 through November 1, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
TICKETS:
For tickets and information visit www.nsmt.org, call # 978-232-7200, or visit the North Shore Music Theatre box office in person at 54 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA. 01915
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) immerses its audiences into the troubled world of the "PHANTOM" – in an exciting musical adaptation now playing in Beverly.
Set in-the-round, the NSMT production features a fine cast performing to a pleasing score.
This "PHANTOM" comes from the writing team of the musical “NINE” - Maury Yeston who provided the score and Arthur Kopit who wrote the book for the musical.
Comparisons made to the iconic 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera” is unavoidable but also unwarranted.
It would be equally unfair to compare either "PHANTOM" stage musical to the classic 1925 Lon Chaney silent black and white film or, for that matter, any of these to the 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux.
Each iteration of the basic story should be able to be judged exclusively on its own merit - and this version currently underway at NSMT certainly warrants more attention than it receives given it has a fine score (albeit with some minor structural issues. More on that later).
In 1982, four years BEFORE the Webber musical began its 35-year run, the writing duo of Yeston and Kopit came off a huge Tony Award win for “Best Musical” for “NINE.”
The collaborators were approached by actor/director Geoffrey Holder to write a musical based on Leroux's novel, which he obtained the rights to and planned to direct.
Jump ahead to 1991, five years AFTER the Webber musical became the mammoth blockbuster of all musicals, and Yeston/Kopit’s "PHANTOM" was first staged - NOT on a Broadway stage but rather on a stage in Houston, Texas.
"Yippee Ki Yay" - The reception by the critics – even given it was Texan critics - was mixed.
However, the musical has since developed a minor cult following with numerous productions staged all around the world.
In Yeston/Kopit’s "PHANTOM" we see less of the normal portrayal of this threatening “ominous figure” who is hell-bent on tormenting the residing troupe of a Parisian Opera House.
In the immersive in-the-round staging by North Shore Music Theatre, instead we see their novel attempt at exploring the origin story of the "PHANTOM" himself.
(Photo: The CAST of the Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit musical "PHANTOM," now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
It is the turn of the last century, and we learn the tragic tale of a disfigured baby boy named Erik (played as an adult by Sean Seamus Thompson and as a child at alternating performances by Quinn Murphy and Aidan Rystrom).
(Note: The following occurs during Act Two but this info is critical to understand much of what transpires in the shows first act.)
Young Erik, as well portrayed by Quinn Murphy at the October 21st performance, is kept hidden - raised in the catacombs by his beautiful mother Belladova (Keliah Schertz), who shields Erik from an intolerable cruel world that would fear his appearance and label Erik a “monster.”
Of course, today some might argue that sounds more like a "THEM problem" than an "Erik problem," and they would be right - but just keep in mind the original 1910 novel and the time and place in which the story is set.
As Belladova, Schertz has a striking soprano voice as her character sings to Young Erik, soothing his troubled spirit.
As Erik grows, the realization sets in of his grotesquely disfigured appearance.
Years pass and multiple tragedies strike, leading Erik to exist as an assumed “ghost” of the Opera House.
The disfigurement of his face has become symbolic of his tormented soul and his deteriorating mental state.
Gérard Carrière (Gregory North), sole "confidante" to Erik and Opera House company manager, is fired from his position as head of the Opera House by new owners.
North provides us with a poignant portrayal of the sole individual Erik allows himself to trust - and his reasons, revealed during Act Two, add more layers to the character's backstory and his bond with Erik.
It is this very relationship that distinguishes this "PHANTOM" story from others, giving it a dimension of its own, succeeding on some levels but not on others.
Over the years, Erik's unbalanced obsession with meticulously good sopranos is equal to that of his disdain of horrendous ones.
(Photo: Madison Claire Parks as "Christine Daaé" with David Coffee as "Jean-Claude" in a scene from the Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit musical "PHANTOM," now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
To further Erik’s distress is Carlotta (Victoria Huston-Elem), diva and wife of the new owner of the Paris Opera House, Alain Cholet (Alex Syiek).
La Carlotta, in addition to manipulating her way into leading roles, also serves as the newly appointed manager of the opera company - and is in a class of bad all her own (and not the Michael Jackson kind of bad).
Carlotta has a distinctly wretched sounding voice that causes Erik severe distress, pushing him to the brink of insanity.
The pivotal moment when Erik assumes his role as the musical's homicidal villain comes by way of a costuming assistant wandering down into his lair and discovering him – at Carlotta’s insistence.
This forces Erik into a hitherto unforeseen tragic decision (spoiler alert) which also serves to reinforce his position as the 'fiendish' "PHANTOM of the Opera."
Thompson is persistently outstanding in his portrayal of the tormented title character, as conveyed eloquently though "PHANTOM" songs, "Where in the World" and "My Mother Bore Me."
A street singer named Christine (Madison Claire Parks) busks in the ‘burbs of Paris, peddling her original compositions and, in a chance meeting with ladies’ man Count Philippe de Chandon (Christian Probst), gets work with the Opera House company.
Probst's performance as worldly Philippe is amiable, but his character of Christine’s well-intentioned benefactor is underdeveloped, giving Probst far little to do for us to buy into the budding romantic relationship between the Count and Christine.
Parks, a sublime soprano, is absolutely enchanting in the role of Christine, who explores the Opera House during the touching song "Home."
“Home” is quite possibly the best song of the Yeston/Kopit score, also proving a pivotal moment when Thompson as Erik first hears Christine and later joins her in singing, resulting in the musical's best duet.
Erik becomes enamored with Christine - or, perhaps, her voice - and, in a tense exchange, convinces Christine to become his pupil.
(Photo: Sean Seamus Thompson in the title role of the "PHANTOM" - a musical by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
There is a lovely chemistry between Parks and Thompson but, as if the premise of a "disfigured musical maniac wearing a punctured porcelain plate on his face" isn't a bit farfetched already, there are moments of the musical’s structure which truly stretch credibility.
As Erik teaches Christine in the scene (explored in the numbers "Music Lessons/Phantom Fugue" and "You Are Music") we lose that sense of mystery surrounding Erik's character - making him look less ominous or imposing and more like a voice teacher in a Halloween costume...and wearing a punctured porcelain plate on his face.
The story would work better if Erik, instead, remains more "separated" - that is, more obscured or unseen by Christine - which would help maintain a much-needed enigmatic quality.
The critical element which makes Erik more human and relatable in the Yeston/Kopit score also weakens his distant "eerie" nature inherent to the mysterious "PHANTOM" character.
Again, this is a structural problem with the story and certainly not a reflection of the substantial performances given by Parks and Thompson nor on the equally impressive approach taken by NSMT stage director Robert W. Schneider.
The visual storytelling for "PHANTOM" by Schneider is next-level and absolutely dazzles throughout the musical.
Christine blossoms as a performer and soon becomes a tremendous hit with the public, infuriating Carlotta.
La Carlotta becomes insanely jealous of Christine's increasing popularity and schemes to sabotage Christine’s debut, which serves as a catalyst for the resulting mayhem that ensues.
As the maliciously conspiring Carlotta, the true "monster" of "PHANTOM," Huston-Elem plunges herself into the role establishing Carlotta as far more nefarious than Erik who, just as a reminder (spoiler alert), does NOT commit murder until her arrival.
Huston-Elem effectively communicates her character's own nefarious intentions in the song, "This Place is Mine."
Syiek delivers some marvelous comedic moments as both Carlotta’s husband and as the beleaguered Opera House manager, especially as the terror caused by the mysterious "PHANTOM" menace increases.
(Photo: Victoria Huston-Elem as "La Carlotta" with Alex Syiek as "Alain Cholet" in a scene from the Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit musical "PHANTOM," now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
The NSMT production features visually spectacular storytelling from beginning to end, all conveyed by a tremendous cast and equally remarkable ensemble.
The entire NSMT ensemble shows its versatility portraying many divergent characters as the story unfolds.
The NSMT cast and orchestra, all under the capable musical direction of Dale Rieling, provide a faultless rendering of the palatable Yeston/Kopit’s "PHANTOM" score.
Other "PHANTOM" musical highlights include the numbers "Melody de Paris" and "Bistro" - each rendered by Christine and the ensemble.
NSMT costumes are absolutely radiant throughout the musical and well in keeping with the time and place in which the story is set.
The creative use of space by NSMT director Schneider along with choreographer Briana Fallon has the story bursting visually before the audience from all sides.
In lieu of laborious sets, the musical is instead rife with ingenious technical elements including the applications of inspired lighting, an imaginative mechanized staircase, and a multi-functional rotating stage.
A breathtaking NSMT production all around.
(Photo: Sean Seamus Thompson as the "PHANTOM" with Madison Claire Parks as “Christine Daaé” in a pivotal moment from the Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit musical, now playing at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, MA. through November 1, 2026. Photo Credit: Paul Lyden)
The haunting musical tale of “PHANTOM” continues through November 1st, 2026 at Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly.
The 2027 season for NSMT was announced and shows include the following:
- The electrifying story and legendary hits of Motown in “AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS” which plays at NSMT from June 2nd through June 13th, 2027.
- Next up at NSMT, from July 7th through July 18th, 2027 audiences can dive under the sea with Disney’s magical family favorite, “THE LITTLE MERMAID.”
- Running at NSMT from August 11th through August 22nd, 2027, experience one of the greatest musicals ever written with “WEST SIDE STORY.”
- In September, get ready for big laughs and a boot-stompin’ good time with “THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS” which plays at NSMT from September 15th through September 26th, 2027.
- Just in time for Halloween, everyone’s favorite creepy, kooky family takes over the NSMT stage in “THE ADDAMS FAMILY” which runs from October 20th through October 31st, 2027.
For tickets and information visit www.nsmt.org, call # 978-232-7200, or visit the North Shore Music Theatre box office in person at 54 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA. 01915.
BUY TICKETS
Approximately two hours, 40 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
"PHANTOM" the mesmerizing musical by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, reimagines Gaston Leroux’s classic tale with soaring emotion and unforgettable beauty.
This lavish production combines an exquisitely crafted story with a breathtaking score that has captivated audiences around the world.
Set beneath the Paris Opera House, the story follows Erik, a brilliant but tormented musical genius who lives in the catacombs, and Christine, a young singer whose extraordinary voice awakens his heart.
As love, jealousy, and destiny intertwine, "PHANTOM" reveals a more human and heartbreaking side of the legendary figure.
Filled with passion, mystery, and hauntingly beautiful music, "PHANTOM" is musical theatre at its most timeless and romantic.
Approximately two hours, 40 minutes with one intermission
CONTENT ADVISORY: Production uses strobing and flashing lights, stage fog, and theatrical haze.
Production has depictions of death and horror along with mature themes.
Recommended for teens and adults. We do encourage you to use your judgment based on your own research of the show, your own sensibilities, and a child's age and maturity level.
No children under the age of 4 will be permitted in the theatre including babes in arms.
ABOUT BILL HANNEY'S NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE
Since opening in 1955, NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE (NSMT) has become one of the most attended theatres in New England, with approximately 250,000 patrons annually. With a national and regional reputation for artistic achievement, NSMT has received numerous industry awards including Elliot Norton Awards, IRNE Awards, the Rosetta Le Noire Award from Actors' Equity, and the Moss Hart Award. NSMT produced the World Premiere of "Memphis" in 2003, the show went on to win four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Under the new ownership of Bill Hanney since 2010, NSMT continues to annually produce a musical subscription series and an annual production of "A Christmas Carol" along with celebrity concerts, children's programming and year-round education classes for children and adults.
54 Dunham Road
Beverly, MA. 01915
# 978-232-7200
Fax # 978-232-9999
northshoremusictheatre@nsmt.org “THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS”“WEST SIDE STORY.”“THE LITTLE MERMAID.”“AIN’T TOO PROUD: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS”
