‘Phantom of the Opera’ Is Everything You Want Theater to Be

"The Phantom of the Opera" has arrived at the Providence Performing Arts Center, and it is nothing short of stunning.

I took my sister to the show, knowing she had loved "Phantom" as a teenager and listened to the soundtrack incessantly.

Turns out her love of "Phantom" impacted me more than I thought because, with every new song performed Friday night, I found I knew practically all the lyrics.

Having never actually seen the musical performed before, it was nice to finally give all of those songs some context and give myself a whole new love of the play.

"Phantom" is pretty much everything I think of theater being.

Fantastic sets, sweeping musical numbers, intense singing and acting, beautiful costumes and drama, drama, drama.

The story is Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic, but the new production on tour right now is produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

And his sets were unreal.

You go from a 19th-century opera house stage, to backstage, to below the opera house, to the roof of the opera house all so seamlessly.

Stairs pop out of walls, chandeliers fall from ceilings, people travel across the stage in a boat and none of it takes you out of the moment.

From the second the curtain went up I was locked in, often finding myself watching with my mouth slightly agape.

I seriously loved every minute of this musical and would 100 percent recommend catching a performance while "Phantom of the Opera" is in town.

There are plenty of chances to catch too, with the show at PPAC through March 31 and performances most nights and twice on Saturdays and Sundays.

Learn more and get tickets here.