Loose Lips

The title role in The Phantom of the Opera seems like a natural fit for Broadway leading man Brent Barrett, but it has taken 17 years for him to don the mask — which he will officially do when the show, retitled Phantom –The Las Vegas Spectacular, begins its run at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas on June 12. “I was offered the role of Raoul when the show first went to Toronto but I turned it down to do Closer Than Ever, which was not a wise decision monetarily,” he says. “So when I heard this was going to happen, I called up Hal Prince, who directed me in Candide, and told him I was interested.”

The Vegas version, which is being performed in a specially-built theater designed by David Rockwell to resemble the Paris Opera House, is quite different from the Broadway one — most notably in that it’s only 90 minutes long. “Some rabid fans of the show may be disappointed, but they shouldn’t be, since they aren’t missing any songs,” says Barrett. “And I’m happy that all of the Phantom’s material is intact.” He admits the role is a slight vocal challenge: “It is very rangy, and for the last 10 years, I’ve only done baritone roles. But it only goes to an A flat, so it’s just been a question of exercising the muscles of the other end of my range and getting comfortable there.”

The show is double-cast; Barrett will play the role five shows a week and Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello will do the other five, but Barrett will perform with both of the Christines and Carlottas. “It’s interesting, and in some ways, it’s great to mix it up,” he says. “But it has made rehearsals a bit trickier. Hal is really jazzed about this production. He and [choreographer] Gillian Lynne have been around every day from the beginning. There have been lots of decisions to make, with the new script and the new set. Wait until you see the chandelier.”

Indeed, Prince’s devotion to the show is such that he will not come to New York on June 11 to accept his Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. Says Barrett with a laugh, “I told Hal I had this great idea, that he should videotape his acceptance speech poolside at the Venetian surrounded by topless showgirls. But I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

ONE NIGHT ONLY
Cabaret couple Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano will perform at Makor on June 11; Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin will join the New York Gay Men’s Chorus for Our Journey on June 14 at Avery Fisher Hall; Pajama Game co-star Roz Ryan will perform her cabaret show
A One Night Stand of Eternal Love at Danny’s Skylight Room on June 15; Alice Ripley will be on hand to honor composer Stephen Schwartz at the 2006 Goodspeed Gala when he receives the Goodspeed Award for Outstanding Contribution to Musical Theatre on June 17. Mario Cantone, Alan Cumming, Fran Drescher, Barrett Foa, Sara Gettelfinger, Cyndi Lauper, and Josh Strickland will be among the special guests at Broadway Bares 16 at Roseland on June 18. That same night, Tony winner Adriane Lenox will be at the Triad for New School/Old School, a concert featuring such guest stars as Michael McElroy and Kecia Lewis-Evans, while choreographers Christopher Wheeldon, Dwight Rhoden, and Tony Stevens will take part in a panel discussion titled The Creative Process Unraveled at Steps on Broadway.

The next night, June 19, is even busier: Charlotte Rae, Penny Fuller, Daniel Reichard, Paxton Whitehead, Alison Fraser, George S. Irving, and Michael Riedel will appear in Project Shaw‘s reading of Getting Married at The Players’ Club; Judith Blazer, Byron Jennings, Carolyn McCormick, and Mary Testa will take part in The Mint Theater Company’s 2006 Annual Gala, which will include a reading of Act I of Ruth Gordon’s rarely-seen play The Leading Lady and selections from the never-produced musical version of A Member of the Wedding; Ann Crumb, Grant Norman, and Shonn Wiley will star in a reading of the new musical Triangle at Manhattan Theatre Club Studios; and, last but not least, over at the Hudson Theatre, Christopher Meloni. Jayne Houdyshell, Jenn Harris, and Tyler Maynard will join Charles Busch for The Actors’ Fund benefit reading of Die Mommie Die!

RYAN’S HOPE

Thomas Jay Ryan considered pulling a Robert DeNiro in taking on the title role in the Keen Company’s revival of In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer. “He was extremely skinny, and I’m not,” says the slightly stocky actor of Oppenheimer. “So when I found out a year ago I was going to do this part, I said to myself that I was going to lose 60 pounds. But then I realized that, of all his characteristics, skinniness isn’t the most fascinating. So I released that.” On the other hand, Ryan, who had given up smoking, is puffing away onstage. “It’s a little dangerous to go back,” he says, “and I have to admit that I’m enjoying those two cigarettes a night. I’ll let you know in July if I got hooked.”

Ryan is admittedly bad at math and science, but he hasn’t spent time honing those skills to play the man who helped invent the atomic bomb. “I knew no matter how much read, I was never going to be a physicist,” he explains. “But I did read the Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus, and that gave me a great overview of his life. I learned that he had his security clearance taken away during the ‘Red Scare’ — which was interesting to find out because, as a kid, I was taught that he was our savior.”

The play reunites Ryan with director Carl Forsman, with whom he previously worked on Sin at the New Group. “The second time doing a play with a director is important,” he remarks. “Plus, both plays are docudramas in a trial setting — and, in both plays, I just sit in a chair. I told Carl that if we do a third play together, I have to at least walk through a door.”

LISTEN UP!
My CD rack is overflowing with some fabulous new releases. Every time I hear Julia Murney‘s I’m Not Waiting (Sh-K-Boom), I change my mind about my favorite cut. Is it her searing rendition of Andrew Lippa‘s title tune or her-kick-ass version of Bobbie Gentry’s country classic “Fancy” or her stunning take on “I’m Not That Girl,” which she gets to sing nightly in the national tour of Wicked? The lovely Maria Friedman‘s first U.S. recording, Now and Then (Sony Classical), is further proof of her musical love affair with Stephen Sondheim, who accompanies her in a beautiful reading of “Children and Art.” The master is equally well served by the one-and-only Brian Stokes Mitchell (Playbill Records). This jazz-tinged debut CD from the Tony-winning star includes “Being Alive,” “Pretty Women,” “Losing My Mind,” and “Something’s Coming”; but the choicest cut, to my ears, is Adam Guettel‘s glorious “How Glory Goes.”

Speaking of glorious, how else do you describe Audra McDonald? She delivers an irresistible “10,432 Sheep” on Jule Styne in Hollywood (PS Classics), an eclectic compilation of movie tunes enlivened by such talents as Klea Blackhurst, Victoria Clark, Sutton Foster, Rebecca Luker, Norm Lewis, Kelli O’Hara, and Leslie Uggams. And let’s all be grateful for It’s Only Life (PS Classics), which not only provides an outlet for the breadth of John Bucchino‘s singular songwriting but doubles as a great vocal showcase for Brooks Ashmanskas, Andrea Burns, Gavin Creel, Jessica Molaskey, and Billy Porter.