<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div></div><div>Chris Caputo and Alison Shepard in Rose Center Theater production of <i>Phantom </i>at Fort Salem Theater</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>
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<div class="MsoTitle"><b>FORT SALEM THEATER <o:p></o:p></b><b>INAUGURATES ITS SUMMER SEASON WITH</b></div><h1><font class="Apple-style-span" size="3"><span style="font-style: normal; ">YESTON & KOPIT’S </span>PHANTOM</font></h1><div>SALEM – Fort Salem Theater is
delighted to open its summer Mainstage season with the Rose Center Theater
production of Tony winners Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston’s romantic musical, <i>Phantom,
</i><span style="font-style:normal">running one weekend only, June 20-22.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Fort Salem’s <i>Phantom </i><span style="font-style:normal">is directed by part-time Salem resident Tim Nelson,
artistic director at The Rose Center Theater in Westminster, California. “Every
summer we look forward to a trip to Salem to bring one of our winter hits to
the Fort Salem stage,” says Nelson. “This year we reprised our popular 2007
production of </span><i>Phantom, </i><span style="font-style:normal">and it was
even more successful. We can’t wait to show it off to the Salem audiences.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">Shortly after winning their Tony
Award for <i>Nine,</i><span style="font-style:normal"> Best Musical of 1982,
librettist Arthur Kopit and songwriter Maury Yeston adapted Gaston Leroux’s
1910 novel, </span><i>Phantom of the Opera, </i><span style="font-style:normal">into
a Broadway-style musical. Just as their producers set out to announce plans for
a Broadway opening, they were ambushed by British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber,
fresh and financially fortified by the success of </span><i>Cats, </i><span style="font-style:normal">who produced his own version, </span><i>Phantom of
the Opera,</i><span style="font-style:normal"> first in London and then in New
York. Kopit and Yeston lost both their investors and their interest in the
project until Kopit turned the show, without songs, into a four-part miniseries
for NBC.</span> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify">The first production of <i>Phantom,
</i><span style="font-style:normal">in 1992, received rave reviews, and the
Yeston score has found its own cult following. In summarizing a 2013 production
in London, online reviewer Peter Scot-Presland, notes: <span style="color:black">“In
truth, as a piece of writing, Yeston’s ‘Phantom’ is altogether more engaging
than Lloyd-Webber’s. It is tighter, more intimate and informed by more human
sympathy.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Bringing
the story to life, Director Nelson has gathered a talented cast, many of whom
have been featured in the group’s classic musicals the Rose Center has
presented over the years in Salem. “Expect some real vocal gymnastics,”
predicts Fort Salem’s artistic director, Jay Kerr. “Tim’s wife, Mary
Murphy-Nelson, playing the wife of the owner of the opera house, will raise the
roof with ‘This Place Is Mine,’ a song that suggests she can sing whatever
parts she likes, because her husband runs the show. Perhaps art imitating
life,” chuckles Kerr, “but Mary’s performance will blow your socks off.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="color:black">Fort
Salem Theater hosts The Rose Center production of <i>Phantom </i></span><span style="color:black">Friday and Saturday nights, June 20-21, at 8 PM, with a
Sunday matinee, June 22, at 2 PM. More information is available on the
theater’s website (<a href="http://fortsalemtheater.com">fortsalemtheater.com</a>) or by calling the box office, (518)
854-9200.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>
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<div style="font-size: 12px; "><div>Jay Kerr</div><div>Artistic Director</div><div>Fort Salem Theater</div><div><a href="mailto:jay@fortsalemtheater.com">jay@fortsalemtheater.com</a></div><div>(518) 854-9200</div></div><div style="font-size: 12px; "><br></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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