(VIDEO) The Texas Tech alumnus will reprise the title role he has played more than 1,300 times worldwide.
Texas Tech University's Opera Theatre, in cooperation with Moonlight Broadway Productions, will present one of the greatest musicals of the past 50 years, Andrew Lloyd Webber's “The Phantom of the Opera,” this fall.
The production will star Broadway veteran, Texas Tech alumnus and Lubbock native David Gaschen as the Phantom. He will be surrounded by the vocal and stage talents of Texas Tech Opera Theatre students, many of whom have national singing credits.
“I am beyond excited to return to Lubbock to perform as the Phantom in ‘The Phantom of the Opera,'” Gaschen said. “I have waited for this moment for 20 long years and now the time has come. I am so proud to be from Lubbock and an alumnus of Texas Tech. A big thank-you to Texas Tech for giving me this incredible opportunity.”
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18-22 and Nov. 25-26, and 2 p.m. Nov. 20, 26-27 in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Theatre.
The production will coincide with the Junior League of Lubbock's annual Holiday Happening.
“The Phantom of the Opera” will feature some of Lubbock's artistic leaders:
Gerald Dolter, director of Texas Tech Opera Theatre and Lubbock Moonlight Musicals, will stage the show; Maestro David Cho of the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra will conduct; and Yvonne Racz-Key, artistic director of Ballet Lubbock, will choreograph. Set and lighting design will be handled by Timothy Walsh of Texas
Tech Opera Theatre. Costumes will be designed and executed by Curtains Up Costumes
of Sigourney, Iowa. Sound design will be managed by Moonlight Broadway veteran Brooks
Willig of Western Audio. The Texas Tech Symphony Orchestra will play from the pit.
“The stars have aligned in Lubbock,” Dolter said. “This production has been in the works for more than two years. It will be the most significant musical theater work ever presented on the South Plains.
“Texas Tech Opera Theatre is producing the event with the assistance of Moonlight Broadway. Through such productions as ‘Les Miserables,' ‘Mary Poppins' and Disney's ‘Beauty and the Beast,' Moonlight Broadway has proven professional musical theater can be produced locally. Texas Tech is happy to have Moonlight Broadway assisting with ‘Phantom.'”
The Phantom of the Opera is presented through exclusive arrangement with R & H Theatricals. The title sponsor is Lubbock National Bank.
Tickets for “The Phantom of the Opera” may be purchased in person at the Texas Tech Student Union Building Ticket Office, by calling (806) 770-2000 or online.
Moonlight Broadway subscribers can purchase advance tickets with a pre-sale code July 11–31. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Aug. 1. Prices range from $43.50-$100. A service charge is included.
For more information about “The Phantom of the Opera” visit the Texas Tech School of Music website. Find more information about Moonlight Broadway here.
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