D'Ambrosio is no phantom figure
By: Robert Sokol
Special to The Examiner
January 21, 2009
 |
| Back in The City: Franc D’Ambrosio, best known locally for playing the title character of “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Curran Theatre for years, is singing show tunes at the Rrazz Room. (Courtesy Photo) |
|
|
SAN FRANCISCO — While Andrew Lloyd Webber is busily making plans for a sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera”— the mega-hit musical is about to celebrate its 21st anniversary on Broadway — San Francisco’s favorite Phantom has been busily filling his calendar with concert dates.
“I did over 150 appearances over 10 months in 2008. The airline folks know me by name now!” he laughs.
Last here in 2007, Franc D’Ambrosio has been performing in symphony halls across the country.
“I’m excited to be making my Rrazz Room debut,” he says, “mostly because it means coming back to a city I think of as my adopted home, but also because this is a much more intimate space. I’m usually in big thousand-seat halls and I love the direct connection you can make with the audience in a smaller venue.”
D’Ambrosio still holds the record as the longest-running “Phantom” anywhere, due largely to the five years he spent haunting the Curran Theatre almost a decade ago, along with Lisa Vroman as Christine and Christopher Carl as her lover Raoul.
Interestingly, he’s never played the part on Broadway. “The subject has come up over the years, but every time we spoke about it I was committed to another project.”
He’s still friends with Vroman, but hasn’t kept up with other people from the show. “It’s something of a lonely role for an actor,” he says. “You arrive early to spend several hours in makeup and most of the time the Phantom is on stage alone, or only with Christine. So you don’t get much of a chance to develop that close backstage camaraderie, even in a long run.”
While there’s no denying the excitement of a great role in a great show, D’Ambrosio found himself pulling away from the eight-shows-a-week routine of scripted theater. “I got a little tired of it, and as an artist, I really wanted to express myself as a solo performer.”
His upcoming engagement will be a hybrid of his Hollywood and Broadway concert shows, but with a twist.
“There’ll be a sort of menu card at the tables when people arrive and each person will be able to vote for the songs they want to hear. Then we’ll gather the cards and my musical director and I will build the show that night based on the requests.”
Unfortunately, he says, write-in candidates will not be an option.
IF YOU GO
Franc D’Ambrosio
Where: The Rrazz Room, Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St., S.F.
When: 8 p.m. today through Feb. 1, except 5 p.m Sundays
Tickets: $30 to $40
Contact: (866) 468-3399, www.therrazzroom.com
