Phantom

Cue the scary pipe organ music. “Phantom — The Las Vegas Spectacular” is preparing to celebrate its fifth anniversary playing to packed houses on the Strip.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical tours frequently worldwide, but the Las Vegas production is unlike any other. The show makes its permanent home in a $40-million custom-built theater at the Venetian and features breathtaking special effects that include a 2,000-pound chandelier with 30,000 individual crystals, more than $4 million worth of lavish costumes and 80 life-sized mannequins filling opera boxes.

The Las Vegas version is directed by the legendary Hal Prince and stars Anthony Crivello, a Tony Award winner for a role he originated on Broadway, the Marxist revolutionary Valentin in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” The hunky Crivello is transformed with great effort into a creature so hideously deformed that audience members shrink back in horror when they see him unmasked.

At 95 minutes, the Las Vegas version of the hit musical is slightly shorter than the version on Broadway, where it remains the longest-running musical of all time.

The musical tells the story of the macabre Phantom, his object of obsession, opera singer Christine Daaé, and her childhood sweetheart, Raoul.

Kristi Holden and Kristen Hertzenberg share the role of Christine, while Andrew Ragone plays Raoul.

The show celebrates its fifth birthday on June 24. And about that chandelier: Will it coming crashing down? Be there and find out.

-Anne Burke, Custom Publishing Writer

“PHANTOM – THE LAS VEGAS SPECTACULAR”

Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino

3355 Las Vegas Blvd., South

702.414.9000 or www.venetian.com

$69 to $150; VIP experience available for $250

www.phantomlasvegas.com

Monday and Saturday, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 7 p.m.