Photo courtesy of UApresents Ted Keegan is the current Phantom in the touring production of "Phantom of the Opera." The musical opens at Centennial Hall Wednesday and will run for four weeks.

Following its world premiere in London in 1986, "Phantom of the Opera" won every major British theater award. Two years later, when it hit the States, it swept all the awards this side of the Atlantic.

And on Wednesday, when it opens at Centennial Hall for a four-week run, "Phantom" will win the hearts of Tucson audiences.

"This is an event that when it comes you don't miss it," said UApresents publicist Tara Kirkpatrick.

And few people, in fact, have missed it. There have been 50,000 performances of "Phantom" to date. The show has been seen by more than 63 million people worldwide, in 15 countries.

In other words, this is a show with a lot of history, and the man at the center of it all - Ted Keegan, who plays the Phantom - has the burden of that history on his shoulders.

But, he said, "Those are all the things you can't really think about. If you think about them, you can become overwhelmed by all of that.

"I look at this like it's my job," he added, "and it's great to be associated with something that has so much history, and, in a way, I'm becoming a part of that history."

Keegan had to work against this history - and the expectations that come along with it - when approaching his role as the Phantom.

"Very often you have people asking 'How does it feel to be doing the role that Michael Crawford made famous?'" Keegan said.

But, Keegan said, there have been 20 Phantoms between Crawford's performance and his own, and that, as with any role, an actor takes the skeleton of the character and lays information from himself on top of it.

"I wouldn't be doing (the role) any justice if I tried to do it anyone else's way," Keegan said.

Based on a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, "Phantom" is ostensibly a love story, the tale of a rivalry for the love of opera actress Christine between her childhood friend Raoul and the Phantom, her music teacher who lives in the bowels of the Paris Opera House. Occasionally, the Phantom disrupts performances at the opera house, as when the famous chandelier falls at the end of Act One.

Keegan stressed that although the Phantom does some questionable deeds, he is no bad guy - only misunderstood.

"His perception of reality is different from everyone else's," he said. "He's acting within his own reality. What may be perceived as bad behavior, he doesn't see it that way."

Keegan said he is particularly able to identify with the Phantom's love for music.

"In the show, music is his life. That is what everything revolves around," he said. "One of the most important things for me was my understanding for his passion for music, which is really an integral of who he is."

Keegan said music has always been a part of his life, even growing up in a small town where "no one made a living going into the arts." His two older brothers sang, but Keegan aspired to make a career of it.

"It's incredible when dreams come true," Keegan said. "When they actually come to fruition, it's like you're living in a dream. I always wanted to be in a Broadway show."

Keegan's role as the Phantom, though, has brought him far beyond the Broadway stage.

He performed "Music of the Night," one of the show's signature songs, in Rockefeller Center for NBC's "Today Show." Also, when he sang that same song during the halftime show of the NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, it was the single-largest audience for a "Phantom" performance.

"How many billions of people watch the NBA All-Star Game throughout the world?" Keegan said. "Normally your adrenaline is pumping high enough when you're doing a show, but I can't even tell you how high my adrenaline was (that day)."

Keegan's performance - for which he was lowered from the scoreboard as he sang - was part of New York-themed entertainment for halftime to celebrate the all-star game's return to the city.

"The crowd went wild. They went absolutely wild," he said.

That reaction is just one of the many facets of the phenomenon that is "Phantom of the Opera."

"The show is just incredible - not only is the story timeless, but it's the special effects that make this show just unbelievable," Kirkpatrick said.

"Phantom" runs through May 4. Performances on Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday evenings are at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on the weekend. For tickets, call 621-3341.