Review: ‘Phantom of the Opera’ still stalker-ish after sublime refresh

OK, it’s hella creepy for a music teacher to keep a wax mannequin in a wedding dress that’s basically a 1-to-1 replica of his student. Eww. No wonder she keels over shortly after seeing it.

Yet the lessons the self-styled Angel of Music has given Christine Daaé in “The Phantom of the Opera” also help her tap into her extraordinary vocal superpowers. Can we cringe at the power imbalance, side-eye the stalker-groomer vibes and still swoon over the Phantom’s sublime music?

It’s a tall ask in an era when real-world abusers keep getting unmasked, but actors Isaiah Bailey and Jordan Lee Gilbert are making a rapturous case that we can. Under the incisive direction of Seth Sklar-Heyn — an acolyte of original “Phantom” director Harold Prince — Bailey and Gilbert headline the national tour of the musical that haunts Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre through Dec. 7.

The two leads have chemistry for days. When their voices braid together on the title song, you can practically see the sparks ricocheting off the proscenium stage. Their performances pull us deep into two very different quests for freedom — Christine yearning to grow into the prodigy her father believed in, and the Phantom aching for the world to see beyond the mask that hides both his face and his fragility.

When they first descend into his lair, she sings, “I’m the mask you wear,” and he snaps back with, “It’s me they hear.” Oh, the drama!

The pair may be the most transporting duo to inhabit these roles on a Minnesota stage — no small feat in a metro the show visits on the regular. Their star wattage anchors a spruced-up, London-born production newly polished by Sklar-Heyn, complete with a scenic redesign that leans even further into Maria Björnson’s original vision and includes a very extra Pegasus centerpiece.

This “Phantom” still delivers all the fog and the ghostly journey through the catacombs. There’s also the chandelier chaos we expect — but it all moves with a new, zippy confidence. Grand spectacle? Check. Goosebumps? Check. A reason to forgive the wax-bride situation? Hmm, we’ll get back to you.

With Isaac Hayward conducting an orchestra featuring a dozen Minnesota musicians, the score swells, shivers and thrills — a celebration of talent as haunting as the story itself.

After all: Works and nations created by deeply problematic people have always left us wrestling with the same messy question — how do you appreciate the masterwork without ignoring the monster?

In this case, at least, the music of the night makes one heck of an argument.

When: 7:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., 7:30 Mon.-Wed. Ends Dec. 7.

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Minneapolis.