PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) ― Mark Campbell started memorizing the songs from “The Phantom of the Opera” when he was 14 ― he’d sing along with his portable CD player while mowing the lawn. Not long after, he saw his first performance of the show, and waited outside the stage door to meet the man behind the mask.

Now, he’s playing the Phantom himself in a reimagined production of the longest-running show in Broadway history.

In some ways, Campbell has had to let go of the Phantom he grew up with. “I don’t want you to reinvent this role, I want you to invent this role,” he remembers director Laurence Connor, who oversaw the original for years, telling him.

The curtain went up Wednesday at the Providence Performing Arts Center on the new “Phantom,” the story of a deformed composer who haunts the Paris Opera House and falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, whom he grooms for stardom.

The show, with music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has been seen by over 130 million people in 30 countries and grossed over $5.6 billion worldwide. The new version ― with a new set, choreography, lighting and scenic design ― is being performed by a cast and orchestra of 52. It will be the first U.S. tour of “Phantom” in three years.

“It’s a much edgier, darker take on the story,” said Campbell during a recent interview at the downtown theater as the crew worked to ready the set for the opening. “It’s been a pretty amazing journey.”