Alex Podolinski has a technique for getting into character as the Phantom of the Opera.

“To prepare myself I like to go backstage and kind of wander, and that sounds kind of creepy,” he said.

An appropriately creepy technique for a famously creepy character.

Greensburg Salem High School this weekend will be the first school in Westmoreland County to bring “Phantom” to the stage.

Teacher and director Sue Glowa said the play’s scope makes it more challenging than anything the school has attempted before.

“It’s an opera, and it’s mostly music,” she said. “There’s very little dialogue, and the dialogue that is in the show is on top of music.”

It took 50 cast members, 12 members of the stage crew and a 20-piece orchestra to bring Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic to life.

Because of the extra challenge associated with “Phantom,” the school held auditions in September — about three months earlier than normal, Glowa said. Senior Sarah Kobuck plays leading lady Christine.

“Christine, she’s just kind of a worrier. She worries so much. And it’s kind of cool, because I’ll just take every situation and overthink it times 10, and there’s Christine.”

Kobuck said she takes extra steps to warm up her voice before every rehearsal, because she sings through the whole performance. Podolinski, a senior, said he brings a lot of energy to his portrayal of the Phantom.

“He has like every single emotion a human being can go through in their entire life, it’s so much fun to play,” he said.

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Greensburg Salem High School auditorium.

Tickets are $10, plus $1.50 processing fee They’re available online at gshsmusical.ticketleap.com, or at the door the day of the performance.

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