The Phantom has lurked in the shadows on stage before, his voice haunting a new audience each night. But never at a theater settled a mile above sea level.
So he went to the gym.
He did cardio — and more cardio — and drank water.
Derrick Davis heard exercise would ease the effects of high altitude when the “Phantom of the Opera” tour company arrived in Denver. The show’s November run was his first here, and like other out-of-town performers, Davis knew the elevation could affect his breathing and, ultimately, his performance.
Davis, the show’s lead, also had heard stories from his friends. The ones about how oxygen tanks are tucked backstage in Denver for performers who might need to catch their breath.
“Are we gonna need it?” he recalled thinking. “Are we going to be, like, passing out?”
Colorado is synonymous with high altitude. And whether it’s in Denver — aptly nicknamed the Mile High City for its elevation above sea level — or higher, it can affect all types of performers: singers, dancers and musicians. Even dogs struggle to adjust.
And the higher a person goes, the more challenges they can face.
While the amount of oxygen is the same in Colorado as it is everywhere else, the barometric pressure — which drives O2 into our blood — is lower, said Dr. James Maloney, a pulmonologist with UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital.
So, he said, a person gets about 15% less oxygen in Denver.
“For most people, it doesn’t make a difference,” Maloney said. “We acclimatize and that means with time, our body adjusts to the lower oxygen level.”
Maloney, who works with performers as part of UCHealth’s partnership with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, tells them they can still perform well here, but they will notice limitations in their most strenuous routines.
It’s not unusual for performers to acknowledge the challenges they experience at high altitude. Mick Jagger mentioned it during The Rolling Stones’ show at Empower Field at Mile High in August. In the new documentary “Mountaintop,” Neil Young and his bandmates discuss taking hits of oxygen while recording the album “Colorado” at a studio near Telluride earlier this year.
During the second half of her performance with the Colorado Symphony in September, Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth pulled out a small can of oxygen — the kind sold in almost every mountain town — and raised it to her mouth. She had just finished singing “Popular” from the musical “Wicked.”
“Things I learned from the last act: I can’t breathe,” Chenoweth quipped.
While it appeared to be a joke, Chenoweth, who has family here, said she feels the effects of high altitude while performing in Colorado.
“I definitely struggle,” she said in an interview. “I have asthma. And just to be honest, I have been known to use oxygen.”
For performers, one of the biggest challenges they face is that lower oxygen levels increase their breathing.
“Because they have to breathe more, it can interfere with phrasing and breath breaks,” said Dr. Peter Hackett, a clinical professor with the Altitude Research Center.
Ahead of the “Phantom” cast’s arrival in Denver, Emma Grimsley sat in a coffee shop in Lincoln, Neb., and opened her phone to Instagram, the photo and video sharing platform. There she saw a story posted by Davis, who plays opposite her character, Christine.
He was at the gym, preparing for the altitude.
“I clicked on to it right as I was, like, shoving a muffin in my mouth, and I was, like, ‘Uh oh, I gotta get ready,’ ” she later recounted.
Grimsley and Davis, who arrived in Denver two days before their first performance of “Phantom,” did cardio workouts so they could feel what it would be like to be out of breath at high altitude.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Grimsley said. “I was worried it would be a little bit more difficult than it is.”
To help combat the challenges performers might face, Hackett suggests they rest at first and limit alcohol. Deep breathing and voice exercises can also help. So can drinking lots of water as the altitude makes the climate dry.
Lack of hydration “can really knock out a singer,” Hackett said. “Even their nose needs to stay moist.”
Grimsley used the oxygen tank nestled backstage at the Buell Theatre once during a show, just for fun.
“What does it make you feel like?” Davis asked her during an interview. He came close to using oxygen the day before.
“It’s like taking a drink of water when you are thirsty,” Grimsley replied.
Later that evening, after the interview and meeting with local students, Davis sat in his dressing room in front of a lighted mirror. He could hear Grimsley warming up her voice in the room across his.
He joined her with his own exercises, their voices mixing with sounds of a theater preparing for the show. Any concerns about high altitude appeared to be gone.
As their voices drifted through the room, they transformed into the Phantom and Christine.
