Portrayals of the Phantom of The Opera

[BroadMagTech]

Posted: 5/13/16 at 1:35pm

Which Phantoms have you seen and how would you compare and contrast them? Which were romantic, which were scary? Which were undefeated/overrated. Which played the role in a different way? Better actor or singer?...

Updated On: 5/13/16 at 01:35 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/13/16 at 1:43pm

Joseph Dellger: My first; don't remember much but I liked him

Franc D'Ambrosio: Varied a lot; sensitive/mean

Brad Little: Scary as F

James Romick: Great!

Tim Martin Gleason: D&D

Anthony Crivello: LOL

Norm Lewis: Aw cuddly

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 5/13/16 at 1:59pm

John Owen-Jones: Exciting, angry, scary as hell, and romantic all at once. Huge presence on stage. Loved him.

Hugh Panaro: Very different. Based his off of Susan Kay's "Phantom" to an extent, and changed it up so often that you could use every word to describe him. Amazing voice, and always, always interesting. My #1 choice.

Greg Mills: Giant presence, angry, suave. One of the best.

Jeremy Stolle: Thrilling. Incredible voice, great performance. Tied with Greg Mills as one of my favorites.

Paul Schaefer: Drunk. Not that he was actually drunk, but he wobbles his head around the entire night and that's all I remember.

Laird Mackintosh: Not much to say. I like him a lot, but he was very average when I saw him. Standard, sticks to the blocking, unique voice.

Norm Lewis: Teddy bear that could maul you. Didn't always hit the high notes, but I'll forever be glad they asked him to play the role. Interesting.

Peter Joback: Feral. Small in stature, but used it to his advantage to be like a cornered animal that was about to strike. Very fast moving around the stage, and enjoyable to watch each time I saw him. Stuck to roughly the same performance each time, not mixing it up much with each Christine or Raoul, as I was used to seeing Hugh Panaro did, but he was great.

James Barbour: Boring, but with a good voice that made him worth seeing once. I regretted the second time, because of the boring part. Definitely just stuck to the blocking, and couldn't see any type of facial expression from the front mezz.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/13/16 at 2:05pm

My first Phantom was Brad Little in the tour and I agree that he was pretty creepy. Granted, I was younger and more easily scared but I remember his final layer scene and "You try my patience - make your choice!" being particularly chilling. I saw Richard Todd Adams as Raul in that tour and later saw Adams as the Phantom and found him more emotional and weepy than Little but still effective. I don't even remember who I saw on Broadway. I think it was Hugh Panaro. That was the first time I saw a show on Broadway and I was on cloud 9. I don't really remember specific details about the performances.

[moodle]

Posted: 5/14/16 at 10:11am

I've seen Phantom about 8 times and enjoyed them all. I would have to look up names in the Playbill, but the ONE name I remember as my very favorite was Hugh Panaro. Fantastic!

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 5/14/16 at 3:59pm

Ramin Karimloo: Overrated. Plays himself with a mask on. I can't see the Phantom in him at all.

Tim Martin Gleason: Pretty standard performance, but still a nice voice, and I enjoyed how twitchy he was during his Final Lair, as if he would snap at any moment. (And he has a special place in my heart for being my first.)

Gary Mauer: GREAT. He had little moments that made me feel for the character, such as when he briefly sees himself in the mirror during the first unmasking scene and flinches away from his reflection. Wonderful.

Hugh Panaro: A KING. Apparently he began phoning it in a bit during his last few months in the role, but when I saw him some years ago, he was phenomenal. Great voice, sarcastic, insane attitude during the Final Lair, clearly having the time of his life up on that stage.

Norm Lewis: And there is my absolute favorite. His gorgeous baritone hit all the right notes the night I saw him (which, admittedly, was fairly early in his run, so I can't speak for how he sang the role later on), and his emotions were on point. Tender in all the right moments, angry in others, heartbreaking. His Final Lair remains one of my favorite moments of all time in the show, and extra points for the bizarre gallop-dance he did while going, "Order your fine horses now!" I wish I could see him do the show again.

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/14/16 at 4:33pm

Ramin Karimloo: Laughable, hysterical and off key the whole time.

Hugh Panaro: Excellent, wonderful singer, very elegant portrayal and yet he has this jackal-like quality in the role that Michael Crawford had, but then with good singing.

John Owen Jones: A class on it's own. Absolute perfection, scary, romantic and a palette of colors in his voice that is beyond belief.

[dev101]

Posted: 5/14/16 at 5:14pm

Interesting to read these. I have seen Phantom many times and have enjoyed most portrayals. I like hearing about the different styles each actor has brought to the role. :) 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/14/16 at 11:04pm

Would love to finally see this on Broadway, and while I love Barbour's voice, I'd love to see someone else. Any idea when he's done?

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 5/15/16 at 1:58pm

RippedMan said: "Would love to finally see this on Broadway, and while I love Barbour's voice, I'd love to see someone else. Any idea when he's done?"

From what I've heard, his current contract runs though the holiday season, probably ending in Jan/Feb this upcoming year. Management there apparently loves him, so I wouldn't be shocked if they renewed his contract again. Hopefully he's done in the winter though, he really is very bland on stage. Great voice, no acting. Definitely worth waiting a while.