Robert Guillaume, "Phantom of the Opera"

[CurtisTaylorJr2]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 7:08pm

I know he played the role of the Phantom in the Los Angeles production (not quite sure if that's right) and I was wondering how he was in the role, I kind of have a hard time picturing him in that role.

[otis33]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 7:50pm

I saw him play the role in LA. From what I remember, he was quite good. It was MANY years ago though.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 7:55pm

They actually have a clip of him at www.thephantomoftheopera.com

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 8:00pm

I remember seeing some PBS musical special years back...he did Music of the Night in full costume. The Christine and Raoul from the LA production did All I Ask of You (they weren't too memorable, but I didn't like that song back then).

I didn't really care for his voice. It sounded...I don't know...too rigid. My viewing companion was less charitable...she flatly stated he sounded constipated.

[morosco]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 10:27pm

Is he the only black actor to have ever played the role?

[amcchemist]

Posted: 6/9/06 at 11:59pm

Sounded constipated? LOL! That's EXACTLY what my coworker said when she heard Gerard Butler sing the same song from the POTO movie. That song can be so beautiful when done right. I've seen Michael Crawford perform that song in concert and he blows me away with it everytime. Earl Carpenter in London was quite good as well.

From what I heard, Guillaume had some issues doing the role as he had a fear of heights. Now, granted, I couldn't prove that one way or the other, but I could see where someone with a fear of heights could have some difficulties at times playing the role. Has anyone else heard that claim?

I also have a hard time picturing him in the role, but mainly because it is not the type of character I've seen him perform before. Guess I'm too used to him as Benson. LOL!

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/10/06 at 2:07am

I saw the show three times in L.A. when it opened. I was lucky enough to have house seats for all three performances. The first two were with Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and the third time was with Guillaume.

I should start by saying that Michael Crawford gave a LEGENDARY performance as the Phantom. He took the role to places I've never seen since. It had to do with his eccentricity, both vocally but especially physically with the role. He moved in an unearthly way around the stage.

Guillaume sang the role very well. Much better than I expected, and his acting (most of which is behind that mask) was very good... but he was fairly stiff physically, and that made it far less interesting to watch overall. Guillaume had spent so many years in front of a camera on Soap and Benson, and I find this to be a very common thing with film and TV actors. They are so used to hitting marks, holding them, and acting for a tiny lens, that when they're on a large stage in a theatre, they forget to open up and move around. They come off stiff, stilted and "land-locked" in their acting. I don't mean to imply that he was terrible, it was just a weaker performance than Crawford's.

I saw the show years later in NYC with Howard McGillin. I would place him third on my list, after Crawford and Guillaume.

An interesting thing happened, though, when I saw Guillaume in the show. It was the same cast in L.A. (with Dale Kristien and Reece Holland as the other two leads), but after Michael Crawford left as the Phantom, it became "Christine's" show, which is what I think Lloyd Webber had always intended, since he wrote it for his wife. She was the focus, the star and the main character of the musical. When Crawford was in it, it was HIS SHOW, no question. He dominated the entire evening from start to finish. Such a landmark performance! And hard to match by Guillaume... or anyone else, for that matter.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 6/10/06 at 9:20am

morosco - yes, I believe so.

amchemist - I had one advantage when I watched Robert Guillaume's performance on PBS. I had never seen "Benson," partly because I was young when that was on tv and partly because we just didn't watch much tv when I was young.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/10/06 at 10:47am

best12bars, although I am getting slightly off topic here, the same thing happened to Christine the last time I saw the show...Gary Mauer is not the strongest Phantom. Last time I saw the show Marie Danvers was Christine. It was the first time I'd ever been focused on Christine from start to finish. Mauer was average, but she illuminated the stage and captivated me from start to finish. It was an amazing breath of fresh air, and Iw as shcoked that this finally happened (after seeing the show 6 times prior to that performance), as I've always wanted to see at least one Christine steal the show. But I think I like the show more with the two leads being equally strong prescences. (So Panaro/Koop were my best pair so far).

Back on topic:

From the clip of Guillaume as The Phantom, I can definately see the stiffness. Hs acting and motions were good, but just too stiff. Is he'd opened up a bit more he'd have been much better.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 6/10/06 at 10:58am

ThankstoPhantom - I had a similar experience with Gary Mauer. I saw him on the tour in late winter this year. He was good...but just good. He certainly did not live up to the fuss made about him on a lot of the Phantom boards I'm on. I felt a bit let down. But I saw him opposite his wife, Beth Southard (I'd already seen Marie Danvers opposite Hugh once and just didn't care for her). And Beth was just wonderful. It was the first time I was more interested in Christine than the Phantom.

Hugh and understudy Susan Owen are by far my favorite pairing. He's definitely the best of my four live Phantoms.

I forgot to mention in my previous post, but...yes...I believe Robert Guillaume did have a fear of heights, especially when it came to the scenes on the angel statue. That was supposedly one of the reasons he didn't stay in the role for long.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 6/10/06 at 11:05am

Owen and Koop are definately two amazing understudies...Mauer was definately better after a second viewing, but he wasn't anything special.