The current Broadway cast is incredibly strong. Panaro is sexy as all hell, has a beautiful voice, and plays a very sarcastic Phantom. Sara Jean Ford is a strong, angry Christine, and she can ACT, unlike alternate Christine (Mon. & Thurs.) Marni Raab, whose continued employment never ceases to amaze me. Marni could not act her way out of a paper bag. Sarah Brightman was a better actress than Marni, if that tells you something. Sean MacLaughlin is a wonderful Raoul, which is a fairly thankless role.
Just make sure you don't get a Panaro understudy, if you can help it. I saw Paul A. Schaeffer in the role while Panaro was on vacation, and he was terrible. First Phantom I've seen who didn't get a standing ovation, and who seemed to be deliberately eliciting laughter from the audience. He was making fun of the character he was playing the whole time. *shudders* Not a great approach to Phantom.
Updated On: 4/24/11 at 03:26 PM