best? worst? phantoms — Page 3

Hugh was great when I saw him

But the best Phantom ever has to be Michael Crawford. He gave, IMO, one of the best performances in the history of theater. I thought he was a revelation in every way.

Best: Michael Crawford. It was a legendary performance, and I saw him in it twice. I will never forget the impact he had on me and the rest of the audience. It was among the greatest: Mostel in Fiddler, Streisand in Funnny Girl, Channing in Dolly, Merman in Gypsy, and Brynner in The King & I. It doesn't get better than this.

Robert Guillaume: Commanding and impressive... but stiff. He sang it incredibly well though.

Howard McGillin was fine, but not captivating or electric at all. He had already played the role a million times before I saw him in it, but I wasn't terribly impressed. I like Howard, too, just not so much in this.

Gerard Butler wasn't really allowed to BE the Phantom. Instead he was some sort of wet-dream super-hero fantasy of Joel Schumacher's. How could anyone be scary or thrilling presented like a second-rate "Boy Wonder?" I didn't mind his gutteral, untrained singing. It was raw, but truthful. Michael Crawford's voice isn't that great either, but he was so BRILLIANT in the part. I blame Gerard's ineffectiveness entirely on Schumacher.

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Updated On: 11/4/05 at 08:48 PM

yes brad little is one of the best! yes i need to learn to let other people have their own opinions, thats why i posted this thread! And kangaroo I dont feel like using punctuation, not that big of a deal!