WHET Michael Crawford?

I saw him in some old film yesterday. God how I hate him.

When they did the 25th Anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall and Ramin Karimloo played the phantom, they brought a bunch of other notable folks from the original production on stage at the end (like they did for Les Miserables).

They did one of those Four Phantoms renditions, but he pointedly did not sing a note. While they made excuses, it seemed like there was something wrong with his voice. He was doing a show in London at the time, so they claimed he needed to rest. He didn't even do a duet with Brightman.

His sporadic performances over the past few years may be a reflection of his voice no longer being able to handle performing.

Ramin Karimloo--HOT.

I never knew what Andrew Lloyd Webber even saw in Michael Crawford. He was fine as a juvenile lead in Hello, Dolly and Half a Sixpence, and he had a genuinely powerful (if metallic and not very textured) tenor voice. But he always came across as somewhat twerpy, even when he played the Phantom, and then he got quite fat. I never saw The Woman in White, but it's really hard to imagine him as Count Fosco, even with the added weight.

He's 77 years old. He was on the West End in "The Go-Between" for a 20 week engagement.

btw, OP--I have such a love/hate relationship with the original cast recording. Sarah Brightman has a lovely voice, but there's something so unlikable about her when she talks.

I am always weirdly fascinated by the moment when the opera singers are trying to learn the difficult semitonal score for "Don Juan Triumphant," and she corrects Signor Ubaldi incredibly prissily and annoyingly when he doesn't sing the right note: "'TAN'! 'TAN'!!" She's like everyone's nightmare of an opera know-it-all.

[quote] I've been listening to the soundtrack for three decades.

Oh, dear.

He became very ill after The Woman in White due to the physical demands of the role and didn't perform for several years. He wasn't going to act again after that but changed his mind.

Wasn't he in How I Won the War?

Crawford isn't everyone's mug of gin, I'll agree. But he was my first Phantom, so he'll always be the best one to my ears.

I remember hearing that he was very ill back in the 2000s and didn't perform at all, musically or otherwise, for several years. He was always known to be careful with his money, to the point that he was sometimes mocked for his very ordinary lifestyle when he was earning enough money that he could afford to splurge; I suppose he is now comfortably well off enough to only to take on roles that interest him. And he is in his late seventies.

Michael Crawford, 77

R3 I totally understand your point. Just to be clear, I really like Crawford and he really did make the role a great one. Although I never saw him perform in Phantom (or anything else for that matter), I think it safe to say he turned in a very fantastic product. With that said, now having seen many other interpretations of the role, I do find it interesting that he was chosen, mainly because he seems to lack a certain sex-appeal that I see so prevalently in the role now. When I was younger, the sexual aspects of the show were completely lost on me, and I just thought the Phantom was this cool bad-ass running around killing people and wearing weird, but still cool clothes. (for 19th century perhaps). And it wasn't until I was really in my 20s that I realized how sexual the character is, or at least how a sexual quality can be part of the character. And I do think that aspect of the character has been somewhat pumped-up in the last decade for a more sex-friendly audience, primarily starting with Karimloo (if I'm being honest, that was a Phantom I'd fuck). Part of me wonders if Webber never originally intended the role to have a leading-man sexy quality, and newer actors in modern times brought a certain sexy side to the role. So despite really appreciating his take on it, I've always found him to be an unsexy Phantom. I also hate to admit it, because he was the voice I grew up listening to, but he is probably one of my least favorite Phantoms vocally (Colm Wilkinson sounded awful I thought, and that super nasally guy, whatever his name). Sorry to ramble, but I thought your comment was interesting.

To R7 I also have the same issues with the original recording, particularly Brightman. I do like her voice, and it was very pretty in Phantom, but there is something off about it. It's not the issue you mentioned, but there's something that just doesn't mesh with the role. With that said, I've never actually heard a gal playing Christine I thought was spot on. I remember watching some making-of video and there was a prominent critic just tearing into, suggesting she only got the role because she was Webber's wife . I think her look was definitely quintessential Christine, but he was so spot on when describing her vocal quality.

Sorry, the R7 reference above was meant as R5

[quote]He wasn't going to act again after that but changed his mind.

They often do that.

Never understood his appeal nor his international success.

"Dance of the Vampires" happened on Broadway, and "The Woman in White" in London. Michael Ball took on his role in the Broadway transfer, and it flopped. Not as miserably as DOTV, but probably ALW's weakest Broadway reception. Critics called Crawford in "Dance" nasty things like "A fat rooster" and "Wayne Newton in drag". That would keep me from returning to Broadway!

R6, what are you Oh, dearing about?

He hasn't had a TV career in the UK for almost 50 years., though he did quite a lot of TV in the 1960's.

Most people here only vaguely remember him for 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'

she's old and fat

I loved Forbidden Broadway's skewering of his Phantom in "Put On Your Phony Voice."

His Phantom relied an awful lot on a mic and reverb.

Is he gay? I recently watched the film of Forum and had forgotten he was in it and pinged up to high heaven.

[quote] They did one of those Four Phantoms renditions, but he pointedly did not sing a note.

I mean in his defense, when they did the same for Les Mis, Colm Wikinson sang a line or two and sounded awful. The pop opera scores aren't really great for older people.

r15 I can't believe that someone needs to explain this to you, but theater productions do not have SOUNDTRACKS.

So what, r21, we all know what it meant. Besides, Original Cast Recording is too long to type out.

Thanks, R21. Is there an equivalent to a movie soundtrack for a play? Oooops! I mean: theater production?

R23, I remember the Broadway production of The Graduate released a soundtrack, which was weird for a straight play and even weirder since most of the songs weren’t in the production.

[quote]Is he gay? I recently watched the film of Forum and had forgotten he was in it and pinged up to high heaven.

I think he's one of those queeny str8 guys.

Some Mothers Do Have 'Em reran for decades. I had a big crush on Frank Spencer.