#phantom actors

Jonny Nash - Phantom Actors

Melody As Truth

Jonny Nash - A Shallow Space

First off, thanks for the ask!  :)

This might stir up some (potentially not-so-friendly) discussions so I’ll preface this response with: this is my opinion, so those reading it are welcome to not agree with me, but let’s keep it polite and civil.

I’ll go two over and two under and elaborate on each. 

Overrated Phantoms:  Anthony Crivello and Ramin Karimloo.  Anthony because I saw him live in the Las Vegas production probably seven or more times.  The problem I had when watching him in the role was that I didn’t see him as The Phantom….I saw Anthony Crivello in a Phantom costume, if that makes sense.  It was The Tony Show from start to finish, his physical stature, acting choices, and voice didn’t match what I have in my head for Erik.  It doesn’t mean he’s bad, it just means that for me, he didn’t work.  Anthony has a good voice and I think his resume speaks to his acting ability, but for me he just didn’t match the Phantom and it just seemed like it was a bit of an ego thing with his portrayal.  It doesn’t help that he was having vocal trouble the last week of the run, and in multiple shows that last week he elected to go down an octave in MOTN for the “where you long to BE!” instead of hitting the money note.  It left some of us feeling a bit empty and quite frankly, disappointed, that he wanted to sing when he could have rested for the finale and given one of the other incredible Phantom understudies a last go behind the mask.  File that one under “not okay.”

Ramin…here’s one that might start a firestorm and I’m okay with that.  I do like Ramin’s Phantom.  Key word:  “like.”  Do not “love.”  He’s more untrained and less polished than I like in my Phantoms.  ALW might like the rocker-edge, but I don’t appreciate it much given the story.  I think his acting choices are fine and he looks okay in the role.  That said, I think most of my “Meh he’s overrated” opinion just come from the circumstances of his involvement with POTO, mainly as the Phantom for the 25th Anniversary and in LND.  Bottom line, we’ve seen A LOT of Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom, and perhaps that overexposure is the biggest contribution to why I feel he’s overrated.  Again, I like him, but that’s just about it.  I try to keep in mind that a lot of the seemingly blind love for the man’s portrayal has to do with the fact that he’s what’s available - people can buy the RAH performance or watch it online.  He is accessible!  So naturally, a lot of folks will hold him up as the gold standard because that’s what they know, and they’re not in a position to see a live production yet.  And that’s okay too. 

Heck, I grew up on the OLC and Michael Crawford, and was initially disappointed to hear/see Ted Keegan in the Third National Tour when I saw the show for the first time.  Why?  Because he wasn’t Michael Crawford.  Now Ted’s a perfectly fine Phantom and I wish I had appreciated him more, but I had to learn to appreciate what each actor brings to the role after seeing the show a couple of times.

Underrated Phantoms:  Michael Lackey and Ian Jon Bourg.  Okay, some might say that Ian is perfectly well-rated and I won’t argue that point too much.  He did spend plenty of time as a principle in Germany, but over here in the US he was primarily a Phantom understudy.  WOW.  WOW.  WOW.  I think if I had to describe him in one word, it would be presence.  He was very commanding of your attention when he was on stage, and his first lines just made you want to crawl back in your seat, it was that intimidating and powerful.  He physically suited the role (tall, lean) and was very elegant in his movement, very deliberate.  He had the operatic voice to match.  I saw him in Las Vegas and that was pretty amazing.  Saw him opposite Sarah Lawrence and that was even more amazing.