Dear PotO Fans,

Which Phantom is your very favorite Phantom, and why is he your favorite Phantom?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Alexander Goebel (Vienna) - he has the right feeling for the part
Henk Poort (Netherland) - warm and controlled voice, seducer
Sandor Sasvari (Budapest) - special voice and feeling, great actor
Phantom Korean Cast 2002 and 2009 - dark voice
Juan Navarro Mexican Cast

Ernst D. Suttheimer- The closest to Leroux
Robert Guillaume- Only black actor to play Erik*And he is awesome*
Anthony Warlow- Has a powerful voice
Hugh Panaro- Love how he plays him as a spoiled child
Gary Mauer- has the voice of a lion
Tim Nolen- I just love him
Juan Carlos Barona- has a amazing voice
Steve Barton- has a hypontic voice
Peter Karrie- love his acting
Henk Poort- love his opericatic voice
Alexander Goebel- has a mornful tone in his singing
Colm Wilkinson- I really love how he gracefully moves


God that was a long list.

My favorite Phantom's are:

Michael Crawford- Of course I'm gonna say Crawford, he originated the role and helped create the character.

Colm Wilkonson- He has a cool, crisp voice that flows into the music.

John Cudia- He is an amazing actor. I watch his performance and I literally cried at such an amazing performance.

Tim Martin Gleason- Saw him in the Burgh and was blown away by his performance.

Michael Crawford
Cause he "invented" the Phantom part, and did it damn well. He also developed it a lot from London to Broadway to Los Angeles, and he had a genuinity and special voice which I love. People who don't like him tend to judge him based on the London Cast Album. Whereas I love that one, it isn't close to doing him justice. His Phantom was a LOT more than what the CD reveals.

Peter Jorde
Tall, tall bloke with an interesting hollow voice. He did an interesting psychological portrayal, with lots of nice understated acting. I especially liked how he clenched his fists time and time again when his Phantom was nervous/stressed/excited. For a moment he could seem to just stand there, but when noticing his hands you saw the whole 2 meter of man was tense as a violin string, before going into action. So cool.

Flemming Enevold
The most unpredictable Phantom I've seen to date, you'd never know which way he'd take the portrayal, almost going too far. It always had me thinking "you can't pull that off!", and then he did. Big time. Also a rich operatic voice with a cool singing style. He seemed to vary his portrayal every night, and if I could wish for one Phantom to repeat the role one day it would be him.

Earl Carpenter
Very detailed portrayal, and a soothing voice. He was so interesting to watch on stage, as he added nots of nuances to the small details of the role. Like the "No... Christine", instead of "Oh... Christine" in the end of STYDI, or the gentle "smelling her hair" movement in MOTNs "sweet intoxication". And his mega jump in the end of "Wandering Child" always made me gasp.

John Owen Jones
When he was good, he was one of the best. I think his voice is unequalled in terms of pure power and control, and he could go from soft and hypnotic to booming in no time. Acting wise he could also jump from highly sensual to completely insane in no time. His portrayal changed from night to night. Downside is that when he was bored, he showed it. But in general he was a power pack.


Also LOVE what I've heard of Mikael Samuelson, John Cudia, Mike Sterling, Scott Davies, Colm Wilkinson and Saulo Vasconcelos.

Jeff Hyslop: He's Canadian and has played the role thousands of times. Very interesting voice and portrayal. Would love to see him in the role again.

Paul Stanley: He embodied the Phantom. I heard a few interviews in which he broke down Phantom's psycholigical profile and compared him to a rock star. He had a menacing portrayl in some parts but could also melt your heart in other places. His laughter at the end of Act One was chilling and he had a great rock voice for the role.

Andy.

I haven't seen very many performances so far, but I think out of the ones I have seen/heard ... probably Michael Crawford, Ramin Karimloo and Glyn Kerslake. I think that was the latter's name anyway. It was a good ten years ago. He was the first Phantom I saw live.

I might have to look some of these names up on Youtube later.

Stop being contrary just to raise people's ire. It was cute at first in the Les Mis movie thread. Now it's irritating.

Tough sh*te!!

Hate to break it to you but Gerald Butler is not the one and only since many actors have played Erik since 1925 or 1916 if you count the lost film Das Phantom Der Oper*And yes it has a page on imdb*. And most of those actors have done this role FAR better then he has.

Baloney!! Then y were those other actors not cast, huh? Huh?