I love that this couple is married in real life! lol You can really tell their comfort/warmth with each other- looks like the Phantom got his Christine. ;-)
Gary really was the perfect storm of gentleness and violence rolled up into one glorious package. Exactly how the Phantom should be. He is graceful but moments of his true nature occasionally bubble up to the surface perfectly displayed by Gary here.
Man... you aren't kidding. He's so raw and gritty at the perfect moments, and smooth and careful just as you begin to get nervous! He's the perfect Phantom.
Agreed. He was my first phantom when I saw the National tour back in ‘05. I guess it was because he was involved in the national tour for so long and only had a brief stint in the role on Broadway?
It's true. I was a classically trained musical theatre actor for over a decade and Gary is exactly who inspired me to do this for a living. That "BE" is the moment he wanted me to do this for a living.
He is the most genuine Phantom ever he’s so emotional yet contained it’s brilliant. The emotion pumping through him gets me hyped! He’s by far my favourite and the way he hits the ‘to be’ note is the best of the kind.
Christopher Dillon cause they’re so mesmerized by the performance that they forgot how to breathe... good thing they remembered how or else Phantom will be the most deadly musical in history... with numerous casualties due to suffocation...
Starr Clarke I agree. Lisa Vroman who played Christine in SF 2003 with Brad Little was I think 47 when she did the role that year. They went waaay overboard with the makeup
Gary is one of my favorites, but I've got to say, im not a fan of the rendition of the song here :/ . He clearly struggles to restrain his voice with the the truncated reverbiation, coming off as if suffering a nervous breakdown far more than euphoric. If anything it makes me appreciate the range of tones you have to perfect in order to perfect the phantom, from unrivalled calm to torrential insanity. Amazing how it holds up after all these years.
But that's what i dig about Mauer's performance. He really gets the unhinged/psycho aspect of the Phantom and for me, his obvious pained restraint only adds to the pathos of the character. Just my opinion. Still my favorite Phantom for this and other reasons
Something else to add about this particular performance. This is footage from Gary's (and his wife's) final performance with the US Tour production. If you'll notice his voice breaks early in the song - that was him getting choked up from the emotion. (Beth would do the same thing during "Wishing" later that evening.) Both were very emotional on stage throughout the performance. How do I know this? I was there that night. Still the best night at Phantom I've ever viewed.
Honestly, both are miscast in these roles. Both of their voices are thin and not substantial for the roles they were assigned to play. Gary is hammy here and there is no reason to make the character camp. This isn’t Phantom of the Paradise or Rocky Horror. Gary’s voice and acting was better when he sang as Raoul and he made for an excellent Raoul interpreter. As for Elizabeth, her acting is definitely better than her singing.
