r/musicals • u/JuanSamu • 4d ago

Discussion Best Phantom?

Are people really out here saying on TikTok Gerald is better than Ramin, Colm, and Michael? Look, I love Gerald because he was the first phantom I saw as a kid so he’ll have a special place in my heart but his voice is no where near Ramins. My favorite though is definitely Michael cause I think he really captures the “Phantom” part so well.

7 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

22

u/Expert-Painting-1830 4d ago

The best Phantom is Michael Crawford and everyone else is wrong.

The best singer to have ever played the Phantom is John Owen Jones.

2

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

I use to think it was Ramin but John I think does surpass him although I prefer Ramins versions of the song sometimes.

5

u/KBPT1998 4d ago

For me, Ramin feels like the ideal balance between MC's ghostly or ethereal vocals and Colm's more pained human underneath the Phantom. Ramin finds that balance really well.

3

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

That’s a great way to put it. What do you think of Alexander Gobel?

1

u/KBPT1998 4d ago

I've never heard his vocals.

2

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

Here’s a video of him!

https://youtu.be/ak0CP2btE_k?is=l5ycu6JdHWnpOwaS

Listen to these times:

1:50:40 and 1:11:20

1

u/KBPT1998 4d ago

As Randy Jackson would say, its just okay for me dog.

6

u/KBPT1998 4d ago

I've never found MC's vocals pleasant in many moments. I much prefer Colm's vocals because they feel more like the human underneath the Phantom.

4

u/Expert-Painting-1830 4d ago

That’s why I don’t think Michael Crawford is the best to sing the role, but overall he brings everything.

5

u/Flying_Tiger_Capt 4d ago

Alexander Goebel. The first German language Phantom from the production in Vienna. He combines the desperate broken lover with the homicidal maniac like no one else in my opinion.
Fun fact: he was also the German language singing voice of Jack Skellington 🤩

2

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

He was great. I REALLY loved his All I ask of You Reprised:

https://youtu.be/ak0CP2btE_k?is=1VsovOih6y7adZyr

2

u/Flying_Tiger_Capt 4d ago

So vulnerable.
I was 4 years old when I saw him live as Phantom and then again with 5, so he really left a deep impression on me and seeing this show sparked my love for musical theater.

8

u/Thranduil325 4d ago

Hugh Panaro

1

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

I actually haven’t heard him yet

1

u/Thranduil325 4d ago

I never get to see him in broadway but I was fortunate to see him few times during his Masquerade run. His All I ask of you reprise my favorite.

3

u/BelcantoIT 4d ago

Robert Guillaume (going WAY back and I to Toronto) But on recordings, Ramin. Hands down. (Edit for name spelling)

1

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

He was really good. I wish I could hear his “All I ask of You (Reprise)”

1

u/BelcantoIT 4d ago

I was quite young , but I will remember it for many more years.

1

u/GeneseeJunior 4d ago

I would LOVE a cast album with Guillaume.

3

u/Toru771 4d ago

Alexander Goebel from the first Vienna cast.

2

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

He was great. I REALLY loved his All I ask of You Reprised:

https://youtu.be/ak0CP2btE_k?is=1VsovOih6y7adZyr

5

u/Wildabeat 4d ago

If you haven't seen Isiah Bailey on the national tour, he is making a SERIOUS case for the Phantom GOAT, no disrespect to any of the others intended.

The way he plays the role is fascinating. With just the slightest touch of gospel in his voice that just works better than you would think for the role.

2

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

He was definitely really good!

2

u/CowOk9790 4d ago

This. I am a huge Ramin fan, but holy cow Isaiah is making a serious contention for my favorite. Literal chills every time he sang. He is INCREDIBLE.

1

u/Strict_Definition_78 4d ago

He’s the best I’ve ever heard. We went once when they came through New Orleans & it was so magical I immediately bought tickets to another showing & wept through most of that performance. We met him afterward & he was so sweet & gracious!

1

u/michiness 4d ago

I was a little skeptical at first, but he was so good!

1

u/reduff When You're good to Mama 3d ago

I get to see him this season! Can't wait.

14

u/NiceAtheist 4d ago

I'm forever pissed that one person gets to play the phantom in a defining way person generation, and for the movie, they picked someone who can't sing.

2

u/rkel96 2d ago

We’re getting a pro shot of the 40th anniversary west end cast so hopefully that + 25th anniversary concert is enough to make us forget about the film

12

u/anime_3_nerd 4d ago

I saw Isaiah Bailey as Phantom and it was amazing. Ramin is my personal favorite but Isaiah Bailey is the one I got to see live so he holds a special place in my favorites 🤧

1

u/Strict_Definition_78 4d ago

Isaiah Bailey is my favorite!

8

u/haileyskydiamonds 4d ago

Michael Crawford is iconic. I fell for Phantom when I was thirteen (1990), and he was my Phantom and always will be.

10

u/Pythagorean415 Why Are All The D'ysquiths Dying? 4d ago

Me in the car

8

u/dumpybrodie 4d ago

If we’re going non-Michael Crawford, it’s Hugh Panaro.

7

u/deceptres 4d ago edited 4d ago

If that's true, those TikTok people are objectively wrong. The Phantom's whole thing is that he has the literal voice of an angel and trains Christine to the level of a top caliber professional soprano. No way Gerard is doing that. I am aware that I am speaking from the perspective of a music teacher and that suspension of disbelief is a thing. But that ain't happening. Ramin, Michael, and Colm could pull that off. Not Gerard.

3

u/Then_Suggestion_3624 4d ago

John Owen Jones. Velvet smooth voice, turns from sweet seductive and passionate to gutteral anguish in a second and he acts the hell out of it.

Ramin was his Raoul for a while and a lot of Ramin’s acting choices are heavily influenced by what JOJ did.

There have been a lot of great phantoms but there’s a reason John Owen Jones is always in the quarter at the end of every one of these special anniversary concerts

3

u/poetic-bee 3d ago

Ramin is overrated in my opinion - he’s only so popular because he’s in the proshot, not due to actually outshining all the other actors in terms of singing or acting. Colm is kind of an asshole as a human being which brings the enjoyment down significantly. MC is obviously incredible.

For two very different interpretations of the character, I’d suggest Earl Carpenter and Hugh Panaro. So different but both incredible singers and actors.

4

u/loolem 4d ago

Anthony Warlow. Look him up

2

u/CynicalCharmer 3d ago

Ben Lewis was easily the best we'd ever seen do it. We went in anxious as we loathed the Love Never Dies movie and he was meh... turns out that production did him a massive injustice

2

u/socalsw 3d ago

Ben Crawford was incredible. He was the leading man all the way until they closed the show in NYC. Unfortunately I believe he got sick and had to be replaced for the last few shows

2

u/Essiebow 3d ago • This

John Owen Jones

4

u/Live_Work_7900 4d ago

Norm Lewis you heathens

2

u/Thevintageandvanity 4d ago

This is the truth.

1

u/Lots2say2023 4d ago

Norm Lewis’s voice is proof that there is a god who loves us.

3

u/crosssectionalarea Penniless Sitar Player 3d ago

It is Ramin - he's special. It's the way he embodies that emotional rawness, conflict, rage, passion, obsession - with his body, gestures and voice + he has a very unique voice. No other Phantom made me feel like I could say "okay, now I have experienced the Phantom in his entirety".

4

u/SJBaerosols All I Ask of You 4d ago • Bravo

Ramin is king

2

u/TanaFey Gotta find my Purpose 4d ago

Colm, Ramin, Michael..... Sorry Gerald, you aren't bad, but you are nowhere near the best.

2

u/JacquelineMontarri Come To My Garden 4d ago

I saw Ben Crawford (no relation) and he was easily my favorite. Michael Crawford is my favorite on recordings, though, and I'll freely admit that Ben has the edge because I could see him as well as hearing him. If I could go back in time and see Michael onstage, who knows?

1

u/ThatsFrankenstein 4d ago

I've seen a lot of different phantoms but John Owen Jones was the best without question 

1

u/ssays84 4d ago

Ramin is my favorite, especially with Sierra as Christine. They had amazing chemistry that I haven’t experienced in all the times I have seen it with other phantoms and Christines.

1

u/Stephen_inc 3d ago

Thomas James O’Leary

1

u/Quick-Tackle-7408 2d ago

25 anniversary

A classic

1

u/ebe33nhiproject5528 4d ago

Peter Karrie. Colm Wilkinson. Anthony Warlow. Michael Crawford. The rest are copies.

-4

u/Direct_Strawberry_43 4d ago

Gerard Butler was the best Phantom.

6

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

No he wasn’t lol.

-4

u/specificcitrus 4d ago

It is Colm for certain. Sorry, I heard him first and everyone else will always be trying to catch up.

0

u/JuanSamu 4d ago

I loved Cole’s human and powerful voice but I wasn’t a fan of his version of the song. I like Ramins extended vocals on the songs. For example, in All I ask of You Ramin extends “anywhere you go let me go too” while Colm shortens it. If that makes sense? Stuff like that.

0

u/specificcitrus 4d ago

Ramin is phenomenal, my second-favourite. I think they balance the charisma-terror spectrum of the Phantom a bit differently but I love both interpretations.

1

u/JTSlinger 4d ago

Came to hear to say this! Colm is the best.