thatsmichaelcrawford

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Few roles have stayed quite as close to their originator as Michael Crawford's Phantom. Crawford's 1988 Tony award-winning portrayal of the title role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber muscial "The Phantom of the Opera" has inspired countless fans, international acclaim, and even a fan-led movement to cast Crawford in the planned film version of the story. THE LOS ANGELES TIMES wrote that Crawford's performance "combines size and intimacy in a way that only a very experienced musical theater performer could achieve. He comes close to us, and yet he brings off the grand gesture ... he makes us believe." As Crawford asks us to "listen to the music of the night" with a voice that's sensuous and enticing, there is no point in trying to resist. In addition to the performance of what many consider his signature song, Crawford appears again for the show's finale, one that defines "Broadway legend" and illustrates how great performers lay claim to the songs they give voice to.

Throughout the evening, Julie Andrews gives the audience snippets of career tales and influential moments, from her audition for the role that would change her professional life, Eliza Doolittle, in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady" to the stuff that makes an unforgettable show tune. But nothing quite compares to a glimpse of the performer at work. In the last minutes of the evening, Andrews, enticed by Crawford, treats us to the sounds of Eliza with a few lines from "The Rain in Spain." And with that, we are reminded of the story of the budding flower girl, the career of this seasoned actress, and the first time we heard a Broadway show tune.

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