The Phantom of the Opera—Michael Crawford and Sarah Brigh’an

I was a similar age to you when the show opened. There had been hype as there had been a couple of singles released from the show which had been top 10 hits. ALW was at his peak after the Tim Rice years and with Starlight and Cats running and people awaited his next project. These shows weren't that far apart especially as Phantom was such a big staging. There were the jokes about Sarah getting the lead as she was Mrs ALW. To a lot of the public Michael Crawford was still seen as Frank Spencer but he was an established musical and stage performer long before that and had come off a hugely successful Olivier Award winning run as Barnum. But people were still surprised to hear him singing as the Phantom and for him to be in a dark brooding role given his previous well known roles.

The press reviews were positive and the Cast Album sold very well. I would imagine getting a ticket in the Crawford/Brightman era would have been hard.

I didn't see them (FAR too young dahlink) but I do remember hearing that Frank Spencer was a bit of a diva and that members of the chorus used to say that when Miss Crawford was unhappy, *everyone* was unhappy. Was that in that documentary many moons ago?

I saw Maria Kesselman as Christine and she’s the best Christine I have ever seen.

Interesting that Michael Crawford will still be getting a box office percentage from Phantom , that was one very astute negotiation .
I have never assumed that an actor who originated a role would automatically be on a percentage of the box office , I always understood this was just for the big names to negotiate to get them to take the role in the first place, such as Bette Middler in Hello Dolly. Some of the names mentioned in the quote above would not (at least in their early careers) be big enough names to be able to negotiate a box office percentage , and certainly not for life , unless I’m mistaken .
I read that John Barrowman was , at least at one time, on a box office percentage for his pantomime appearances .

But going back to the original question , when Phantom was first produced, there was no internet booking of course. My brother, who didn’t live anywhere near London , somehow got tickets for our mum and her friends to see Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman . He’s sadly not around for me to ask, but I think he will have phoned the box office , and would need to be patient in trying to get through . In fact they enjoyed the show so much , they got autographs at the stage door (I now have the programmes), and actually went back at least twice more to see the show again, courtesy of my brother . My mum still talks about Michael Crawford in Phantom to this day, and how David got her tickets.

I remember, in the late 80s, going to WHSmiths and buying my parents tickets to see Les Mis for £7 each. They ran a box office agency service through their then in-store travel agency. So perhaps that is how bimse's brother did it back then? For those not in London, this sort of arrangement was a common way of securing tickets. You paid your money and then a few weeks later, you went and collected the paper tickets! Oh how old fashioned...

I remember there being a buzz around the Phantom cast recording when it was released. After the success of the singles (even though now they sound remarkably poor), there really was something special about it as a project.

Part of it was the press being cheeky about the relationship between the pretty young soprano and the composer with an 'interesting' face. Part of it was certainly curiosity about how Crawford would do in the role. I had seen him as Barnum and so knew him as more than Frank Spencer. There was also, if I am not mistaken, talk over whether the production was cursed because of problems in the run up to opening night.

But there was certainly awareness of the project that reached out beyond the in-crowd.

Thank you ali973, that’s very kind of you to say so. I have many happy memories of theatre going with my brother, he loved many aspects of the performing arts .

Good point oxfordsimon, but I don’t remember our local WH Smith having a box office or travel agency, I’m sure he got tickets direct from the theatre box office , but I don’t think he had a credit card or cheque book back then , so not sure where he got the tickets or how he paid.  Seems so easy now, with online booking, even print your tickets at home....

btw apologies if I’ve gone off subject here.

...or maybe she just recovered and went back to work as any professional would? 

On another note, Claire Moore is my favorite Christine. Her voice was just spectacular in Phantom. Her soprano notes were so strong and pure, and yet there was something very contemporary about the way she sang the lower notes. 

Dave Willets certainly had some hardcore fans as I remember.

That anecdote was recounted by a couple of members of the corps de ballet in the documentary about POTO which is on YouTube. Not THE most reliable source (as it wasn’t from either of the actresses concerned) but close enough to be given more credence than idle speculation in the press, perhaps. 

I saw Claire in The King and I and she was a fabulous Anna. Love her voice and her recent stint in The Girls proved she’s still got it!