Mark Campbell in "Phantom" tour

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 2:34pm

So in regards to Mr. Campbell in the "Phantom' tour, did Cameron Mackintosh do his usual thing of firing an actor, or did he really quit? I'm assuming that no actor would leave such an amazing job for "personal reasons" unless they are in seriously ill health, but who knows. Any inside info on what happened?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 2:40pm

reference: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Mark-Campbell-Exits-PHANTOM-National-Tour-for-Personal-Reasons-Cooper-Grodin-Assumes-Title-Role-20140109

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 1/9/14 at 11:47pm

Maybe he is ill, maybe a family member is ill. The new guy sounds great, and hopefully he does well in the role. Beyond that, I don't really care about the change. It has been the production its self that has been getting mixed to negative reviews, word on Campbell himself has been mixed to good.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 1/10/14 at 12:06am

Saw the show tonight. As someone who has seen the New York Production about 50 times and its touring counterpart about 8 times, I was definitely a skeptic going in, but I won't post a review in this thread. The actor who went on as Phantom tonight had a nice insert "welcoming" him to the show and giving an extended biography beyond what was in the playbill. I thought he was serviceable in the role. I was happy that he was able to hold out the final note of "Music of the Night" the proper way. Otherwise, his voice wasn't as powerful as Panaro/McGillin.

[Tsao5]

Posted: 1/10/14 at 12:17am

This would be the second time in a row that the man originally cast as the main role in a show directed by Lawrence Conner was fired not too long after opening. Conner directed Lawrence Clayton as Valjean in the national tour...............people said he could not sing part...........HE (Clayton) even said he could not sing the part................did not get good reviews.........and was let go. In this case, Mr. Campbell had not gotten particularly good reviews and in a repeated pattern, seems to have been let go......probably Mackintosh's decision.........nip the casting mistake in the bud before launching to other cities.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 1/10/14 at 3:58am

Or, maybe, just maybe he really did need to leave the show for personal reasons. We don't really have many facts here. It could be history repeating itself, or it could be that we were given the truth.

[Marway44]

Posted: 1/10/14 at 7:38am

Did not care for Mark at all. I don't understand why Cameron does this. Lawrence Clayton was awful! The reinvented shows are working, but not his choice in casting. I hope he learns from this.

[brldisteach2]

Posted: 1/10/14 at 7:08pm

I saw the show twice while it was in Minneapolis. The first time he sounded like he was ill or was having some vocal issues. The second time I saw it later in the run, he sounded fine. As for the production itself-I loved it-I thought the staging was fantastic-many aspects I liked better than the original. There were only a few things I missed, which I won't mention here as they would be spoilers. The actress playing Christine was phenomenal.

[Disserwilder]

Posted: 1/11/14 at 12:58am

Saw the show three times in MN, once with the new Phantom (Cooper) and twice with Mark. Mark was FAR better than Cooper was...in voice and acting. The first time I saw it with Cooper I hated it but Mark's Phantom totally made the show work for me.

Too bad he didn't work out...but the best thing about the show is the Carlotta.

[MusicalMo]

Posted: 1/12/14 at 2:53am

From what I heard a friend who is involved say, Mark was having vocal issues and was missing many performances. Apparently the understudy knocked it out of the park and next thing you know, the Phantom is packing his suitcases to head home.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 1/12/14 at 12:40pm

Geez. Mackintosh really is something. He makes terrible casting decisions (i.e. a baritone in a tenor role, people who are the completely wrong physical type), and then fires people when he suddenly decides he doesn't like them despite numerous auditions and weeks of rehearsal. I mean, he seriously is trigger happy with firing people. It's ridiculous. I feel bad for Mark Campbell, who is just his latest victim it seems.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 1/12/14 at 1:49pm

Looking forward to covering this when it comes to Philly in March. Not sure what to expect as I'm not reading reviews and will try not to compare to the original, though that will not be easy.

Having seen Lawrence Clayton in Le Miz I can agree that he was not well suited for the role. He seemed very tired and he had just gotten started. Lawrence is such a very nice person and a joy to work with as I'm told.

[Alan Henry]

Posted: 1/12/14 at 1:54pm

Let's not be so quick to jump on Cameron.

Based on some reports that he was great, and other that his voice sounded tired - I think it's a fair assumption to make that he probably impressed in the Audition/Rehearsal room and when it went to 8 full shows a week, something wasn't working.

That's not too say that it either persons fault. Casting is a very difficult thing, and none of us have any of the facts.