Favourite Raoul

Despite a difficult role, these guys totally won me over:

Seen live:
Tomas "Tomas!" Kofod, Ramin Karimloo, Björn Olsson

Others:
Steve Barton

Top Vicomte pour moi is definitely Michael Xavier, closely followed by John Addison, Alex Rathgeber and Simon Bailey.

Only saw two and had a good in depth post on the last forum... but alas.

Simon Bailey then Alex Rathegeber I guess, although I was perhaps the only person not to be a fan of him *ducks*

ETA: I got my sort of in depth post so thought I'd update.

Simon Bailey - I think I warmed to his Raoul the first time he bowed his head, squeezed Gina's hand and said "I know" when she says "Father is dead, Raoul." Strong voice (sometimes maybe even too overpowering at points which can be just as bad as not being able to hear someone...) strong acting and his ad libs in the role are worth it alone.

Alex Rathegeber: Had no thoughts at all on him first time I saw him to be honest, I really couldn't hear him and I think that made me ignore him. And I may be the only person to say i didn't find him attractive (but did love his headshot.) But second time I saw him in September I was blown away (mainly in Think of Me) by his voice, so he got points for that ,still couldn't hear him too much but he was good anyway.

Of those I've seen live (Michael Xavier, Alex Rathgeber, Simon Bailey, Thomas Kofod) I will definitely choose Michael and Thomas.

Always good to revisit these sort of topics. Let's see, in no particular order:

Steve Barton
Ryan Silverman
Andrew Ragone
Christopher Carl

R.

My fav's in order of preference:

Ryan Silverman
Patrick Levesque - US Vegas - saw twice
Andrew Ragone
Gardar Thor Cortes - London - Anyone else heard him? I never seem to find too many that have seen him.

I've seen other Raouls live but none that really caught my interest.

Never got to see Steve Barton but I like what I hear from the OLC.

Andrew Ragone is my new favorite. He was absolutely wonderful all five times I saw him during Fans Week. His acting is excellent and what a voice! His whole performance was very warm and believable. And I still adore Stephen Trafton, whom I saw understudy the role last summer. I hope he has a chance to become the principal and really grow into the role, because he was fantastic and it was only his 6th time ever playing the part.

MasqPhan wrote:Gardar Thor Cortes - London - Anyone else heard him? I never seem to find too many that have seen him.

He only played the role for app. half a year in 1999, so I'm not surprised few got to see him (especially when being in the pre-internet-nerding timezone). I dig his name, though - a nice mixture of Icelandic and and something latin...

Fav is Steve Barton, unsurpassed.

I also love David Somerville, Clive Carter (from Sydmonton), Michael Ball, Adam Monley and Jim Weitzer.

I tend not to pay too much attention to Raoul, but the only one who has ever stood out for me and just wowed me remains Steve Barton. He set a standard no other Raoul has even come close to meeting. Steve was on a complete other world (both as Raoul and as the Phantom). I've heard a few others I've thought are decent, but none impress me enough to make me a fan of them. Michael Ball is pretty good, and Jim Weitzer and Kip Wilborn (also an amazing Phantom) are alright.

Of those I've actually seen...

Michael Shawn Lewis
Jim Weitzer
Tim Martin Gleason

I might actually prefer Jim's voice a little bit more than Michael's, but I really liked Michael's acting...especially in Final Lair. As for Tim, I really like him a great deal vocally...but his acting was a little too angry and aggressive.

I feel bad that I can't put John Cudia on the list at all...since he was my first stage Raoul. But between Marie Danver's awful "Think of Me" getting things off to a bad start for me and the woman behind me ruining the rest of the show with her incessant chatter, I couldn't even remember him a week later.

Of those I haven't seen...

Steve Barton - he's the main reason I even replaced my OLCR on CD when my old tapes wore out
Hugh Panaro - normally, really young-sounding Raouls are a little TOO boyish for my taste, but he's quite adorable here

Hmmm. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a Raoul live whom I like. I always feel like English production stage Raouls are just being set up as straw dogs to be demolished by the Phantom. The only ones who've ever managed to make me feel sympathy for the character (even if I still ultimately think she should have stayed with Erik) are Steve Barton and, believe it or not, Patrick Wilson (don’t shoot!).

I won't shoot I like Patrick Wilson too (in my opinion the only good thing about the movie *ahem*) I actually really love the way he says "Orders. Warnings. Lunatic demands." I find in the stage show the Raoul tends to really cut each word off.

I think Ramin is the best Raoul.

Alex Rathgeber, John Addison and Michael Xavier.
Yes they may be the only three I saw, but they were all fantastic and all were brilliant in specific parts (Michael - AIAOY, John - Wandering Child, Alex - Little Lotte)

Michael Xavier!

Tom Solomon, Michael xavier and John Addison were fab! Rather like simon bailey at the mo..mainly cause of his "GO TO HELL" in final lair

"Go to hell" in the Final Lair? Woah! Um, that's novel!

Mine are:

Steve Barton
Gary Mauer
Jeremy Stolle(my first live Raoul)

carlottawannabe wrote:Tom Solomon, Michael xavier and John Addison were fab! Rather like simon bailey at the mo..mainly cause of his "GO TO HELL" in final lair

Was this a one-time ad lib or a recurring thing? When exactly did/does he say it?

SenorSwanky wrote:

carlottawannabe wrote:Tom Solomon, Michael xavier and John Addison were fab! Rather like simon bailey at the mo..mainly cause of his "GO TO HELL" in final lair

Was this a one-time ad lib or a recurring thing? When exactly did/does he say it?

Seems to be a recurring thing. I think it's around about where Phantom sings "either way you choose you cannot win." When I saw Simon a few weeks ago, he also muttered "freak" when the Phantom said "you try my patience, make your choice." My favourite Raoul is John Addison, with Michael Xavier coming a close second.

Possibly because the whole cast seem to hate Simon Bailey too

I don't know where you got that... considering him and Gina have been friends for years and anyone I speak to is more than complimentary about him.

ETA: Re final lair he says: "Why make her lie to you to save me?" Ramin goes to hit him and then he says Damn You/ Go To h€ll varies. Sometimes adds a freak aswell.

ruthy wrote:I don't know where you got that... considering him and Gina have been friends for years and anyone I speak to is more than complimentary about him.

ETA: Re final lair he says: "Why make her lie to you to save me?" Ramin goes to hit him and then he says Damn You/ Go To h€ll varies. Sometimes adds a freak aswell.

Someone in the cast who OH knows but I won't say who I'm sure some of them like him and didn't mean any offence

I just felt it could have been said in a slightly different way as it is hard to tell peoples tone on here and to spare anyones feelings who may or may not read it. I also take with a pinch of salt one persons generalization about a whole cast.

I definately agree Ruthy. Its known that some of the cast read these forums, its a little unfair to make them kind of assumptions, especially as you said "one person". Last time i checked it wasnt a one man show...so its not really the full cast is it ?

Michael Xavier is definitely my favourite Raoul, I really do miss him in the role. I loved his more manly portrayal instead of the "wet fish" performance that some actors give.

And yes, I completely agree that it is really unfair to personally attack a member of the cast like that on this forum. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions but some things are better left unsaid and others should be worded a lot more tactfully.

operafantomet wrote:

MasqPhan wrote:Gardar Thor Cortes - London - Anyone else heard him? I never seem to find too many that have seen him.

He only played the role for app. half a year in 1999, so I'm not surprised few got to see him (especially when being in the pre-internet-nerding timezone). I dig his name, though - a nice mixture of Icelandic and and something latin...

Pre-internet-nerding time zone? It was not. There was loads of Internet nerding about Phantom during the time when Gardar Thor Cortes was Raoul in London

[quote="Phantomlove"]

operafantomet wrote:
Pre-internet-nerding time zone? It was not. There was loads of Internet nerding about Phantom during the time when Gardar Thor Cortes was Raoul in London

That reminds me of the fact that, when I first went on-line in the early 90s, one of the very first two things I searched for was "The Phantom of The Opera." At the time, I didn't find much at all...and didn't actually try again until late 2004 when I can across PFN.