Favourite Raoul

SeniorSwanky wrote:Me too. I'm not looking for a carbon copy on purpose, but it's just something about the standard Barton set, vocally and acting-wise, that just feels right for the role.

This is what I'm always looking for when it comes to Raoul.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/136788-Sheen-Mackintosh-Wilson-Izen-and-Moench-Join-Mary-Poppins-Tour-Feb-11

Just a bit of Raoul news, long time Toronto Raoul Laird Mackintosh is gpong to plat Mr. Banks in the Mary Poppins US tour

Sean MacLaughlin
Steve Barton (although I obviously never saw him)

Steve Barton: Dear God, everything about him just screamed "heroic." His bold, strong voice is such a perfect contrast to Crawford's ethereal, soothing timbre.

Gary Mauer: Probably the only Raoul I could see taking the Phantom in a fight and having a fair shot at winning--he brought that much dynamic and determination to the character. Seeing him stare down those fireballs in the graveyard was a major revelation--"Holy cow, Raoul is a bada**!"

John Cudia: A classical romantic lead in all the best senses of the term: sincere, loving, charming.

I feel like Patrick Wilson could have been a good Raoul if he'd been allowed to flex his acting chops and give the character more strength and personality. But the poor guy had to work with the direction (and bad hair) given to him. Not his fault--he really is the best of the three leads in the movie.

~LCD

LadyCDaae wrote:Steve Barton: Dear God, everything about him just screamed "heroic." His bold, strong voice is such a perfect contrast to Crawford's ethereal, soothing timbre.

Perfectly said. I think that's another thing that's been lacking in the casting of Phantom and Raoul in recent years--both are often tenors with similar voices, so the harmonies in Wandering Child and the Final Lair are less thrilling musically and emotionally.

Favourite Raoul, hands down, Steve Barton, his Raoul adored Christine, during the bravo , such spirited words, you honestly felt that he would have scaled up to the phantom, til Christine pulled him away. and during the final lair even though he was in the lasso noose, he still fought tooth and nail, you could just feel his angst when Christine kissed the phantom, and to boot he was the most romantic and dashing raoul, perfect perfect piece of sugar confection. and not to mention he was beautiful. to look at, and you realise why Christine went with him, not only his Raoul would protect her from anything and anyone, and that he would hold her near and dear for all his days.

honorable mention, Nat Chandler, he cut a dashing figure, he was, handsome, he was a little to hointy tointy, a little more high brown Raoul toward the managers, but he was a yummy thing to look at. although at the end you wondered why she left the phantom to be with Raoul

honorable mention, Reece Holland, young and perky. nice voice, but same thing why did she go with Reeces Raoul

Favourite Raouls, voice Bryan Neese, although I did not care for his Raoul as much

I never seen Micheal Ball as Roaul but I would love to have, I liked his voice and he is adorable

ladygodiva wrote:I never seen Micheal Ball as Roaul but I would love to have, I liked his voice and he is adorable

I'm thinking his Raoul was adorable. He reminded me of a little boy. But I'm sure his voice was awesome in the eighties. It's kind of ... died, I don't know who to say it. But I'm glad that video of him singing with Claire Moore is cute.

I have yet to see PotO live (but I'm saving up for a trip to London) so I can only go by recordings and such.

Steve Barton:
He isn't my ideal Raoul but, as has already been said, he set a standard. There was just something about him that you can't help but like. He isn't my ideal Raoul (I always used to think he looked too old for the part, but now I don’t mind anymore ‘cause in my fave PotO rpgs I’ve ever played in Steve was just the right age) but whenever I hear him sing I hear Raoul. In other words, Raoul isn't necessarily Steve, but Steve is always Raoul. If that makes any sense...
The more I think about it I think what I like is that he seems so classy and old-fashioned. I love men (and characters) like that. ^^
Jim Weitzer:
Oh my! Whenever I see videos of him as Raoul on youtube my heart flutters like crazy! He’s pretty much got the right looks (though he wish his hair was more blonde) and I like the way he acts the part. Kind of like a younger Barton, actually.
Mike Sterling:
I like his strong voice. He does seem more like a dashing hero than the other two. Perhaps a bit too much at times for my tastes, but he deserves an honourable mention in any case.
Joseph Millson:
Let’s set the record straight: I hate what ALW and gang have done to the character in LND!! What a waste of talent, too, ‘cause I truly believe that if Mr Millson was ever given the chance to play the real character of Raoul he’d do great.

ladygodiva wrote:Favourite Raouls, voice Bryan Neese, although I did not care for his Raoul as much

I can't stand Byron Neese. I have the OCC on my iPod, and whenever that version of AIAOY comes on, I immediately switch before I hear his voice. I don't really like Caine either. The OLC version with Barton and Brightman is perfection.

SenorSwanky wrote:

ladygodiva wrote:Favourite Raouls, voice Bryan Neese, although I did not care for his Raoul as much

I can't stand Byron Neese. I have the OCC on my iPod, and whenever that version of AIAOY comes on, I immediately switch before I hear his voice. I don't really like Caine either. The OLC version with Barton and Brightman is perfection.

Neither can I, but that's sad you don't like Caine! She sounds truly beautiful paired alongside Barton. Barton makes any Christine sound like a angel of music.

She's just got too husky and breathy of a voice for me. I tend to prefer the more ingenue-sounding Christines like Brightman, with really high-sitting, bright voices. I was watching the BBC Behind the Mask on Ovation earlier, and Gillian Lynne described Brightman's voice perfectly: it was like a dew drop in a pond, she said.

SenorSwanky wrote:She's just got too husky and breathy of a voice for me. I tend to prefer the more ingenue-sounding Christines like Brightman, with really high-sitting, bright voices. I was watching the BBC Behind the Mask on Ovation earlier, and Gillian Lynne described Brightman's voice perfectly: it was like a dew drop in a pond, she said.

Awww, Gillian!

And, damn it, I want Ovation. I was over my friend's house on Thursday and I was so jealous when I found out it was a channel that specialized in the performing arts.

I thought I'd add Joseph Millson to my list too. But as above, I hate the character of Raoul in the sequel and don't particularly like the sequel either but Joseph is a fantastic actor and still managed to make me feel for him. Therefore, I'd really like if he did the original, I can see him doing the role justice. Also there is a picture in the LND programme that looks identical to the current Raoul TOM shot from the original and it just re-inforces it even more. However, I'd rank Joseph at the lower end of my list purely for being a sequel Raoul unfortunately

ML6 wrote:And, damn it, I want Ovation. I was over my friend's house on Thursday and I was so jealous when I found out it was a channel that specialized in the performing arts.

I'd never really watched it before, but a few nights ago, I stumbled on a documentary about the making of the Cats video, and they advertised for Behind the Mask, which I'd previously only been able to see on YouTube.

My favourite Raoul would have to be Mike Sterling he was very good. Pretty much all of the other Raoul's i've seen have been good but i really wasn't a fan of Oliver Thornton

Now when I've finally seen Will Barratt as Raoul I will definitely add him to my favourites. He had some nice little touches and I much prefered him to Simon Bailey.

01. Jim Weitzer
02. Steve Barton
03. John Cudia
04. Gary Mauer
05. Jason Mills

I'm swithering whether to rank Will higher than Simon now or not. I'd quite like it if we could have a "Wimon" as Raoul because Will definitely acts a lot better but I think Simon has better vocals. I'll rank them equally then!

starryeyed wrote:I'm swithering whether to rank Will higher than Simon now or not. I'd quite like it if we could have a "Wimon" as Raoul because Will definitely acts a lot better but I think Simon has better vocals. I'll rank them equally then!

Wimon! I like that. I loved them both back in January - I saw Will Barratt one day, and Simon Bailey the next - and I think I agree with what you wrote. Though, I thought Bailey's Raoul had something special about him, and I loved his ad libs.

Yes it's true Simon did have something special about him and his ad libs were great. Will's changed it up a bit recently too though, odd bit to like but I really like when he struggles with the dressing room door now, whereas Simon just repeatedly did the knocking and the "Christine?"

starryeyed wrote:Will's changed it up a bit recently too though, odd bit to like but I really like when he struggles with the dressing room door now,

That's quite sweet. I think I prefer Simon to Will, because I prefer him in the Final Lair scene.

operafantomet wrote:

starryeyed wrote:I'm swithering whether to rank Will higher than Simon now or not. I'd quite like it if we could have a "Wimon" as Raoul because Will definitely acts a lot better but I think Simon has better vocals. I'll rank them equally then!

Wimon! I like that. I loved them both back in January - I saw Will Barratt one day, and Simon Bailey the next - and I think I agree with what you wrote. Though, I thought Bailey's Raoul had something special about him, and I loved his ad libs.

This is what I get by living in the US... Simon Bailey did ad-libs?! AW. Yeah, you go Simon.

After last week, I really like Ryan Silverman!!

Also am a fan of Sean McLaughlin and, what can I say, I like Tim Martin Gleason!

Mme Reyer wrote:After last week, I really like Ryan Silverman!!

Also am a fan of Sean McLaughlin and, what can I say, I like Tim Martin Gleason!

I'm glad to see someone else is a fan of Sean. I really think he plays a legitimate Raoul. One that is not a complete idiot, you know? And he's so nice. I haven't heard Ryan Silverman. He's someone I need to check into. TMG I found to be a 100% rude boy. But each to their own.

My one and only Steve Barton......yummy!!!! Handsome inside and out

He did indeed do ad-libs sometimes more than other performances. Got in trouble for a few but he always snuck in little things.

starryeyed wrote:He did indeed do ad-libs sometimes more than other performances. Got in trouble for a few but he always snuck in little things.

See, I think that as long as the adlibs don't detract from the character, it makes the perfromance fresh-er. Gives more depth to Raoul. Frankly you know more about the Phantom than Raoul in the musical, so I think it's fair that the person playing Raoul can give little adlibs from time to time.

ML6 wrote:

starryeyed wrote:He did indeed do ad-libs sometimes more than other performances. Got in trouble for a few but he always snuck in little things.

See, I think that as long as the adlibs don't detract from the character, it makes the perfromance fresh-er. Gives more depth to Raoul. Frankly you know more about the Phantom than Raoul in the musical, so I think it's fair that the person playing Raoul can give little adlibs from time to time.

Well put. And yeah, although Tomas Kofod in Copenhagen didn't exactly do ad libs, he threw in some extra stuff. Like climbing on the portcullis in an attempt to get in (Final Lair), or constantly kissing Christine's hands. You newer knew exactly what he would do during a performance, which made his scenes interesting to watch. Ditto for Simon Bailey. It felt fresh every time.

Awww, it seems like when it comes to the international/london productions, the people don't play by the book all that much. I mean they do! But they are sneaky. It's nice to see people caring about how they play Raoul.