London casts of 25 years.

Ok the list i have for London Phantom understudies:

1st: Steve Barton - 2nd: James Patterson
1st: James Patterson - 2nd: Simon Tunkin
SB: James Graeme - u/s: Ethan Freeman
SB: James Graeme - u/s:Scott Davies
SB: James Graeme - u/s: Mark Wynter
SB: Mark Wynter - u/s: ?
SB: James Graeme -u/s: Mark Wynter
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: ?
SB: John Capes - u/s: Mike Sterling
SB: Garth Bardsley - u/s: Richard Halton
SB: Richard Halton - u/s: Alan Vicary
SB: Richard Halton - u/s: Tim Morgan
SB: Earl Carpenter - u/s: Tomos Griffiths
SB: Matt Cammelle - u/s: Rohan Tickell
SB: Ramin Karimloo - u/s: Sam Hiller
SB: Nic Greenshields - u/s: Sam Hiller
SB: Nic Greenshields - u/s: Iain Pirie
SB: Nigel Richards - u/s: Stephen John Davis
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Stephan John Davis
SB: Stephan John Davis - u/s: Brian McCann
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Brian McCann
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Simon Shorten

Feel free to add or edit
I think there is definitely some names to fill in between James Patterson/Simon Tunkin and James Graeme/Ethan Freeman.
Just added Ramin, can't believe i missed him out!

Didn't Glyn Kerslake understudy Peter cousens then took over once he left?

phan101 wrote:Didn't Glyn Kerslake understudy Peter cousens then took over once he left?

I don't think so. I thought he just joined the cast as principal Phantom when Peter left.

Actually, I think it was Simon Bowman he might have understudied, then became principle in 1998. I'm sure I read it somewhere, I'll have a look.

phan101 wrote:Actually, I think it was Simon Bowman he might have understudied, then became principle in 1998. I'm sure I read it somewhere, I'll have a look.

Glyn was in Les Mis/Martin Guerre in '96/'97. I'm pretty sure he hadn't been in the show before he was the Phantom in '98. I know he auditioned for Raoul at one point but lost out to Simon Bowman.

Found this interesting description of James Paterson from my 1989-1990 London Programme:

"James Paterson made his west end debut in October 1986, creating the minor roles of Don Attilio and Passarino in POTO. Within 6 months he was playing the Phantom when Michael Crawford was taken ill and Steve Barton, his understudy, an unfortunate accident. His 23 performances of the role on that occasion brought great public attention..."

Ok i'm going to update the understudy list as i have had some awesome information. So here goes

1st: Steve Barton - 2nd: James Patterson - 1987
1st: James Patterson - Not sure who the 2nd cover was but Patterson was the only Phantom understudy to perform from mid '87 - late '88.
1st: Simon Tunkin - 2nd: James Paterson - 1988-90
1st: Simon Tunkin - 2nd: James Graeme - 1990
SB: James Graeme - u/s: Ethan Freeman - 1991/92
SB: James Graeme - u/s:Scott Davies - 1993
SB: James Graeme - u/s: James Patterson - 1993
SB: Mark Wynter - u/s: James Patterson - 1993-95
SB: James Graeme -u/s: Mark Wynter - 1995-97
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Christopher Blades - 1997
SB: John Capes - u/s: Mike Sterling - 1998
SB: Garth Bardsley - u/s: Richard Halton - 1999/2000
SB: Richard Halton - u/s: Alan Vicary - 2001
SB: Richard Halton - u/s: Tim Morgan - 2001 - 2003
SB: Earl Carpenter - u/s: Tomos Griffiths - 2003 - 2004
SB: Matt Cammelle - u/s: Rohan Tickell - 2004 - 2006
SB: Ramin Karimloo - u/s: Sam Hiller - 2006 - 2007
SB: Nic Greenshields - u/s: Sam Hiller - 2007 - 2008
SB: Nic Greenshields - u/s: Ian Pirie - 2008 - 2009
SB: Nigel Richards - u/s: Stephen John Davis - 2009
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Stephan John Davis - 2009 - 2010
SB: Stephan John Davis - u/s: Brian McCann - 2010
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Brian McCann - 2010 - 2011
SB: Scott Davies - u/s: Simon Shorten - 2011 -

I also found out that Mark Inscoe, Tomos Griffiths, and Tom Willetts(who i have never heard of?) were all strangely contracted to be standby Phantom in September '04 but never performed. It seems a little strange as Matt Cammelle started as Standby in Sept '04. Also Tom Willetts was contracted to be 2nd Cover/understudy from Oct '03 - Sept '04 but never went on. Has anyone got any programmes from this time as i haven't heard of him and can't seem to find anything about him?

Strange. Never heard of Christopher Blades either. Do you have time frames for those? Most of the ones you listed are within the last 8 or 9 years (from standbys Bardsley and Halton onward), so I generally know when those are, but the earlier ones are spottier in my mind.

SenorSwanky wrote:Strange. Never heard of Christopher Blades either. Do you have time frames for those? Most of the ones you listed are within the last 8 or 9 years (from standbys Bardsley and Halton onward), so I generally know when those are, but the earlier ones are spottier in my mind.

Yeah i'll put the time frames on the list. As for Christopher Blades, he first joined the show around '88 i think and was there for a while then he was in and out of the cast throughout the 90's. He was last in the show in 2000 i believe and in his bio it said that he had understudied and played 10 roles in the show, i did wonder if he may he been a Phantom cover at some point but presumed he hadn't because i thought i probably would have heard about it by now if he was. He was understudy in '97 when Peter Cousens was principal and Scott Davies was standby, i don't think he played it much though as he only went on in July of that year not sure how many times.