Mike Sterling

Mike was the first Phantom I saw in 1999/ 2000 when I was 10.

The Carlotta of the time - Maggie Preece - is a family friend so got to go backstage which was very exciting.

Sadly, I can remember next to nothing of the performance - being a youngster I was jus trying to take everything in.

Could anyone give me their views on his performance, who he is similar to etc.

Recordings would be great - I can't really find anything of him on the net.

On another note, Scott Davies told me that Sterling shot himself in the foot. Apparently he demanded that the promotional material for Phantom be listed as: "Mike Sterling starring in the POTO" or he would quit. Obviously CamMac told him where to go and promptly replaced him. I wander if this is why he hasn't figured prominently on the West End for so long. I heard he auditioned for Valjean in Les Mis, but didn't get it recently.

Mike took over as Phantom on the tour after his London run, he basically swapped with Scott Davies as Scott was the tour Phantom at the time. But I did always wonder why they swapped them especially as Mike had only been Phantom in London for about 8 months. Mike did play Valjean in '02 he was very good. I did see him as Phantom, I do remember him being very good but unfortunately can't remember too much as I only saw him once and it was 13 years ago I do remember thinking he was a little better than Glyn Kerslake who I had seen previous to that.

London-Phan wrote:Mike took over as Phantom on the tour after his London run, he basically swapped with Scott Davies as Scott was the tour Phantom at the time. But I did always wonder why they swapped them especially as Mike had only been Phantom in London for about 8 months. Mike did play Valjean in '02 he was very good. I did see him as Phantom, I do remember him being very good but unfortunately can't remember too much as I only saw him once and it was 13 years ago I do remember thinking he was a little better than Glyn Kerslake who I had seen previous to that.

Thanks LP

I realised after posting that I got slightly mixed up.

It was when he joined the tour that he kicked up a stink and was promptly replaced by Peter Karrie - not while he was in London.

I'd love to see the likes of Mike, Glyn Kerslake etc make a return to the big time in the West End. Seems weird that they haven't been cast in the big roles for over a decade - they're not exactly old and past it! Wander why some actors seems to disappear, despite being principals in massive shows like Les Mis and POTO?

Sterling is one of my favorites. In some ways, he vocally sounds like Karrie. Maybe not quite to the extent that Davies does in certain scenes, but there's definitely an inspiration there. I haven't seen him in the role, but I have heard him. BTW, we're not allowed to share recordings here.