The Wizard, the Phantom and a Possible Broadway Return: A Revealing Chat with Musical Superstar Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford will be forever remembered as the original Phantom of the Opera, but he has made a splash across all disciplines during his long, awards-laden career. Turning 70 on January 19, Crawford will be on stage that night in the title role of The Wizard of Oz, the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Bill Kenwright theatrical adaptation of the iconic film, which opened at the London Palladium last March. Broadway.com spoke to the show-biz legend one wintry December evening about the joy of being back on stage and in great health, as well as life behind and beyond the musical theater’s most celebrated and enduring mask.

I’ve read that you chose to return to the West End in The Wizard of Oz because of your grandchildren. [Crawford has five, aged 9 to 14.] Was that the real reason?
It truly was. It was sad that I hadn’t done anything they would ever see live, and the possibility of this kind of show seemed a good idea—to come back to the Palladium, where I did Barnum 30 years ago, and to have some new stuff by Andrew [Lloyd Webber], as well. The show is very much a team effort, which was as much as I wanted after having not been well.

What was the clincher in making you sign on?
We were in Sicily holidaying as a family and the offer was on the table but I hadn’t decided whether I would or could do it. I downloaded the film so I could watch it every day and, quite honestly, I just liked what I saw. I didn’t think there was any way of bettering it. Although our director [Jeremy Sams] says we’re not the movie version and we’re something completely different, I still feel the film is the bible. I love that innocence of people feeling they don’t have a heart and all the time we know they have; we see it and they don’t.

And you get a terrific new Lloyd Webber patter song, “Wonders of the World.”
Yes, and it has Tim [Rice's] lyrics, too. When Andrew first spoke to me about the show, he mentioned having new music for me, and of course he offers you three songs and you end up with one. That’s Andrew: He's a great enthusiast! It’s jolly difficult because of the range, but I often think that Andrew's songs are really written for women to sing, the way they jump from one octave to another! [Laughs.]

You must be so pleased to be able to do a year in Wizard after pulling out of [Lloyd Webber’s 2004 musical] The Woman in White due to ill health. [Crawford suffered from the post-viral condition myalgic encephalopathy, or ME.]
That was so disappointing. In this, I’ve so far had maybe five shows off because of my voice having gone but—touch wood—I’m very, very rarely off. I’m a believer that if they want to see you, you’re there; I’m very old school. With [Woman in White], I felt I’d let everybody down, which didn’t assist the illness. That depresses you even more because people don’t understand what you’ve got and can’t be simpatico, so then all you want to do is put yourself into the hands of as many doctors as you can, or physical therapists or homeopathic things, to try and make yourself better.

How do you feel now?
I feel good, as I touch my head rapidly [laughs]. The thing now is as soon as you feel tired, you get worried.

In this show, you get to appear pretty much as yourself, not hidden behind the Phantom’s mask or inside a dehydrating fat suit a la Count Fosco.
I know! I sometimes think that I’ve had the most private public life that anyone could imagine [laughs].

Is The Wizard of Oz something you would consider for Broadway?
I don’t think I will do this over there. This was really done for my grandkids and for the children [in the audience]; it’s very special when you get so many youngsters coming into the theater for what could be their first experience. The real star of our show is [designer] Rob Jones: He is just brilliant! I’m dying to see the production from out front when I’m finished performing in it; I will come back to see how it looks.

You must savor your memories of Broadway, given the phenomenon that was and remains The Phantom of the Opera.
I savor the first memories; the second memories weren’t as great! [In 2002 Crawford starred in the ill-fated Dance of the Vampires. His actual Broadway debut was in 1967 in a Peter Shaffer double-bill.]

I never saw Dance of the Vampires on Broadway, though I did see an earlier version in Vienna.
Your life is rich [laughs]! I saw it in Vienna, too, and thought it looked a little close to Phantom for my liking and maybe it could be made a little more amusing so they said, “All right, let’s do that.” Sadly, it was the wrong decision.

At this point, do you have any desire to return to Broadway?
I do, but it would have to ring that bell at the right time. You’ve got to be careful about what you think you can do. I can’t play the physical [roles] that I’ve always done; I’m not Barnum anymore. I’ve got to quiet down and find something that’s clever and interesting enough, something really appealing and different. I’d love to do something that works as a team, like Noises Off; I love that play.

It’s interesting you mention a play, since Broadway’s first Barnum, Jim Dale, is back on the New York stage in Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca.
I’d love to do a play—Noises Off, or a drama. It’s that thing that you read and you go, “Oh my god, I’d love to have a go at this.” On Wizard, I certainly have had an enjoyable time, but I would like to have something a little more challenging than this [for New York], something a bit more satisfying.

There was such excitement when you came on stage at the last of the three 25th-anniversary Phantom gala performances at the Royal Albert Hall. You didn’t appear at the first two.
I couldn’t have gone to any of the others because that wouldn’t have been right for the audience here [at the Palladium, where Wizard was performing concurrently], but I certainly wanted to be at that last one on the Sunday night. I said that I couldn’t quite deal with the pressure of singing, and they were fine that, so I just walked on.

To a tumultuous ovation, including from several of your successors.
When I meet the fellas that play that part, they have always been absolutely charming. I was so moved by Ramin [Karimloo] on that night. I was already in tears, but when he sang, “Thank you for the music of the night,” it was such a lovely, lovely gesture. It takes a big man to do something like that, and we work with egos in our business [laughs].

Your legacy continues. Hugh Panaro, for instance, told Broadway.com that he watched a video of you for clues as to how to play the Phantom.
That’s always immensely flattering. I’ve found that I have watched people where I could, as I did with the Wizard, but at the same time, you can’t copy. What you’ve got to try and do is understand where it comes from inside—all this backstory stuff, which is very new to me [laughs].

There was considerable disappointment that you didn’t play the Phantom in the film version. Was that something you had actually wanted to do?
When they started talking about it, I was going to do it. I had been offered the part, and then it all changed; I can’t remember clearly why, [but] it just fizzled. I was disappointed. It had been [director] Joel Schumacher and Warner Bros. and Andrew, and we’d had many meetings on it and an agreement, and I would so love to have had a [celluloid] memory of that production. But I’ve learned in this business that what is to be will be. Whatever happens to you was for the best, and you just have to think that.

Your screen role as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! got a new burst of attention from the Oscar-winning animated film Wall-E.
I suddenly had street cred! [Laughs.] I had this enquiry asking would I mind if they used me singing “It Only Takes a Moment” for a Pixar film, and I thought that was the end of that. Suddenly I get a letter saying that they had used it and it was in this film and would I like to see a preview. So there I am in this empty cinema in [London’s] Soho with my three Australian grandchildren, and I’m in tears at the opening title alone, it was so moving. Then I had dinner one evening with Andrew Stanton, the director, in Los Angeles. He said that out all of the films he had seen, this was the most innocent and appealing love song. I told him that when I was cast, [director] Gene Kelly told me he was looking for an “attractive idiot” and his wife thought me attractive and he thought me an idiot so I got the role! [Laughs.]

What do you remember about the experience of filming that actual number?
When I sang the song—when we recorded it—there were tears in my eyes; my face went all sorts of shapes! Here I was, a naive young man singing to this beautiful girl, and I couldn’t believe I’d found love. It was a delightful song to sing honestly and sensitively. When we finished it, Gene went “Cut!” and held me; he was the most wonderful man.

You’ve got a landmark birthday coming up! Any thoughts on that? [Crawford turns 70 on January 19.]
Well, I’m lucky to have reached it! [Laughs.] You reach the point where you’re nervous about birthdays and don’t want to talk about them because, sadly, one has lost so many friends; that’s the worst thing about this part of your life. Also, I think there’s a wisdom that comes with starting to enjoy certain things and yourself and knowing how to conduct yourself. Thank god I’ve reached that point.