Meet the Leads of The Phantom of the Opera National Tour

Chandeliers will fall. Pipe organs will resound. Dark, romantic love will triangulate.

In November, the North American tour of The Phantom of the Opera will kick off at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. The reimagined production promises to be a triumphant return for the show whose Broadway run ended in 2023 after more than 35 years. Commanding the stage as the tortured musical genius himself is Isaiah Bailey. “It’s overwhelming,” Bailey told The Broadway Show recently. “I think I’m ready for the task… But it’s a weighty gift.”

Bailey was speaking—in between posing for suitably moody photographs—in the crypt beneath the Church of Intercession in Washington Heights. Despite the macabre setting, he was in high spirits. “I am overwhelmed. I’ve been trying my hardest to hold back tears, because I can’t believe it’s happening.” Bailey knows perfectly well how impactful a national tour can be on an audience. In January 2011, he attended a touring production of The Color Purple at Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City. “I will never forget it,” he said. “That’s where I found out in my heart that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. It was that show that moved me to where I am today.”

Jordan Lee Gilbert, who will play the seraphic soprano Christine Daaé in the production, first fell for the show as a young girl. “Christine is a character that I’ve loved for my entire life.” she said. “To now take my adult experiences and put them into her story is the most exciting thing.” The idea that she might inspire a future musical theater performer the way she was inspired “is just a tremendous honor.”

In the lead-up to playing the dashing Raoul, Daniel Lopez has also been reflecting on his own childhood memories of seeing Phantom. “It’s really cool that my exposure to Phantom was a touring production. Which it is, I think, for most of the country.” It’s “surreal,” he said, to get the opportunity to welcome audiences to the world of the Phantom. “It’s such an iconic piece of theatre.”

This is not Bailey's first national tour; he's performed in tours of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Amazing Grace. That being the case, there is something else he is eagerly anticipating about being on the road. "I am super excited to get back to some of the restaurants that I love."

The Broadway Show Credits: Directed by Zack R. Smith | Producers: Paul Wontorek and Beth Stevens | Senior Producers: Caitlin Moynihan and Lindsey Sullivan | Videographer: Tyler Ward
Location: In the Crypt of the Church of Intercession Episcopal Parish Harlem, NYC, The Rev Canon Yamily Bass-Choate, Rector
Styling Credits: Styling: Greg Dassonville for DassonVogue  | Hair: Corvette Hunt | Makeup: Kaia Shi