Top 10 Best Phantoms in Phantom of the Opera

He is the phantom of the opera. He makes it so heart felt and sympathetic for the character though he murdered he just wanted someone to love him. He is also really good in love never dies though I think it's not as good as phantom of the opera. he had an amazing take on the phantom and his music will stay with me forever. I love his soft voice and how he shows the phantoms pain of letting Christine go. I would have loved to seen the 25th anniversary but only seen it on dvd.

I, too, haven't seen him live, but no one has to. He is the most extraordinary phantom and surpasses all others. If you see any recording of the Phantom of the Opera, only watch the 25th Anniversary at Royal Albert Hall.
I have watched it on DVD 10 times and still watching it. Call me obsessed, but he is truly the angel of music! Curse Christine for leaving him!

He portrays the phantom fantastically... His down once more seen was so heart felt and emotional he was amazing his voice is just unbelievable. So glad he got to play the phantom in 25th anniversary and in love never dies. He deserves this. Love him so much.
A true angel of music

Just watched The Phantom Of The Opera 25th anniversary a few weeks back... It was AMAZING and Ramin's voice is phenomenal! I'm obsessed. We actually bought the dvd a few days later... We have watched it 3 times already and we listen to the music every single day on amazon music.

I have never actually seen it live but I really want to soon! I don't care who it is (Unless Ramin and Sierra decide to do it again) but I really want to see it. BADLY.
Until that day, I will be listening to the music and watching the dvd!

If you are ever stuck at home with nothing to do, I highly recommend buying or renting the 25th anniversary Phantom of the Opera!

The Personality of Erik: He really really felt it, you can hear it in every single phrase. The end is almost unbearable to listen to because it is so deeply touching. This is real art in purity! (Saying this as a professional opera singer- who are not exactly known to be the greatest fans of musicals). His dedication to this role is and will be unreachable for any other actor.

I couldn't believe he could sing really good. I watched some mother's do ave them before hearing him sing and I never expected that. He is sensational so much better than Gerald butler in my opinion. What was that film? The phantoms face was hardly distorted and Gerald's voice didn't link really with the stage versions at all and just seemed cheap acting

Crawford, it's not even close. No one captured the crippling loneliness, the burning desire, the heart aching love the Phantom had like he did. No one has ever replicated that haunting, soaring angelic voice, that absolutely maniacal laugh, no one walked with his elegance and sensuality, no one was ever to express carnal need with so much sensuality and grace with just his 2 hands. Crawford's absolute love for the character he helped birth (just listen to him talk about him in interviews, it will make you cry) shines through the Phantom like a diamond.That's why it will never ever be replicated.

My mom told me that when I was about two years old, she would put on the disc of The Phantom of the Opera with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman. She would also tell me the story while we were listening. And I used to cry because I felt so sorry for the phantom. To this day, I still think that Michael Crawford has that haunting and melodious voice that brings the character life. He is the original phantom and the one I thank for getting me interested in musical theater and Broadway.

I saw John Owen Jones play the Phantom this Thursday just gone. I can't tell you how amazing he is, but then again, Phantom fans will already know how amazing he is. If you haven't seen him live on stage, then you must! I feel so privileged to have seen John play the Phantom on stage, especially considering that it was part of only a three month run, and also considering of how much of a Phantom legend that he is! He puts so much effort into his performance and his singing is just amazing. He has a lot of power in his voice as well as some very soothing tones. You haven't heard 'The Music of the Night' until you've heard John sing it!

Though I think nobody beats Ramin Karimloo, I think that John Owen Jones is my second favorite. Never seen him do the whole thing, but I have watched clips.

His voice actually sounds very close to Ramin's, so if you like Ramin Karimloo's portrayal of the Phantom, you'll like John Owen Jones, too.

Jones does a good job crying in his voice (like Ramin) and does a very good job on Music of the night (also like Ramin!).

that's all I've got to say, because as I said,
I haven't watched anything but clips. I will show you my favorite Phantoms list, though.

1: Ramin Karimloo
2: John Owen Jones
3: Colm Wilkinson

Byeeeeeee!

John Owen Jones is amazing! He sings with lots of emotion.. the power, clarity and ease with the high notes! Fantastic voice! I get goosebumps every time I hear him sing 'Music of the Night'. To me he's the best Phantom!

John Owen Jones...
Amazing voice. Nailed music of the night.
Him and Ramin Karimloo have a pretty similar voice, and each is better in his own way.

My favorite Phantoms list:

1:Ramin Karimloo
2:John Owen Jones
3:Colm Wilkinson

Geronimo was the first Phantom that I saw in London. He was absolutely brilliant! Being Argentinian, I wondered how his pronunciations would be, but his singing and acting was absolutely breathtaking! Other than Michael Crawford, Ramin Karimloo, and John Owen Jones, I would definitely say that Geronimo sings one of the best versions of the title track that I've ever heard. His accent definitely added a uniqueness to the songs. A very powerful voice, and it's a shame that he's only played the role for just over a year. I hope he makes a return to the role one day.

I have seen Geronimo 3 times as Phantom. Absolutely captivating. Also seen Ramin who is amazing. To me there are certain similarities with how they play the role. A tough call between the 2 for me. Leave the theatre on a cloud after watching Geronimo! Do hope he can find the time to return to the role. Spoke to him after the show and lovely.

For sure Gero is "The" most expressive phantom in all times. He is talented in telling you a story for your dreams. You'll get emotionally breakdown listening his voice among his acting. He has that perfect gesture for every word. He is powerful up on stage and let you have a magic and special moment.

The hardest thing is find the heart of the Phanton, the audience should fall in love with him I think. Geronimo is not just breathtaking every time he sing, he show us the heart of the Phantom and he makes us definitively fall in love with him (we actually hate Raoul nomatter their work, sorry mates! That's the Rauch Effect).

I was fortunate to see the Phantom in Toronto with Colm Wilkinson as the Phantom, but it has also a curse as well. There is no other that I have seen than even compares to Colm Wilkinson. He not only has an incredible voice, but you could feel the pain in his character, portraying the torn soul that was the Phantom. I am happy to see that the Cameron Macintosh Phantom is being performed in Boston, but Cooper Grodin is no Colm Wilkinson. Everything else will continue to pale in comparison.

To me, not only is he able to blow away this role with his amazing voice, he best portrays the tortured character that is the phantom as well. His portrayal so precisely captures the essence of whom the phantom is - his weaknesses and his power. Colm is best able to evoke emotion from his audience by not only singing and acting the part but becoming the part. I remember watching him as phantom in the Canadian show and I got goosebumps!

My parents saw him live in Toronto when they were kids. His performance was part of the reason Phantom of the Opera had such a lasting affect on my Mom. When we saw phantom at the Royal Albert Hall, during the grand finale, she was able to recognize his voice, and she lit up when he started singing

The original and the best, saw him many times in Toronto. His performance as the Phantom inspired Ramin Karimloo as a child back when Toronto School kids were taken to see the Phantom on a regular basis.

There is something amazingly creepy and seductive, even pure, about Hugh Panaro's voice... and I think it's an absolutely wonderful combination! He is truly a lovable yet frightening Phantom (one of the few actually scary ones), not to mention colorful with the bits of wit and humor he throws in. It's just so FRESH. He acts with subtle little details that makes his rendition of the character so real and breathtaking, as can be witnessed with every precise, significant, and elegant action and movement. I guess Mr. Hugh Panaro wouldn't be among someone's favorites if they couldn't appreciate how amazingly he can seemingly channel the Joker into his Phantom while still making him this pitiful, sad and lonely creature; it really is a wonder, and quite a legend!

Hugh Panaro was the second Phantom I saw live ( besides listening to Crawford on CD) but the first to make me care, to understand the depth of Phantom's "love" for Christine. His powerful and controlled singing perfectly conveys the creepiness, the tenderness of his feelings, making us repelled yet sympathetic to his need for Christine's affection. Hugh is No1 followed by Rahim, JoJ, and I'm very excited about James Barbour's baritone Phantom!

Hugh is FAR superior to any other Phantom to have ever played the role; speaking strictly from a musical/vocal performance stance. As an actor, he is right up there with Michael and JOJ. Overall, Hugh still takes my #1 - spot, then JOJ (again because of his superior vocals) and then finally #3 - Michael. On a side-nite, Hugh is such a BEAUTIFUL SOUL!

He's the first and only Phantom that I've seen on Broadway, ans his voice is just fantastic. He nearly brought me to tears when he sang The Music of the Night. I think that he's so much better than Ramin Karimloo, Michael Crawford, and Colm Wilkonson. He also portrays the Phantom with perfect wit and sarcasm.

He is absolute amazing! His voice is deep and rich, full of passion and meaning. He portrays the Phantom as a more cool and collected character at most parts (the parts he didn't being when he was told not to) and he just blows me away every time! My personal favorite of his is "Past the Point of no Return", it has the perfect amount of darkness, excitement, and longing all mixed in to one enchanting experience! And if you enjoyed as the phantom, you should check him out as Javert in the musical Les Misérables (The name is French, but the dialog is English!)

My vote goes to Norm Lewis because of his majestic full voice (unlike Michael Crawford's quacking), I mean an ultimate version of Music of The Night is the one from Alfie Boe, but Alfie never actually played Phantom. John Owen Jones is the best Valjean in the known universe, yet he does not have The voice. I think The Phantom should not have a quacky high voice, but a wide, dense, and surrounding one, and this cathegory Mr. Lewis fits perfectly.

His romantic Phantom is so realistic. His Final Lair always makes me cry, especially when he repeats "I love you." Unfortunately the producers said his Phantom needed to be more childish, even though Norm wanted a more serious Phantom. The only flaws in his Phantom are the producer's fault. He is the Phantom for me.

Norm is an incredible baritone singer which I think is meant for the Phantom. His chemistry with Sierra Boggess may be overlooked because of Ramin but nevertheless it was just as compelling.

His rendition of Music of the Night is a huge inspiration to me and I must prefer him as the Phantom than I did as Javert (he was ok but not one of my favourites... he was average).

There are times in life when no words do a person justice. This is one such time. I've had the privilege of seeing Anthony Warlow portray the Phantom in 1990, then again in 2007 and finally in Adelaide where Warlow donned the mask for the final time on 23 May 2009. Never cried so much at a show in all my life. Perfection

Sublime. His portrayal absorbs you into the performance with power and strength along with softness and emotion. The word brilliant isn't strong enough.

Very seriously underrated as the Phantom. Compares well side-by-side, as at the anniversary performance.

The ultimate phantom of the opera!

His voice is a lot brighter than the other's who have played the Phantom before, but he adds an element to the Phantom which hasn't been seen before. As he put it "I want to play the abused child, instead of the monster", which is an interesting take. He clearly can sing, and the difference is voice, from the other "darker" voices, is an excellent choice I think. Very good!

Peter makes some great acting choices which makes him a very moving phantom. His voice may not be as strong as some other's, but it's unusually beautiful and magical. He's also very musical, expressing the sensuality of this music instead of belting out the notes.

Peter is outstanding in every, single, way. His performing is moving, mesmerizing, magical. The way he looks at the the character is truly inspiring. He knows what he's doing. He's the best.

He's the all time best with emotion and pation plus he as an amazing voice in all he uplayed all the phantoms at the 25th anniversary grand finally, also he had the only voice that popped out when they all sung together.

He was my first phantom from when I was in middle school. To me, it's a testament of his impact and talent that over ten years later I'm going back his videos to hear his performances.

He was my first Raoul and second phantom. So awesome. God bless john

Incredible portrayal of the final lair scene. John is a top 5 for me

My husband and I have seen the Phantom of the Opera 3 times at the Ahmason Theater in Los Angeles. The first time Davis Gaines played the lead and was very good. Then we wanted to hear Michael Crawford because we had heard that he was wonderful...much to our dismay when we arrived at the theater Mr. Crawford was ill and was replaced by Robert Guillaume ((Benson? Can Benson even sing? I just knew that we were going to be disappointed! )) WELL, let me tell you Benson CAN Sing...imagine how excited we were when Mr. Guillaume started to sing his first song! His voice sent chills down my spine...he was Fantastic! About a year later we did go to see Michael Crawford as the Phantom and yes he is Wonderful, but Mr Robert Guillaume will always be the voice of the Phantom to my husband and I. Signed, Nancy Hubbard from Anaheim, CA.

Robert Guillaume! He brought me to tears with his rendition.

Guys, you are putting everyone else first mainly for their voice. Earl really gets into the essence of the character. He is so gently with every Christine he plays, it is beautiful.

He is a great actor, he is so passionate when he sings. You can feel the emotion of the Phantom through Earl Carpenter's voice. He's just so alluring.

I agree. He struggles a bit more with the high notes but there's such passion in his performance. I would say that JOJ, Ramin and Earl are the most convincing phantoms I've seen.

Everyone who's still stuck in 2012 and comparing Ben Lewis with Ramin Karimloo for LND, wake up! Ben was the principal Phantom in London from 2017-18, and he is incredible! I really appreciate the full, dark, rich quality of Ben's voice. Look, this man has perfect pitch, can belt the high notes with zero stress (and make MOTN seem like it's transposed down when it's really not), and his voice fills the theatre. I find Ben to match Leroux's description of Erik's voice the best, as Erik is described to sound like "the God of Thunder". Similarly, Ben's acting as Erik is pretty original and spot on; he has an absolutely horrifying laugh, he throws violent tantrums like a child that is emotionally undeveloped (which the Phantom is), and his tears and sadness are absolutely heart-wrenching. He actually cries for real. I don't know how this man summoned the passion that he does for a role he played 9 times a week, but I love him all the more for it. Also, his "All I Ask of You" reprises (in ...more

In my opinion, Ben Lewis is the best actor of the phantom. I think he portrays to phantom really well and clearly takes on the persona of the phantom. He shows all emotions and facial expressions really well and he changes his voice to be alike with his emotions, definitely number 1! X

Ben Lewis is amazing! I'm not saying he's the best but he is at least number 3! Have any of you seen him in Love Never Dies! He has an amazing voice and just like Ramin, he can be strong and sexy and times, but also weak when the phantom should be weak.

Ben Lewis definitely makes the best Phantom in LND because he puts so much emotion into his character and it's like he was the Phantom who had the pain of loosing Christine all those years. However I think he is really good as the older Phantom. Ramin is just good at the younger Phantom.

Anthony Crivello... Hmm... That rings a bell... Oh yeah, the BEST PHANTOM EVER!
I saw him live twice and I was blown away. Not like other phantoms I've seen before... There was something about him that made me feel... I don't know how to put it in words... Emotionamazed and Awecool.
Best phantom ever

The best phantom without a doubt! The only one who brings the phantom to life! Amazing!

Peter Karrie is, without question, the best Phantom ever.

The best ever!

I can't even begin to express how phenomenal his performance was. I think my jaw actually dropped upon hearing his, "Insolent boy! " His deep baritone voice drew me in immediately, full, dark and mysterious like I believe the Phantom should be. He also used his whole entire body to act, gesturing with his hands and walking at certain paces that enriched the experience just a little more than I've seen it in the past. He's definitely my favorite portrayal of the Phantom to date.

His voice is amazing! I think a dark colored baritone suits the phantom better than a tenor now. There's so much emotion in his voice and his acting is phenomenal. I saw him with Ali Ewoldt and Jordan Donica and they make a great team. What I also really like was that even though his voice was commanding and powerful, I could still hear Ali or Jordan very well if they were singing together.

His voice is absolutely amazing with so much emotion! He had the smoothest voice and he was absolutely amazing! His voice was great! He was mysterious but also handsome at the same time. It was so amazing!

He was beyond amazing. He was my first phantom I ever saw, and he's still my faveorite.. and I think always will be. His voice is so so amazing, and he has this sexy, seductive touch to him that makes him so beautiful! I love him so so much! By far my favorite

Absolutely spellbinding. I was captivated by him, especially when he sang Music of the Night. He had such a fabulous stage presence.

The most underrated phantom. His clarity is stunning and his highest notes seem effortless. I get chills every time.

He is currently on The Phantom Of The Opera World Tour. He is my first Phantom and I saw him when they toured in the Philippines. I loved his portrayal of the character. I sobbed so much during his performance in the final lair scene. His voice is as magical as the much more famous Phantoms. He is for me underrated, and I believe he deserves to be recognized in the musical industry on Broadway and on West End.

Watched it in Marina Bay Sands Theatre in Singapore. He was really charming and emotional, simply amazing! His voice, expressions, gestures and emotions draws you in and connect to the Phantom. I cried in the final scene, empathizing with the Phantom's anguish and sadness. To me, he's the perfect Phantom. Hopefully, more people would watch him and feel the same way as I do!

I love his deep voice and his charisma as the phantom. He portrays the emotions and spirit of the phantom very well. Beautiful voice and commanding presence

Really really good!

He's the Dutch Phantom, and a brilliant one! He should have been singing and playing his Phantom in West End or braodway and he would have soared! Epic voice, mesmerizing singing!

Henk is my no1 Phantom, even years later he still kills the song with Floor.

Too bad that he didn't performe on westend. He certainly would have been one of the very best! I've seen him perform several times. He got better and better after each performance

Henk is amazing even now.
I can't wait to see him perform with Nightwish.

He did really good. He had a nice baritone voice, it wasn't unbelievably deep, but it also wasn't too high. He also added new life to the role.

Best phantom we have ever seen. Tremendous voice and acting.

I like his face.

For me, Mr Derrick Davis conveyed the tormented soul of the Phantom, his passion of writing beautiful music & the love/muse relationship with Christine with more authenticity than any other of the other many Phantoms I have watched. But Cameron Macintosh's updated version of Sir A.Lloyd Webber's vision certainly showed the deeper side of the relationship - & how Christine was so conflicted between wanting to be the Phantom's Angel Of Music or being the love of Raoul...magnificent indeed!...the score of this show is soul touching to its core & I believe Derrick Davis understood this fact to its core, that's why I'm voting for his performance of The Phantom.

This is the first time my daughter and I saw Phantom of the Opera. It was in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theater. We were completely taken by Derrick Davis's performance. The entire cast was amazing in how they were able to convey emotion through all of the larger-than-life songs. You really felt the things that the characters felt.

Derrick Davis was perhaps the most poignant of all. You could feel all of the emotions roiling in him and his presence on stage was both forbiddingly fearsome and humanly relatable, even when he was in the worst of his impulses.

But the singing... I've heard some of the other actors perform on the internet. Most of them seem to be tenors. Davis has a deeper and more resonant voice—smoother and the tremolos weren't overly dramatic or forced. And it really conveys the spirit of the Phantom. He also does a rendition of a phantom song on YouTube but it doesn't do his singing justice. When he's singing on stage you feel so many things and in the ...more

His phantom blew me away! His range was incredible and his final lair was powerful. I felt he captured the emotions of Ramin Karimloo's phantom as well as the psychotic element of Hugh Panaro's while adding his own pain and violence to it. It was an amazing performance.

He was spectacular. It was the perfect Phantom voice- beautiful and hauntingly melodic- so much better than Davis Gaines!

Davis will always be my #1 Phantom! All others pale in comparison! His voice was made for this role...a true Angel of Music. I was only in junior high when Phantom was at the Ahmanson in LA, but I was somehow able to get my parents to let me see it about 6 or 7 times, and I'm so grateful to them for that! Davis' voice is life changing! That's why I'm still raving about him over 25 years later.

I saw Gaines in L.A. in 94. He held up th the Phantom standards. I was raised on Crawford a few years earlier, he still rules. Whoever played Christine also kept the show alive but she was weaker than Sarah and too shrill and forced.

I think Gaines was the best Phantom! I can still hear his voice when I hear others perform. With that said, there are others who do a great with a great role!

Davis Gaines if by far my favorite phantom. His voice is perfect for the roll and is stunning. Wish I could have been there to see it/

He did AWESOME! Saw him live... Would do anything to see him again!

Certainly my favorite Phantom!