Phantom of the Opera: Meet The New Cast

New cast members join the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera tonight (2nd September 2013) as part of a major cast change. Fresh from playing 'Jean Valjean' in Les Misérables, Gerónimo Rauch joins the cast as ‘The Phantom’ and Broadway leading man Sean Palmer joins as ‘Raoul’.The Phantom of the Opera will continue to star Sofia Escobar as ‘Christine’ and Jeremy Secomb as ‘Piangi’.

Meet the new cast members below:

Gerónimo Rauch (The Phantom) is an Argentinian singer and actor who has recently finished playing ‘Jean Valjean’ in the West End production of “Les Misérables”, having played the same role in the New 25th Anniversary production of “Los Miserables” in Barcelona. He has also played ‘Feuilly’ and ‘Marius’ in “Les Misérables” in Argentina, as well as taking part in the 25th Anniversary celebration of “Les Misérables” at The 02.

In 2002 Gerónimo took part in the Buenos Aires version of TV talent show “Popstars” and was successfully chosen to become a founder member of the band Mambrú, whose debut album went Triple Platinum. Previous theatre credits include ‘Doody’ in “Grease” at Astral Theatre in Buenos Aires, ‘Jesus’ in “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Teatro Lope de Vega in Madrid and ‘Mary Sunshine’ in “Chicago” at the Teatro Coliseum in Madrid.

Broadway leading man Sean Palmer (Raoul) was most recently played ‘Bobby’ in the Olivier award-winning production of “Crazy for You” at the Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, and its subsequent West End transfer to the Novello Theatre. His Broadway credits include creating the role of ‘Prince Eric’ in “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” and the original cast of “Fosse”. Sean’s film and television roles include Stanford Blatch's boyfriend ‘Marcus’ in “Sex and the City”.

Andy Hockley (Monsieur Firmin) also played ‘Monsieur Firmin’ in the recent tour of “The Phantom of the Opera”. His other theatre credits include “Hello Dolly” at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park and “The Music Man” at Chichester Festival Theatre.

Martin Ball (Monsieur André) most recently played ‘Horace’ in the West End production of the Olivier Award-winning “Top Hat”. His other West End credits include ‘Thénardier’ in “Les Misérables”, ‘Harry Bright’ in “Mamma Mia!” and ‘Dr. Dillamond’ in the original cast of “Wicked” at the Apollo Victoria. Martin also played ‘George Banks’ in the UK tour of “Mary Poppins” for which he was awarded a TMA Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Touring Musical.

Claire Moore (Carlotta) created the role of ‘Ellen’ in the original cast of “Miss Saigon”. Her numerous West End credits include the alternate ‘Christine’ in the original cast of “The Phantom of the Opera”, ‘Anna’ in “The King and I”, ‘Fantine’ and ‘Madame Thénardier’ in “Les Misérables” and ‘Nancy’ in “Oliver!”. Claire was most recently seen in the critically acclaimed “London Road” at the National Theatre. (Please note that due to an injury, Lara Martins will continue to play Carlotta until further notice).

Jacinta Mulcahy (Madame Giry) recently played ‘Baroness’ in the recent national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and David Ian’s production of “The Sound of Music”. Her other theatre credits include ‘Cosette’ in “Les Misérables” in the West End.

Cat Lane (Meg Giry) made her West End debut in “Grease” at the Piccadilly Theatre. She most recently played ‘Meg’ in the Asian and South African tours of “The Phantom of the Opera”.

Olivia Brereton (Christine at certain performances) recently made her stage debut as the alternate ‘Christine’ in the UK tour of “The Phantom of the Opera”. Whilst training her credits included ‘Clara Johnson’ in “The Light in the Piazza” and ‘Lucinda’ in “Into the Woods”.

Harriet Jones (Christine at certain performances) is making her West End debut after graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in classical voice from the Royal College of Music in London. Opera credits include ‘Flora’ in “Turn of the Screw” at Grimeborn Opera Festival, ‘Zerlina’ in Woodhouse Opera’s “Don Giovanni” and Classic FM’s 20th Birthday Celebration concert.

The Phantom of the Opera has won 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tonys on Broadway and three Olivier Awards in the West End. It won the ‘Most Popular Musical Audience Award’, voted by the public, in the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards. The show has also won two West End Frame Awards. Earlier this year Sofia Escobar won 'Best Performance of a Song in a Musical' for her performance of 'Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again' as Christine Daaé while last year Katy Treharne won our 'Understudy Of The Year' Award for alternating the role of Christine Daaé.

The Phantom of the Opera opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on 9th October 1986 starring Michael Crawford as The Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. The production is currently booking until April 2014. Click here to book tickets.

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