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Andrew Lloyd Webber: 'Michael Jackson wanted to appear in Phantom of the Opera'

I love the story of the Phantom very much (and I love Michael) so while reading this article I thought of painting Michael as the Phantom.
some details, like his shirt and candles are referenced from a photo of the movie The Phantom of the opera, the rest of the details were my idea..

Too bad he never played him, I think it would be an extraordinary musical.

also, here are some lyrics I came up with while I was thinking about the concept of the painting.. I rarely write lyrics, but I hope you will like them :)

 
Xtarlight and Mpenziwe said:
Andrew Lloyd Webber: 'Michael Jackson wanted to appear in Phantom of the Opera'

Michael Jackson was interested in starring in a film version of the Phantom stage musical, says Lord Lloyd Webber

The first person to call me to say Michael Jackson had died was my 17-year-old son. I had an awful feeling that one should almost have seen it coming. After the sadness came the disappointment that I was never going to see him again.

I first met Michael when he came to see Phantom of the Opera in New York when we'd just opened in 1988. He was clearly interested in the piece. He saw it several times and used to come backstage, often without the entourage that followed him around in later life.

The story got to him. I think he had a connection with the lonely, tortured musician. He found the idea of somebody working through music and having a girl as a muse very intriguing – and he loved that there was illusion in the show.

Michael became interested in playing The Phantom himself, in a movie version of the show. We talked about it a lot, but we'd only just opened and, at the time, I felt that it was too early for it to become a film. I felt his interest in Phantom was because he was interested in doing something theatrical himself.

He was a highly theatrical animal. I remember him saying to me that he'd seen Cats and how happy he was that dance was making a comeback in the theatre. He certainly talked about theatre a lot, and when he was last in London, he went to see Oliver!. Of course, he was a great showman himself, but he found the whole stagecraft of musicals extraordinary.

Seeing clips of Thriller on the news this week reminded me what an extraordinary dancer he was. He really brought dance and staging into the pop world, through his videos and concerts. Nobody before him had really done anything much like that. He was ahead of his time with all that he did.

I saw him a couple of times in concert. Thriller was probably the best stage event I've ever seen. From my musical-theatre perspective, I could see that he was bringing a completely new vision about dance to the stage. A tremendous amount of what he was doing then you see in musicals now.

Musically, Michael was also different to anyone before him. He was clever at taking pop hooks and using them in original ways, developing them theatrically. It's an influence that is now everywhere today. I remember listening to a Justin Timberlake album and hearing Michael's influence.

Young people still keep coming to his music because so many of his songs are classics. In the history of pop, Thriller will possibly stand out more than Sergeant Pepper because there were even more stand-alone hits on it. It's right up there with the all-time great albums.

Similarly, I would absolutely put him up there with the all-time greatest performers. I've seen most of the top rock acts – I saw Elvis several times – but with Michael's concerts, his showmanship was consummate. Very few rock singers have such quality.

Everybody was so looking forward to seeing what he would do when he came back to London. From what I was hearing, he was going to push the boundaries of what we'd seen in a rock arena much, much further.

The debts, all the court cases, and the trouble he got himself into, it was all so sad. But you can probably say already that his music has transcended all of that. Nothing sticks to him. In the end, the music will always survive.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...wanted-to-appear-in-Phantom-of-the-Opera.html
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Been dithering over whether to bump this thread. But I really like this long quote from Andrew Lloyd Webber. There is so much good stuff here.


JennyC said:
Lovely what ALW said about him and I never imagined MJ playing the role of the phantom until I stumbled upon this artwork someone did depicting him as the phantom.......
c5d8eb1c48bedabfc263bfbe7091941e.jpg
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@wendijane - FYI
 
It is kind of criminal that MJ didn’t appear in more musicals post the Wiz. It is clearly not from a lack of interest.
If he had been born in the 1940s his career most likely would look like Fred Astaire’s or he wouldn’t have had a substantial career at all with racism being rampant in those times.
 
filmandmusic said:
It is kind of criminal that MJ didn’t appear in more musicals post the Wiz. It is clearly not from a lack of interest.
If he had been born in the 1940s his career most likely would look like Fred Astaire’s or he wouldn’t have had a substantial career at all with racism being rampant in those times.
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I've got mixed feelings about this. I'm not sure he had the acting ability to be able to be the actor or entertainer he seemed to want to be. I just don't have the imagination to know whether he had what it takes. Singing and dancing, that's taken care of. It's the acting I'm not sure about and he would need all three to be good in musicals.

Then again, with some acting training, the right project, the right director - who knows? I think the main problem is, he was Michael Jackson. Would he have been willing and able to take a supporting role, for example? To learn the craft? How would that work? He was Michael Jackson, global superstar. So I have uncertainties about it. That said, it would have been nice for him to have had the opportunity. To be able to explore this even if it didn't quite work the way he wanted it to.

It's interesting that Andrew Lloyd Webber calls Michael 'a highly theatrical animal'. He really was, wasn't he?
 
@zinniabooklover
The way I see there are tons of not schooled actors in the movie business. It seems to be a profession you learn on the job in many cases.
Take all these martial artists and bodybuilders who become movie stars. With some proper coaching miracles are done with these guys. The best example I can give you is Arnold Schwarzenegger. I saw his debut film of 1969 and it was completely terrible in the acting department, later on he became the biggest star in Hollywood. At first he was typecasted as the action hero but he kept learning and later starred in comedy films and even in a couple of drama's.

I think the step from performing to acting is not that big, you're already used to cameras and eyes looking at you. The step for a singer to become a musical star is minimal I think. He already had the most important aspect nailed, namely singing and dancing.

You never know what would have happened if he did Peter Pan with Spielberg.

Either way I am glad he didn't become a musical star because I naturally preferred him making music :p
 
filmandmusic said:
@zinniabooklover
The way I see there are tons of not schooled actors in the movie business. It seems to be a profession you learn on the job in many cases.
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Oh, for sure. I just listened to an interview yesterday with Florence Pugh who didn't go to drama school. She's doing just fine. There's loads of examples. But I don't think it's a case of needing to take acting classes, I think it's about whether you have the talent or not. I just don't know if Michael had it. Lots of singers want to be actors - hello, Madonna! - but it doesn't always work.

filmandmusic said:
Take all these martial artists and bodybuilders who become movie stars. With some proper coaching miracles are done with these guys. The best example I can give you is Arnold Schwarzenegger. I saw his debut film of 1969 and it was completely terrible in the acting department, later on he became the biggest star in Hollywood. At first he was typecasted as the action hero but he kept learning and later starred in comedy films and even in a couple of drama's.
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Yeah, Arnie's a good example of how it *can* work out. He won't ever be Anthony Hopkins but he doesn't need to be. He's done just fine.

filmandmusic said:
I think the step from performing to acting is not that big, you're already used to cameras and eyes looking at you.
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Ooh, I dunno. There have been so many models and pop singers who have tried to make it as actors and it hasn't worked. Of course, I can't name one! Heaven forfend that I should be able to, you know, defend my own argument, lol. But there have been loads. It's not an automatic progression. Just look at Wesley Snipes in Bad. That scene where he's looking at Michael. Doesn't say a word. Doesn't need to. He's doing more acting in that one scene than Michael does in the whole short film. Wesley for sure could *not* do what Michael was doing but could Michael do what Wesley was doing? I'm not sure about that. He did a great job with the ET audio book. Wonderful storytelling. I just don't know if he could go further.

filmandmusic said:
Either way I am glad he didn't become a musical star because I naturally preferred him making music :p
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From a purely selfish point of view I'm really glad it never happened. I think he was born to be a singer, dancer, musician, composer. Songs just seemed to pour out of him and he had so much to say.
 
Is it wrong that I'd kill for Michael as the Phantom? 😳

It is? OK, I'll do it anyway. 😁

Acting prowess or not, I'd still wanna see it. 🤷‍♀️ I am admittedly kinda blind at times on what's "good" acting and what isn't, so perhaps I'm not a good example, lol.
 
zinniabooklover said:
I've got mixed feelings about this. I'm not sure he had the acting ability to be able to be the actor or entertainer he seemed to want to be. I just don't have the imagination to know whether he had what it takes. Singing and dancing, that's taken care of. It's the acting I'm not sure about and he would need all three to be good in musicals.
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Honestly, I think Michael would have been a great actor. You make some great points throughout this thread about this, but I genuinely feel like with Michael's ability to emote and his sensitivity I think he could have been a strong actor if working with a great director and some acting coaches (like everyone has). I think he did wonderfully in the places we do get to see him act. Like I said, in The Wiz it is impossible to keep from watching him. He's so believable. One of my favorite things about Michael is that I don't know if there has ever been a more earnest person. I mean, he just tried so hard with everything he did. I think had he gotten the chance to be an actor in the way he wanted, he would have worked endlessly to be as good as possible. However, his fame would be the biggest hangup. He was too famous and in some ways too interesting of a character himself.

It makes me sad he never got the acting/film career he wanted, but he had a bigger and more important career than the vast majority of artists and performers who have and will ever live, so I can't feel too sad about it lol.
 
Whenever I see Fred Astaire movies I am not impressed with his acting chops either but he made a career out of it. I’m with the wild one Michael is very epxressive and emotive. I think he could have been a good actor for certain parts. That last part is important of course. I can’t see him playing a pimp or bank manager but he would have done well in children’s movies, light fantasies, musical, animated movies (voice acting) maybe more.
 
Prince Of Pop said:
I love reading articles about Michael like this. No negativity, just praise and showing Michael's interest with other genres is interesting.
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Exactly! This is why I bumped the thread, in the end. It's so interesting and charming. I had a vague awareness of Michael's interest in POTO but didn't realise how serious he was about possibly being involved. And reading ALW's assessment of Michael as a performer was really interesting. Whether you like ALW's work or not he understands theatre and he understands performers. He knows what he's talking about. Michael being assessed positively by his professional peers? I love it.
 
filmandmusic said:
Whenever I see Fred Astaire movies I am not impressed with his acting chops either but he made a career out of it. I’m with the wild one Michael is very epxressive and emotive. I think he could have been a good actor for certain parts. That last part is important of course. I can’t see him playing a pimp or bank manager but he would have done well in children’s movies, light fantasies, musical, animated movies (voice acting) maybe more.
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You've made some great points and so did @staywild23. Much of what has been said I totally agree with. For sure, he could get some coaching and see where it takes him. For sure, a lot would hinge on him picking the right project and having a director who could handle him. Yes, light fantasies would suit him well and we know he loved that stuff. I think voice acting in animated films would have been a great way to start. In the UK we still have radio drama, no idea if that's the case in the US. If I was Michael's manager I'd be wanting him to build on the work he did on the ET audio book.

I still have all of my doubts, though. Michael certainly was very expressive and emotive. I love Michael as a performer and he is insanely talented but, when I watch him, I don't see an actor inside him.

If he had the opportunity to do this acting thing I think he would have had really interesting things to say about it. His comments on his experience being in The Wiz are really thoughtful and insightful.
 
I think a main reason why his acting career never took off was because of his high voice, it limits the things you can do with him. Later on his looks obviously were the main reason, we don’t have to beat around the bush about it.
 
filmandmusic said:
I think a main reason why his acting career never took off was because of his high voice, it limits the things you can do with him.
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Oh, I hadn't even considered that. Although I don't think his speaking voice is that high. It always sounds really normal to me. There is that one interview clip - it's OTW era, forget the name of the journalist, Sylvia Chase? - anyway, in that clip his voice is quite high but most of the time he just sounds normal to me. ET interview 1983? Ebony/Jet interview 1987? Doesn't sound like a high-pitched voice at all, imo.

Otoh, his voice, in his 20's, does have a boyish quality to it. Oh, hang on, is *that* what people are talking about? Mm, OK. Hadn't thought of it like that.🤔
 
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Trying to get my head around this voice thing. I think Michael's voice is quite manly.

Perhaps it's just me!
 
zinniabooklover said:
Trying to get my head around this voice thing. I think Michael's voice is quite manly.

Perhaps it's just me!
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I don't think I've ever thought of Michael's speaking voice as particularly "manly," but at the same time I don't think that's a bad thing either, nor a standard necessity for masculinity (not at all implying you are saying that, I'm just writing as I'm thinking... I think MJ possesses incredible masculinity, but maybe there isn't much difference between that and manliness? you can see I'm sorting through this in my head lol...)

All of that said, Michael's voice is NOT as high as people act like it is, especially in impressions of him. Michael's voice was soft. It was gentle. I think that's what so many women find so attractive and sensual about it. I personally loooooove his speaking voice. I never expected to, though. When I first became a fan, I didn't think either way about his speaking voice being high or low. I've showed his interviews to multiple women in my life, and all of them remark on how lovely his voice is. No one ever talks about it being high.

His voice is just so... sigh. Tender, soft, gentle, calm, controlled. All of those qualities are SO attractive.
 
staywild23 said:
I don't think I've ever thought of Michael's speaking voice as particularly "manly,"
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I suppose it depends on how 'manly' is defined. And I couldn't even begin to explain what I mean when I use the term. I don't mean a baritone voice or an Arnie physique, that's for sure. Just recently someone suggested that the lacy blouse / shirt that Michael wears HWT is girly or feminine and didn't suit him. Something like that. Well, to me he looks incredibly manly in that outfit. That's probably the best I can do in trying to explain what I mean, lol. He looks insanely beautiful in that garment but also manly, imo.


staywild23 said:
but at the same time I don't think that's a bad thing either, nor a standard necessity for masculinity (not at all implying you are saying that, I'm just writing as I'm thinking... I think MJ possesses incredible masculinity, but maybe there isn't much difference between that and manliness? you can see I'm sorting through this in my head lol...)
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Exactly. I'm thinking aloud and understanding that none of it makes any sense to anyone except myself, lol. Anyway, I agree with your comments here.

staywild23 said:
All of that said, Michael's voice is NOT as high as people act like it is,
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Exactly. That's my basic point. His voice was just never that high, apart from that one exception that I mentioned. He was soft spoken but that's a different thing.

staywild23 said:
especially in impressions of him. Michael's voice was soft. It was gentle. I think that's what so many women find so attractive and sensual about it. I personally loooooove his speaking voice.
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I'd heard his speaking voice through childhood and, occasionally, his teenage voice so loving his adult voice was just a continuation. Singers often have wonderful speaking voices, imo, but Michael's is special even for a singer.

staywild23 said:
I never expected to, though. When I first became a fan, I didn't think either way about his speaking voice being high or low. I've showed his interviews to multiple women in my life, and all of them remark on how lovely his voice is. No one ever talks about it being high.
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Exactly! (Query: how many times can I insert the word 'exactly' into one post?)

staywild23 said:
His voice is just so... sigh. Tender, soft, gentle, calm, controlled. All of those qualities are SO attractive.
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His voice is gorgeous.
 
staywild23 said:
I don't think I've ever thought of Michael's speaking voice as particularly "manly," but at the same time I don't think that's a bad thing either, nor a standard necessity for masculinity (not at all implying you are saying that, I'm just writing as I'm thinking... I think MJ possesses incredible masculinity, but maybe there isn't much difference between that and manliness? you can see I'm sorting through this in my head lol...)

All of that said, Michael's voice is NOT as high as people act like it is, especially in impressions of him. Michael's voice was soft. It was gentle. I think that's what so many women find so attractive and sensual about it. I personally loooooove his speaking voice. I never expected to, though. When I first became a fan, I didn't think either way about his speaking voice being high or low. I've showed his interviews to multiple women in my life, and all of them remark on how lovely his voice is. No one ever talks about it being high.

His voice is just so... sigh. Tender, soft, gentle, calm, controlled. All of those qualities are SO attractive.
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Girlll don't even get me started. Michael's voice in general gets me so, so weak. His soft-spokenness and general shyness just... I honestly can't even talk about it properly here, to be honest. 😳 😅 But it does all kinds of things with me LOL that's all I wanna say.
 
DangerousGal91 said:
Girlll don't even get me started.
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LOL trust me, I understand...

DangerousGal91 said:
Michael's voice in general gets me so, so weak.
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I can barely cope. The intro to IJCSLY.... ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MICHAEL?!?!

DangerousGal91 said:
His soft-spokenness and general shyness just...
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his duality is the sexiest thing I've ever encountered in my entire God forsaken life lol.

DangerousGal91 said:
I honestly can't even talk about it properly here, to be honest. 😳 😅 But it does all kinds of things with me LOL that's all I wanna say.
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Lol I can't either. I need to go jump in a river.
 
filmandmusic said:
Whenever I see Fred Astaire movies I am not impressed with his acting chops either but he made a career out of it. I’m with the wild one Michael is very epxressive and emotive. I think he could have been a good actor for certain parts. That last part is important of course. I can’t see him playing a pimp or bank manager but he would have done well in children’s movies, light fantasies, musical, animated movies (voice acting) maybe more.
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f&m, I wrote this quite recently on one of the picture threads and it's been in the back of my mind all through this conversation:

"It's really interesting looking at the photos posted by @wendijane here and over on 'model / work of art'. Because we see a quick succession of photos from different eras it really emphasises how different Michael looked. I feel as if I'm looking at an actor. It's almost as if it's a collection of photos of different characters that he's played in different films.

I understand that it's really just the make-up / clothes / hair styles. Also, he IS portraying different characters in different videos or whatever. But I mean something different. As usual, I can't, in any useful way, explain exactly what I *do* mean, lol. But when I scroll through these photos I feel like I'm looking at the work of an actor, someone who really knows how to inhabit a role. I'm not necessarily saying Michael could have been a good actor. I have no idea. He's fine in Thriller, not so good in Bad, imo. Seems OK in Captain EO but I haven't seen all of it. Seems a little bit self-conscious in Moonwalker. So I don't know if he could have done it for real. But I'm fascinated by how he's able to present himself so very differently to the camera."
 
filmandmusic said:
Whenever I see Fred Astaire movies I am not impressed with his acting chops either but he made a career out of it. I’m with the wild one Michael is very epxressive and emotive. I think he could have been a good actor for certain parts. That last part is important of course. I can’t see him playing a pimp or bank manager but he would have done well in children’s movies, light fantasies, musical, animated movies (voice acting) maybe more.
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I think with regards to Fred Astaire, a big part of his appeal were his dancing chops. There's a reason Michael idolized him (see Smooth Criminal also).
 
@zinniabooklover

The point I try to make is that he should have been able to be an actor of some sort. He was no Marlon Brando or Jack Nicholson. But would he be any worse than say Keanu Reeves? Keanu is completely bland yet he is one of the greatest action stars since the 90s and a box office hit. He has zero charisma imo. When physical actors are avle to create a lauded film career because they look tough and know how to stage a screen fight then surely MJ could have done the sqme in his field (children’s movies, animation, musical). At the very least MJ showed charisma in his videos, in fact he oozed charisma.

He was not a natural, acting was not his prime talent but as with most professions and a lot of effort and goodwill he could have grown substantially in it.

It is actually quite striking how similar he was to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both had charisma to booth and they had self confidence in what they did and a burning passion to make it in other fields. They’re the types of people who could get taught anything

For what it is worth I think ghosts is well acted on Michael’s part, it was a really personal movie and he poured his heart out in it and it shows. If he was casted in projects he believed in 100% then I don’t see what could have stopped him.
I think he would have nailed Peter Pan the way it was originally intended.

Lets imagine a script about a very shy guy lacking confidence but with a heart to make it as a dancer, generic yes but if the script is good and the characters and acting is good then simple movies like this usually become a success.
His little exchange with the black man on the street in the TWYMMF video for me portrays a Michael looking vulnerable and lacking in confidence pretty well. That is the base to work on, a good acting coach can nurture that. The eventual transformation into a confident guy oozing charisma as a performer he had already naturally so that part of the movie would be filmed very easily. 🥳

That is the kind of work I could have seen him shine in.

PS Janet at one point had a decent acting career, maybe it runs in the family 😄
 
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Ghosts. Mm, yeah. I spent the Thriller Challenge weekend with Ghosts bc I'm contrary, lol.

Hm ... 🤔
 
zinniabooklover said:
Ghosts. Mm, yeah. I spent the Thriller Challenge weekend with Ghosts bc I'm contrary, lol.

Hm ... 🤔
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Honestly, it's pretty underrated all things considered, whereas Thriller... very much is not, lol. Obviously I adore Thriller, I think most people do, but Ghosts needs more love.

And the estate should upload the full version to YouTube. Yes there are fan uploads and I'm very grateful of course, but come on!
 
filmandmusic said:
You are British… 🤣
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Just bc I'm contrary I will also say, no real interest in Michael as an actor, but am *madly* intrigued to discover he was the central figure in two comics. One based on Captain EO and one based on Moonwalker. I didn't know this, just found out over the weekend. I love the idea of Michael as a comic character.

I also like the idea of Michael generating stories. He was a great storyteller - WBSS, HH / TPH, SOTM, We've Had Enough - and I love the idea that he could work on projects with other people to develop ideas. I'm sure I saw a quote from him once where he said he'd like to be in films but he'd be happy to be behind the camera. I find that idea more exciting.
 
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