Peter Karrie is one of the world’s longest running Phantoms, and played the role in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, and Singapore.  This interview was conducted just before Peter left to play the Phantom in Toronto for the second time, in the spring of 1994.
How did you get the role of the Phantom?
I was playing Jean Valjean in Les Mis between ’87 and ’90, and then in ’90 I got a summons from Howard Harrison saying would I like to go and play the Phantom. I said yes, and he said “Right then, we’ll fly you to Austria and you can do an audition for Harold Prince”, which I did, and then I didn’t hear anything for about 8 weeks. The guy who was playing the part, Martin Smith, had been sent off to a singing coach to see if they could try and stretch his voicebox. While they were doing that they brought in Dave Willetts to take over for a while, and they flew me off to see Hal. I didn’t hear any more, so I carried on with Valjean, and then about 8 or 10 weeks later I got another phone call from Howard Harrison saying did I fancy playing the part of the Phantom. I said I’ve already answered that and you sent me to Austria, and he said “Well this time we’re sending you to New York”. So off they flew me to New York to audition for Hal again, who when he saw me, remembered me, and said “Oh it’s you, yeh, you can do it, no problem.” And that was my audition.
I came back and Howard said “Well, okay, finish tomorrow night in Les Mis, have the rest of the week off, and start in Phantom on the following Monday”. And I said no, because after 3 years in a show you like to have a last night, you know what I mean, party time and everything. He turned around and said alright, don’t come back tomorrow, come back on Saturday night, do the last night show, and then start in Phantom on the Monday. So that’s what I did.
Did you research the character, and if so how?
Yes. I saw Dave play it once, years earlier, and I gave him a standing ovation because I thought he was terrific. That was in the early years when he first took over, and I’d forgotten what he did it like, exactly how he did it. I’d also seen quite a few of the films, and then I read Gaston Leroux’s book. But I took the story from Andrew, and had a long meeting with Geoff Ferris and I worked the character out and took it from there really.
Do you believe that Phantom was based on a true story?
Yes, I believe it was based on a true story. There were a lot of quirky things that happened around that time, and there are stories of this character who lived in the cellars. I think it’s been embellished a lot, but I think the basis was very true.
What do you think about the character of Erik?
I think he was a sad character, I think he was totally schizo, in the nicest possible way. He believed he was a good man, and he believed he was beautiful… handsome is the right word. Everything was fine until he started living out his fantasy in reality. Then of course things don’t quite work out according to plan, because in fantasy they can stay forever exactly as you want them to stay, because you make them so, but when you actually rely on other people, in the world of reality, then you’re dealing with elements you can’t control, and therefore things go awry. I think that Erik, when he gets feeling the pain of rejection which he can feel obviously, and he sees the love Christine has for Raoul, then of course he flips sideways and turns to the darker side, and everybody’s got a darker side. Even though his motive was purely for love, it was a form of definite insanity.
How do you feel when you’re playing the part on stage?
I feel like Erik, I feel schizo. The way it’s written, you can’t help but get embroiled and get enmeshed in it emotionally, and it’s the emotion that carries me along. The bit at the end is because I do feel rejection and I feel the sadness of rejection an awful lot. I genuinely love Christine in that respect, and the compassion that comes back to me where instead of killing Raoul I let him go free is because I realize the futility of it. It’s at that point where he changes back, from the insanity, from the manic Erik, he becomes a man who’s accepted reality and faced it and overcome the insanity of madness. So when he lets Raoul go he then is Erik again, and when he says “Christine, I love you”, he does it with true honesty but realising there’s no way back for him and Christine. And when he goes to the chair and disappears he’s starting a new life.
How long do you plan to stay in Toronto?
Toronto’s lovely and the show is wonderful over there. It’s much more disciplined backstage, much more caring, and the cast are well integrated amongst each other and you’ve got a great rapport going with the company management and the stage management. In London they’re so established that you don’t get the assistance, the back up, that you get in Toronto. The back up there is truly incredible, they’ve even got a psychiatrist for people with stress. I’m contracted to stay until February, and I should be coming home then. January 26th.
What do you plan to do after Phantom?
I plan to perform the part of Rasputin, which I’ve written, and make the album. After finishing Phantom in London last October I was going to dedicate a year to finishing off Rasputin, and writing TV and radio programmes, and selling them to TV and radio stations. BBC gave me a contract for a half hour sitcom which I’ve written, and so I was going to get on with that before I was called to Canada.
Tell us a bit about your album.
It’s called “Theatrically Yours”. The tracks on it start off with “Music of the Night”, then I’ve got two from Pride and Prejudice, one which is called “I Need To Know”, which I think’s a single, and then there’s a duet with Claire Moore which is a real kind of funky soul thing, called “Pride and Prejudice”, which I also think is a single. There’s “No Man” from Shogun, and then “One Candle” from Shogun, which are two songs I kind of like. “One Candle” is also a duet with Claire. Then it’s “Bring Him Home”, then “Oh What a Circus”, and we’ve done a real pop send up of that. It’s got a male voice choir on it, and backing girl singers, and I do a lot of laughing on it. I enjoyed doing it, it really is very catchy. After that I do three from Chess: “Pity The Child”, which I love doing, the “Anthem”, and “Endgame”. Claire does the Florence bit on “Endgame”, and I’ve got the Bridgend and District Male Voice Choir on that. After those three we’ve got two from Jesus Christ Superstar – “Heaven On Their Minds”, and “Jesus Christ Superstar”, which is also a nice number with the male voice choir and the girls. It’s really nice, moves along a bit. There’s 12 tracks, and it’s on CD and cassette. It’ll be out in Canada and America first, at the beginning of July 1994.