They Both Wear Tuxedos

I've been watching the special features on the new SportsNight set, and a little time is devoted to the stroke that Robert Guillaume suffered during its run. Guillaume is also featured in some of the present-day talking head pieces, and hearing his only-slightly spurred speech (no Dick Clark, he) reminded me, somehow, that I had read somewhere that he did a stint as the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera in Los Angeles. Now, when I read that originally, there was no way to easily hear him as the Phantom, no easy way to satiate the obvious curiosity such a story arouses - how does he sound? Does he sound like Benson? Is he any good?

Well, today we have YouTube. The verdict? He's excellent. And his singing voice sounds nothing like his speaking voice. Which makes for a jarring transition when he switches to the spoken "Sing to me!"s as the end.



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