On the one hand, Crawford was a beguiling international presence on stage and screen. On the other, his true destiny remained unfulfilled. Not until 1984, after Crawford felt the doldrums of life in his 40s, did Edith O’Keefe—his “Nan”—invoke a prophesy.

“One of the last things she said to me before she died was, ‘You must sing, Michael…you must sing,’” he said. “She didn’t call me Michael from the start. She always called me ‘Mick…Mickey…My Mickey.’ She was one of the few people who ever called me Mick in my life. But that’s what she called me, little Mickey…and she believed I would sing.”

His grandmother’s words set him on a new course. Crawford began a schedule of singing lessons in earnest. “It wasn’t until she died that I really, really sang more seriously and then, within two years, I got Phantom.”

The Phantom drops his mask. By: MCCARTY, MARTY. World of Hibernia. Winter98, Vol. 4 Issue 3, p110 (via inallyourfantasies)
The moment I saw him [Michael Crawford] with Sarah at dinner for the first time, I knew there was no point in discussing the casting any further, the way he hypnotized her with his view of what he thought the Phantom could be … I just tiptoed off and left them. I phoned Hal and said, ‘It’s cast.’
Andrew Lloyd Webber (via lemortvivant)

(via inallyourfantasies)

Source: michaelcrawfish

Michael Crawford on “Love Never Dies”

eponnia:

“He [The Phantom] was a dear, dear character to me… I really did love Phantom [the show]. I felt it resolved itself in the end. That was the end of the story. And when I saw there was going to be a sequel, I couldn’t quite imagine him resurrecting himself in the way they had in mind.” - Michael Crawford on Love Never Dies

(via despiteyourdestination)

Source: eponnia