Jeremy Stolle Shares 15 Years at Phantom of the Opera and the Struggles He Faced Getting There

Why I‘ll Never Make It

Back in September of this year, news came out that both shook and shocked the Broadway theater world: Phantom of the Opera will be closing and have its final performance in February 2023. After 35 years, the longest running Broadway show in history, this iconic show was going to be leaving the Majestic Theater for good. That closing date has since been updated to April 16th, no doubt due to the increase in ticket sales after that initial closing announcement, nonetheless the end of an era is near.

I’ve worked with many a performer who have never known a Broadway without Andrew Lloyd Webber and Phantom of the Opera. This show was the first musical I ever really fell in love with, I mean that cast recording album has sold millions of copies (with an all-new, eight-disc Global Edition recently released). I certainly listened to that original cast recording with Michael Crawford ad nauseam in high school, and it was a big inspiration for me wanting to not only pursue theater but actually set my sights on a Broadway career, which has yet to come to fruition. But my guest today has been on Broadway with this show for 15 years, and he’ll be sharing some fascinating and funny stories from his long tenure with Phantom of the Opera.

Jeremy Stolle is the final guest for season 6, and he and I first met doing Gaston at Disney World down in Florida. Now, if that sounds familiar to you, Will Swenson is another Broadway actor who’s been on the podcast, and he and I also shared Gaston duties during my time at Disney World, but Jeremy left Disney and came to New York a little bit before me, and during his years with Phantom has performed the featured part of Passarino in the ensemble, the supporting role of Piangi, and has also played the two leading roles of Raoul as well as the Phantom himself. We talk about what has kept him at the show for so long and the various opportunities, experiences, and mishaps it’s given him these past 15 years.

Story #1: Phantom and the infamous swoosh

Story #2: Raoul and the cheeky bow

Story #3: Meeting his idol, Anthony Warlow

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Bonus Episode: Jeremy talks about one of the many times he has auditioned for Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Although, this time he tried a different take on the character, with hilarious results.

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Why I’ll Never Make It is an award-winning, Top Theater Podcast hosted by actor and singer Patrick Oliver Jones and is a production of WINMI Media. Background music is by John Bartmann and Blue Dot Sessions is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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