Cameron Mackintosh/Really
Useful Theatre Company, Inc. production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, directed by
Harold Prince, returning to Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151
W. Randolph St.) for a limited ten-week holiday
engagement running Wednesday, October 31 through Saturday, January 5, 2008.
Tickets range in price from $28 - $85 and are available at
Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (151 W. Randolph St., 24 W. Randolph St. and 18
W. Monroe St.), by calling Ticketmaster at (312) 902-1400, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
John Cudia heads the 36-member company as The Phantom. Sara Jean Ford, a former original cast member
from the Chicago company of Wicked, plays the young
soprano, Christine, with Greg Mills as Raoul.
Also featured are Kim Stengel as Carlotta Giudicelli, Chicago-native
D.C. Anderson as Monsieur André, Bruce Winant as Monsieur Firmin, Rebecca Judd
as Madame Giry, John Whitney as Ubaldo Piangi and Polly Baird as Meg. At certain performances, Sarah Lawrence plays
the role of Christine.
For more than ten years, John has proudly been associated
with the two longest running shows in Broadway history, Les Miserables and The
Phantom of the Opera. He made his
Broadway debut in Les Miserables,
going on to perform nearly every role in the show including the lead character
Jean Valjean. John began with Phantom as the Raoul understudy then
later took over the role. John played
Raoul with both the touring and Broadway companies while understudying and
performing the role of the Phantom. In
fact, John holds the distinct honor of being the first and only actor to have
performed both roles, Jean Valjean and the Phantom, on Broadway. Regional credits include Tony in West Side Story, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Lt. Cable in South Pacific and tenor Tony Candolino
in Master Class at such theatres as
The Paper Mill Playhouse, St. Louis Rep., North Shore Music Theatre and
Portland Stage. John is happily married to Broadway actress Kathy Voytko.
Sara Jean Ford most recently made her debut in both The Phantom of the Opera and "The BroadWAY"
and is absolutely honored to be joining such a great company in the very first
show she ever saw! She made her New York debut as Luisa
in the Off-Broadway revival of The
Fantasticks where she starred along side such theatre legends as writer/director
Tom Jones and the forever inspiring Leo Burmester. Directly after graduating from Carnegie
Mellon (BFA), Sara joined the original Chicago Company of Wicked (Glinda and Nessarose u/s).
This last year Sara has performed in numerous readings and workshops
including Pride and Prejudice
(Elizabeth Bennett), directed by Mark Lamos, Zhivago! (Yalenka), directed by Des McAnuff, and Prairie (Nellie Olson), directed by
Francesca Zambello. Favorite roles
include Cunegonde in Candide, Babe in
Crimes of the Heart, and The Baker's
Wife in Into the Woods.
Greg Mills appeared in the Broadway production of Andrew
Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White. National Tours: Big
(Josh Baskin). Other New York and
regional: Evita (Che) at West Virginia Public, Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus), Miss
Saigon (Chris) and Aida (Radames)
at Seaside Music Theater, After the Ball
(Mr. Hopper) at The Irish Repertory Theatre and 2005 cast recording, Where's Charley? (Jack Chesney) at
Goodspeed Opera House, Sweeney Todd
(Anthony), Chess (Freddie), Camelot at The Paper Mill Playhouse and
originated the roles of Danceny in the world premiere of The Game at Barrington Stage and Roman in Warsaw in NYC. A proud graduate of Florida State
University.
