Isaiah Bailey, alumnus of Oklahoma City University, will star as the Phantom in a lavish North American tour of The Phantom of the Opera, launching Nov. 11 at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. The production features a 38-person cast and a 14-musician orchestra performing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s soaring score. As the longest-running Broadway show ever, The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House. Fascinated by the talents and beauty of a young soprano named Christine, The Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls obsessively in love with her.
Isaiah Bailey grew up in Arkansas surrounded by gospel music, and his love for that music has never left him. He also fell in love with Oklahoma City while going to college. He graduated in 2014, and said, “Oklahoma City is a second home to me. I try to get back here at least once every year. I love coming back to St. Luke’s Methodist and hearing the young Broadway singers every June. While I was in college for opera and musical theater, I was part of a gospel-infused church and had the opportunity to lead worship.”
Bailey started performing when he was only 10 years old. He attended Wildwood Park for the Arts in Little Rock, Arkansas, which offered an opera summer camp for kids. The first year, Bailey got a part in an opera production of Cinderella. He recalled, “It was my introduction to opera. It was also my first time on stage and performing.
“I went back to Wildwood Park for three summers straight. I started to develop a very mature sound for my age. When the artistic director retired, she decided to start a preparatory program for aspiring classical singers; I was one of the charter students. We learned to sight-read, staging and acting skills and piano lessons. I was also very active in my high school drama department and singing at my church.”
Bailey has been recently seen in Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl, toured the country in The Lion King and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and was seen off-Broadway in Revelation: The Musical. Bailey said his role as the Phantom allows him to showcase his vocal range, combining classical training with contemporary elements. “I get to use multiple facets of my voice,” Bailey said, calling it unique among his Broadway experiences.
He said that for many years he never dreamed of playing the Phantom because he had never seen a person of color play the role, until he saw Norm Lewis’ historic debut in New York City in 2014 and said, “My mind was opened. I realized that I could play that part.”
About the character of the Phantom, Bailey wants people to realize, “People don’t start off bad. Trauma happens to them. In the Phantom’s case, being hated by his mother, the disfiguration of his face, it makes sense why he feels so alone and feels why he manipulates others to love him.” Bailey said he hopes audiences will take away the message that “everyone is worth being loved and seen for who they are inside the outer shell.”
The Phantom of the Opera may make its way here in the second year of its run. Our fingers are crossed that we will get to hear Bailey’s powerful voice as the Phantom in Oklahoma, his home away from home.
