[lettie]

I think that Gerald Butler (the phantom) although a good singer, he could not convey the emotion required to play the part of phantom. The role of phantom requires the most powerful of voices and acting ability. I don't know whether he was cast in order to make the role sexier, but he didn't come across very well which is a shame. I have the original stage cast recording of Phantom and Michael Crawford does the role justice. When I saw it on stage the bloke who used to play Mickey from Crossroads played him and he was brilliant. The rest of the casting was good. Miranda Richardson as Madame Giry played the role really well. Even Minnie Driver as the diva Carlotta added humour to the film (although her role is rumoured to have been sung by one of the backing cast members)