Isaiah Bailey will star as the Phantom in the national tour of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ that will launch from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre this fall. Jordan Lee Gilbert will play Christine Daaé and Daniel Lopez will play Raoul.
The three principal cast members were announced on Thursday, exactly three months before the touring production opens on Nov. 7. Broadway.com was first to report the news. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
The production has been billed as a “revitalized” version of the show that is based on the production that opened in London in 2021. It will feature a 38-person cast and a 14-person orchestra.
“The just-announced cast of The Phantom of the Opera launching from Maryland [is] giving us EVERYTHING!” said Ron Legler, president of the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the Hippodrome, in a post on social media. “I don’t think I have ever been so excited!”
The longest running Broadway show in history, ‘Phantom’ tells the story of a disfigured musical genius who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House and falls in love with a young soprano, Christine.
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score includes “The Music of the Night,” “All I Ask of You,” “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” “Masquerade” and the title song.
Bailey recently appeared in Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl and has toured in productions of “The Lion King” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” He was also in an off-Broadway production of “Revelation: The Musical.”
Gilbert has appeared in several operas, playing Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro;” Zerlina in “Don Giovanni,” and Drusilla in “L’incoronazione di Poppea.” This will be her first national tour.
Lopez appeared in “Into the Woods” at the Hollywood Bowl, “Hood” at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, and regional productions of “The Light in the Piazza” and “West Side Story.”
Baltimore scored a coup last fall when the Hippodrome was announced as the theater where the multi-city tour will begin, with help of Maryland’s Theatrical Production Tax Credit program. At that time, the announcement didn’t say who would be in the cast.
Part of the Hippodrome’s Broadway Series lineup for 2025-2026, the show will play in Baltimore from November 7 to 15, every day except Monday Nov. 10. There will be two shows on Sunday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 15.
Other stops on the tour include: Minneapolis, Minn.; Chicago, Il.; Detroit, Mich.; St. Louis, Mo.; New Orleans, La.; Denver, Co.; Salt Lake City, Ut.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wa.; and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Costa Mesa in California.
Here is a video showing the lead cast members in the national tour:
