u/Bradyrands

Note: To date there is still no recording of Martin in the role of the Phantom. Please reach out to the webmaster at http://www.inmemoryofmartinsmith.com if you can help with the search.

This is a brief news segment about Martin Smith and his upcoming takeover for the role of The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. There is particular focus on the long makeup process, and we get to see the prosthetic applied to Martin and how it looks prior to the makeup being applied. This part is interesting as up until this point they had kept the makeup somewhat under wraps in marketing.

The piece seems to have aired September 26, 1989 with Martin debuting in the role about a week later on October 2, 1989. He would of course exit the show December 7, 1989.

So there have been folks saying they hear differences in Crawford’s vocal on the new remix, leading some to believe it’s an AI vocal.

After isolating his vocal and mixing them together, and then isolating soundboards from the West End in 1987 I’ve found out why there is a difference.

So I don’t know why, but during his time in the original London production there was a slightly different vocal take used for the click track live onstage than what we hear on the original cast recording. The very end of the first verse, a line or two in the second, and the final duet chorus are all different from the London cast recording.

For whatever reason - they have actually opted to use the original click track vocal take that was actually used in the production onstage for this new remix, and not the version with the bits Michael Crawford redid that was released on the official recording back then.

I have no insight into why, but that’s the reason it sounds like a different vocal - because several small portions are. I was able to match up the new vocal to isolated vocals from both the original cast recording, and then the parts that are different are synced with the 1987 soundboards. The video above indicates when it switches.

I’d love to learn what the reason was for this change but it’s unlikely that there will be an explanation.

The official release has to be one of the most amazing displays of Freddies voice ever captured.

This is a man who in the same night goes from cracking and straining to hit an A4, to hitting a flawless D5 mere seconds later! I don’t know any other singer who can switch from their standard live voice with imperfections, to a perfect replica of their flawless studio vocal range and abilities. Again, within seconds of each other!

I love how he chose to hit these high notes that he had never done on the tour prior to this show, or after this show! In fact, some of these vocals are at a power and ease that he’d never really had onstage before, period! I mean, that C5 in “Who Wants to Live Forever” is flawless! Even though he dodges the rest of the chorus high notes he pulled that studio voice out just for that note.

I also loved the unique choice he made to strain and force out the first verse Bb4 in WATC, only to then nail and hold out the second verse Bb4, as well as nailing the rest of the chorus Bb4s with insane power - something he rarely did live, and again choosing to break out that studio voice again!

Truly one of the most consistent and accurate displays of the kind of vocals that Freddie could do LIVE, with no assistance of any kind whatsoever in the studio afterward.

Makes it weird how none of these notes he hits can be heard in the radio broadcast or the audience tape, I guess the frequencies at which he hit these flawless amazing notes couldn’t be picked up by that technology and made it sound like Wembley night two was one of the weaker nights of the tour? Weird stuff.

Does “Weird Al” lip-sync?

Short answer: Technically, no.

Long answer: Al, like all singers, ages and so far has accepted and adapted to the aging of his instrument well.

However - Al suffers from being a perfectionist. This includes wanting his live performances to be as close to the album as possible, and sound as close to perfect as it can. At the age of 66, there are weaknesses in certain spots of his voice that it is clear he doesn’t want on display, or that could cause him issues each night.

So, I’d like to give the breakdown on what exactly he is piping in from the studio recordings on the current tour - and my guess as to the reason why based on context found in the performances of the song from before he piped in the vocals, as with just a couple exceptions these were all attempted live during the first stop of the first leg in 2025.

Tacky
Piped in from studio: All chorus falsetto and one verse falsetto (“I Instagram” - “never let” - “think it’s fun” - “practice my” - “if I’m bit”)

Why: As he has gotten older, Al’s falsetto has began to weaken - it is the reason he doesn’t do Wanna B Ur Lovr anymore, he can’t sing the ending the way he wants to based on the 2015-16 tour. When he first did this song live on Conan in 2014, I seem to recall there being people who made remarks about the way these falsetto lines sounded - in that they thought they were a bit unstable and weak or something, they really weren’t that bad. Rather than put what he may feel was a vocal weakness on display every night, especially while walking around and needing to focus on where he is going, he opted to pipe in the studio vocal for those lines. However, I do believe these were sung live on Strings Attached.

Mission Statement
Piped in from the studio: “VALUE”, “…GROW THE…”, “…globalization”, “gaining traction with our re-“, “flexible solutions”, “paradigm SHIFT now” (just the word “shift”)

Why: All of the piped in notes, minus “shift”, are on or require an Ab4 sustain. Al can still very easily hit an Ab4 and does many times thru the night, but for whatever reason these phrases just weren’t coming out right and he couldn’t seem to place them comfortably - they were a bit flat or they’d come out with that more gravelly tone he uses on the rockier songs, which didn’t really fit the style. It seems for the sake of nailing the song, and protecting his voice, he piped in these specific lines. And “shift” is on a C5, which is incredibly high and he probably couldn’t find a way to do it comfortably.

Polkamania
Piped in from the studio: The italicized lines below -
“Despacito
Quiero respirar tu cuello despacito
Deja que te diga cosas al oído
Para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo”

Why: Goodness gracious he gave it his best effort at the first shows in 2025, but when Al speeds up his voice in the studio AND does it for lines in a different language? Not gonna happen live. It just sounded a bit garbled/messy. It was the right move just to pipe it in.

Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me
Piped in from the studio: “…long, well now I know…”

Why: There’s that pesky Ab4 sustain again on the “long” part of the word along. I think that note just sits in a weird spot in his voice where while he easily has the note, he can’t quite nail the pitch when he has to hold it out in that way. He then has to hit a clean Bb4 on the word “know” which is a more closed vowel and much more difficult as a result. To be fair, he did this live whenever he sang it on the first Vanity Tour, and again he still has a Bb4 and sings them multiple times thru the night. But that entire phrase presented difficulties for the way his voice is now. He did it the first few nights in 2025, and to be honest it didn’t really sound all that bad. I think one night his voice may have given out on “know” and that was probably enough to get him to just pipe it in from the studio to try and protect his voice, and again that perfectionism coming into play.

Other things: Fat has the word “fat” piped in from the studio, BUT it is just in the background, he is still singing the notes live overtop of it, it is only there as a little extra support. He did try to get away with having the note simply be piped in for a few nights in 2025, but it was really obvious when all of a sudden his voice went from 2025 to sounding like his voice in the studio in 1988, so he eventually got comfortable enough to sing the whole thing live. White and Nerdy would take too long to break down, he has help from the studio track to allow him to breathe, it’s not full phrases being piped in but some bits and pieces here and there. It seems these are also parts that the backup band are meant to be covering as well. But for consistencies sake he has his own voice from the studio in the mix too. Also White and Nerdy has always been done this way since it was first done on tour in 2007, so this isn’t new. Word Crimes used to have something like that, but he seems to have eliminated any of his own voice being piped in on this tour.

There you go. That is it. Really minimal things. I’d say like 97% of the show is still sung entirely live. There are no entire songs lip-synced. And even with these small bits piped in he at age 66 sings a setlist that’s more vocally challenging than most singers would even dare try and do. Cut him some slack.

I have no gage on if there’s a market for these but for several years I received a subscription for the DC Comics Looney Tunes series and still have them in my basement.

There’s 36 of them, about 4-5 of them don’t have their covers but the comic pages are completely intact and in good shape. The first two issues have the covers but they’re a little worn. Otherwise the rest are in pretty good condition.

I could provide more info or pics if anyone is interested at all?

Only able to hit higher notes on open vowels post-surgery?

Hi folks!

So I am four months post-op from my blue light laser ablation of a left vocal fold pseudocyst and cauterizing blood vessels on both sides from hemorrhage.

First want to say I am thrilled with the results. My timbre is strong, smooth, and resonant beyond words. My falsetto is better than it has ever been my entire life - and during the injury it wasn't accessible, so thats a miracle.

Here's the only snag, and it is that past a certain point in my range I am unable to comfortably sing the higher notes unless they are on more open vowels.

Relevant info: I'm a male - prior to injury, I was able to sing up to a Bb4 reliably in mix and a mix/belt - tried to avoid the belting in that top part too much though. I could graze notes higher occasionally but I wouldn't do them live onstage so I didn't count those. Falsetto is not relevant here.

Now post surgery, everything is exactly as it was up to a G4, but then when we go above that things get wonky. I can only sing above G4 comfortably on specific, more open vowels - and I have to move out of the mix I used to use and switch to more of that mix/belt.

Now - when I'm singing them on these open vowels they're coming out feeling just as strong and as easily as they used to, albeit in a different placement. The thing is when I try to sing Ab4 and above in my more pure mix, it starts becoming unstable and unreliable though which is strange.

As for the vowels - the biggest issue is the EEE sound, and even the modified "iiiihhhhh" --- think "where you long to BEEEEE" in *The Music of the Night* which in order to be comfortable needs to be a "to BAAAAAAAAAAAY" and again moving out of that mix into belting territory - anything that isn't more wide and open is a gamble for the rest of my voice. Even "uhhhhhhh" is a struggle, as is "ooooooh".

Now to clarify this doesn't apply to falsetto or any other part of my voice, where everything is as it should be. It is just once we hit Ab4 and above.

Basically it seems my ability to sing using my legit theatre technique into the upper register is impacted, whereas the more pop/modern stuff is intact although moving out of the mix and with vowel modification on certain words.

It has been this way since I began working on the higher stuff after the surgery, there are times I can get those other vowel sounds in those higher notes but it is very inconsistent and not too often.

Can anybody give me any insight into what may be happening here, and if it may change? Is this just part of the healing process that'll improve with time or is this what my new voice is and I'll need to adapt? My speech therapist didn't have much insight when I last met and tried to explain the issue.

I am extremely grateful for the voice I now have, this is more out of curiosity than complaining. I'll happily accept this voice after what it was like prior.

Thanks!

Hi folks!

So I am four months post-op from my blue light laser ablation of a left vocal fold pseudocyst and cauterizing blood vessels on both sides from hemorrhage.

First want to say I am thrilled with the results. My timbre is strong, smooth, and resonant beyond words. My falsetto is better than it has ever been my entire life - and during the injury it wasn't accessible, so thats a miracle.

Here's the only snag, and it is that past a certain point in my range I am unable to comfortably sing the higher notes unless they are on more open vowels.

Relevant info: I'm a male - prior to injury, I was able to sing up to a Bb4 reliably in mix and a mix/belt - tried to avoid the belting in that top part too much though. I could graze notes higher occasionally but I wouldn't do them live onstage so I didn't count those. Falsetto is not relevant here.

Now post surgery, everything is exactly as it was up to a G4, but then when we go above that things get wonky. I can only sing above G4 comfortably on specific, more open vowels - and I have to move out of the mix I used to use and switch to more of that mix/belt.

Now - when I'm singing them on these open vowels they're coming out feeling just as strong and as easily as they used to, albeit in a different placement. The thing is when I try to sing Ab4 and above in my more pure mix, it starts becoming unstable and unreliable though which is strange.

As for the vowels - the biggest issue is the EEE sound, and even the modified "iiiihhhhh" --- think "where you long to BEEEEE" in The Music of the Night which in order to be comfortable needs to be a "to BAAAAAAAAAAAY" and again moving out of that mix into belting territory - anything that isn't more wide and open is a gamble for the rest of my voice. Even "uhhhhhhh" is a struggle, as is "ooooooh".

Now to clarify this doesn't apply to falsetto or any other part of my voice, where everything is as it should be. It is just once we hit Ab4 and above.

Basically it seems my ability to sing using my legit theatre technique into the upper register is impacted, whereas the more pop/modern stuff is intact although moving out of the mix and with vowel modification on certain words.

It has been this way since I began working on the higher stuff after the surgery, there are times I can get those other vowel sounds in those higher notes but it is very inconsistent and not too often.

Can anybody give me any insight into what may be happening here, and if it may change? Is this just part of the healing process that'll improve with time or is this what my new voice is and I'll need to adapt? My speech therapist didn't have much insight when I last met and tried to explain the issue.

I am extremely grateful for the voice I now have, this is more out of curiosity than complaining. I'll happily accept this voice after what it was like prior.

Thanks!

Did I invent this in my head? Because I distinctly remember there being a haiku video - can’t remember if they were fan submitted or not - and it was just John Cena’s name repeated over and over again. It was something like-

Cena Cena John
Cena Cena Cena John
Cena Cena John

He was like giggling thru it.

Can someone please help me find this. It’s not even that important but the fact I can’t find it now is frustrating me haha.

Hi,

I am wondering if anybody would know how one could access, or if anyone has tapes themselves, of old 'Friday Night Is Music Night' and 'Songs From The Shows' BBC Radio 2 broadcasts?

I'm specifically searching for a handful of programmes from 1984-1994 featuring the late actor/singer Martin Smith. Material of his is scarce but I have a list of his appearances on these programmes and wish to be able to find them.

If having the list of specific broadcast dates would help I could include those, particularly anyone who may have some kind of archival access.

Thank you

Hi,

I am wondering if anybody would know how one could access, or if anyone has tapes themselves, of old 'Friday Night Is Music Night' and 'Songs From The Shows' BBC Radio 2 broadcasts?

I'm specifically searching for a handful of programmes from 1984-1994 featuring the late actor/singer Martin Smith. Material of his is scarce but I have a list of his appearances on these programmes and wish to be able to find them.

If having the list of specific broadcast dates would help I could include those, particularly anyone who may have some kind of archival access.

Thank you

So grateful again for Telly Leung sharing his story and giving me the courage to have my surgery.

After seeing some comments that have irked me a bit, I wanted to take a moment to shout out Jeremy Stolle - the Phantom standby in this production that has dedicated years and years of his life to this show and continuously gets passed over for a principle slot despite being a fan favorite and inarguably a Phantom legend by now. He is as much the "established/experienced alumni" as Hugh Panaro is in this production.

The man has to be ready to go on at a moments notice and adapt seamlessly to any Christine he is put on with - again, usually with little to no preparation - while maintaining a high level of chemistry with them so the audience never knows they're not seeing a principle - something he does exquisitely. I've never seen him give less than 110%, one of his best nights I saw him in this was a night when there were multiple significant show glitches and errors, he never missed a beat and gave likely his most heartbreaking finale that I've seen him give ever - and I first saw him in 2015.

And that doesn't even begin to cover how brilliantly he slips into the comedic roles as well. His Firmin and Piangi are...they are gifts. And don't get me started on his Russian(?) M7 track.

There has not been a single dud Phantom in this production. And if there has been it sure as hell isn't Jeremy.

Give the man the respect he deserves.

That is all.

My campaign to play The Phantom in Masquerade continues.

Track was made using the orchestra from the 25th anniversary performance, as well as various sfx to approximate what is heard in person!

My campaign to play The Phantom in Masquerade continues

(The track is made up of the orchestra from the 25th anniversary concert and various sfx found online to approximate the sounds in person.)