Ben Crawford as The Phantom - 2nd Performance vs. Final Performance Comparison

This is a remake of a video that I made and posted a couple of months back comparing the way Ben Crawford sounded in 2018 vs. 2023.

This time around I used the earliest recording of Ben that is currently circulating, which comes from his second ever performance in the role on April 17, 2018 - and comparing it to the most recent recording of Ben from his final performance on the evening of April 1, 2023.

The audio quality of the 2018 recording is cleaner this time around - all the same moments that were compared in the previous video are used here. I still find the way his voice completely changed to sounding like a completely different person fascinating, and I mean none of that in a negative way as both are entirely valid vocal approaches to the role. But its really cool to compare, you know?

Anyway enjoy!

[lesmiserablesfantome-ygood]

Since I’ve seen some folks mentioning this I’d like to say for whatever it’s worth that the way Ben sounds in the final performance recording is pretty much how he sounded at all the performances of his that I saw this year, which was 17 total from February to April. In fact that was likely one of his strongest nights I’d heard from him vocally. He doesn’t sound so different there just as a result of the unfortunate condition his vocal cords began to suffer - his voice had started to sound significantly different long before April. You can see my previous 2018 vs. 2023 video if you’d like to hear some clips from an audio from earlier in the year

[ey]

He has such a rich and wide baritone voice. I am sorry that he had to push that weird prononciation because the make up caused tension on his muscle. I hope he could recover soon and get back to stage.

[PhantomOperaWickedTheaterPhan]

Ben sounds AMAZING in both versions. I like his final performance more. He sounds magnificent in both 2018 and 2023, but I think he was more fluid in 2023, even though he had/has his vocal health issues. He’s my favorite Phantom

[王一一-sy]

It's obvious his voice deteriorated due to those reasons he mentioned on Reddit, wishing Ben a speedy recovery🥲

[BCSFDC]

He sounds awesome in the 2018 version. Definitely has a different resonance in his voice now. Is there a full audio recording of the 2018 performance? I’d love to hear it.

[JamesOttman]

Down once more to the darkness deep as

[M_JW]

I saw Phantom for the first time on January 10, 2023. And prior to that point the only other phantoms I had heard were Ramin and Michael (Because they both had cast recordings, though Ramin’s was a live performance). My expectations were high, and I didn’t even notice the weird vowel until Wandering Child. That’s when I realized he was turning “you” into “yew”, etc. I saw it on April 15, as well, the true final performance which wasn’t handled by a crappy lottery. Laird was absolutely fantastic, but Ben’s weird vowel will always give me the most nostalgia out of any phantom I’ve heard.

[AtMyHappyPlace]

While it sounds different between the years a bit he sounds wonderful, and truly excels in the role and was outstanding both times I saw him post-Covid. This recent performance someone shared sounds beautiful to me.

[ShadowDuelist]

I prefer his performance from 2018 by far!

[natekrieger]

He had a bacterial infection on his vocal cords.

[Alexia]

As far as I know he had a serious problem with his voice...

[MattTexas]

I’m honestly surprised they kept him in the show after the lockdown. His voice had clearly changed, and not for the better regarding this score. I’m not trying to be rude, but there’s a standard to be met with that role.