Christine's Shadow

John Cudia is one of the few actors to have played both Jean Valjean and the Phantom on Broadway. Born in North Carolina, his first role on Broadway was in Les Miserables, and from there he went to play many of the leads, including Jean Valjean (as mentioned above). His first experience with Phantom was as a swing in touring production, and eventually landed the role of Raoul permanently. He also met his wife, Kathy Voytko, while on tour as she was playing Christine. His current playbill bio:

Starting the discussion.

Loved his Phantom so much I saw it 3 times in Toronto while the Tour was here. Such a lovely person and his Phantom was just so real. I wish I could have seen him as Raoul, though there are clips here and there. Overall, just a completely wonderful performer, and I'm extremely excited for him to be taking over as the Phantom on Broadway.

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IamErik771

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Ubaldo Piangi

I had the fortunate/unfortunate pleasure of meeting John when he stopped by in my hometown to sing at his aunt's funeral Mass, after she had passed away from a long, courageous battle with breast cancer.

I was with the choir members in the corral, and all the time I had seen him I had no idea that we had John Cudia with us until after he sang Schubert's "Ave Maria" beautifully, while three of his aunt's younger relatives (all girls) each brought a bouquet of white flowers tied with blue ribbon to the altar by the statue of the Virgin Mary. Our pastor, one of three Franciscan friars who staff the parish, mentioned his name; when I heard it, at first I thought, "No...it can't possibly be him."

After the Mass had ended and John's aunt's body was being brought out of the church building, he came past the corral on the outside and I happened to catch his attention. I asked him if he's been on Broadway, and he said yes, he is!

It was a rather sad occasion at which I met him, since he buried his aunt that day, but I left with a sort of glow-y feeling afterwards. When I left the repast lunch, he thanked me for my condolences and said, "Keep singing." He's a stand-out guy, and he obviously has a lot of heart that he took the time to come sing at his aunt's funeral.

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An Original Gentleman|Sorrow|Man of Steel||Villainous|Regency Elegance

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Eriklover

oh man were do i start! i saw his 1st performance at the Majestic yesterday and wow! he was just amasing! he did these little things that made The Phantom so real and just amasing! and his voice is just awesome! his Final Lair was justtt wow! he made me cry (witch is a good thing cause i think if a Phantom makes you cry then hes a really good one). hes also a sweetheart in person i was lucky enough to actruly find the backstage and get some cast to sigh my playbill.but he was just amasing! i would definatly see him again! he is now my favorite Phantom (sorry Howard i still love you though :))

The Countess

I'm glad you liked him. John is a fabulous Phantom and a fitting replacement for Howard, but no one will ever truely replace Howard in my eyes. Still, he's absolutly suberb (I saw him in Philly).

I hope to see Phantom for my Christmas present this year. Yay for John!

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That Girl in the Phantom Costume

Edith

I saw John Cudia as Erik on broadway last year on December something. He was my very first phantom and he did a marvelous job! John introduced me into the world of the Phantom of the Opera and I love him for that!

I hope to see him again one day for he was superb! Though I have only seen him once so I have not much to say about this Phantom today but one day I will givie my full critique--I will!
But I know however my critique will end I will still love John for many reasons I have yet to state! The main being:
He introduced me into the dark, wonderful, tragec, love story and seductive world of TPOTO.