Rebecca Luker Kevin Gray Debuts Hugh Panaro PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Playbill 1990

Description

Phantom of the Opera Playbill December 1990 Rebecca Luker and Kevin Gray in their Broadway debuts in the leads.  Also featuring  Hugh Panaro
100 pages
This was the Broadway beginnings of
Rebecca Luker and Kevin Gray,
two massive theatrical and musical talents that were as gifted as they were wonderful human beings.  Sadly, we have lost these two great stage stars way too soon (Kevin in 2013 and Rebecca this past December), but memories of their brilliant performances will last as long as we share stories about them.
Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rebecca Luker
(April 17, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and recording artist noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three decade long career.
The New York Times
compared her to actresses such as Barbara Cook and Julie Andrews.
She was nominated for three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Drama Desk Awards.
Luker's Broadway debut was in
The Phantom of the Opera
in the role of Christine (1988–91). She was originally an understudy for principal actress Sarah Brightman and her alternate Patti Cohenour. Luker later took over the role after Brightman and Cohenour left the show. Subsequent Broadway roles include Lily in
The Secret Garden
(1991–93),
Magnolia in
Show Boat
(1994–97,
the first actress to be nominated for a Tony Award for this role), Maria in
The Sound of Music
(1998–99),
Marian in
The Music Man
(2000–2001), and Claudia in
Nine
(2003).
She played the role of Mrs. Banks in
Mary Poppins
from 2006 to 2010.
She later replaced Victoria Clark as Crazy Marie/the Fairy Godmother in the Broadway production of
Cinderella
for an engagement that lasted from September 2013 to January 2014.
Luker joined the cast of
Fun Home
at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, temporarily assuming the role of Helen Bechdel from April 5, 2016 to May 22, 2016.
On February 9, 2020, Luker announced that she was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), having been diagnosed in late 2019.
In June 2020, she could still sing, as she hosted a livestreamed benefit for ALS.
However, in October, she said she had been using a wheelchair for seven months, and the disease had progressed to the point where she had "no diaphragm," thus could not speak loudly.
In April 2020, Burstein contracted the pandemic virus (along with several other cast members of
Moulin Rouge!
, in which he was starring). He was hospitalized at St. Luke's in Manhattan and recovered. Following his ordeal, Burstein wrote an account of it that was published in
The Hollywood Reporter
. Toward the end of that article, Burstein wrote "while I'm getting better, Rebecca has started dealing with the virus as well now. She's not been tested, but has all the symptoms to varying degrees. We are monitoring her closely."
Fortunately, Luker ended up having a much milder case than her husband.
Luker died of ALS at a hospital in Manhattan on December 23, 2020 at age 59
Kevin Gray
(February 25, 1958 – February 11, 2013) was an American actor who worked primarily in musical theater.
Gray, a graduate of Duke University,
played Kayama in the 1985 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's
Pacific Overtures
.
He was the youngest actor to play the title role in
The Phantom of the Opera
on Broadway and in the U.S. national tour,
and received The Carbonell Award for his portrayal.
Gray played the King of Siam in the 1996 Broadway revival of
The King and I
,
and in the UK touring production. He played Pontius Pilate in the revival of
Jesus Christ Superstar
and Gaylord Ravenal in Harold Prince's production of
Show Boat
.
He also performed in productions of the Portland Stage Company, Boston Shakespeare Company, Stonington Shakespeare Company, The MUNY, and The Mount Gretna Playhouse.
Gray died suddenly of a heart attack on February 11, 2013, fourteen days away from his 55th birthday, and is survived by his wife Dodie Pettit.