A theatrical legend replies

George Lee Andrews

Reference Date: January 9th









I've seen "Phantom of the Opera" on Broadway about seven times since it opened in January 1988. Through more than 7,500 performances (A Broadway record, not to be broken for a long time)there have been just a handful of actors who can say they have been with the show the entire time. The most visible cast member with such longevity is George Lee Andrews, who has spent most of his time playing one of the new opera house managers, Richard Firmin or Gilles André. (He spent nearly 11 years in the former, and began playing the latter in 2001.)

I wrote to him on the night of the record breaking performance in January, and finally got a reply by email. Here is the copy:

Hi Chris,

I'm finally getting back to you, to say thanks for your nice letter to
me in January.

An elephant never forgets.

You asked for words of advice.
The only thing I would say is...

sing every day - sing along with people who's voice you really like.

Work as much as you can, wherever you can. That's how you grow - doing
it every night - improving each night.

Enjoy life, don't worry, be happy.

Have a great summer.

Sincerely,

George Lee Andrews

I sent him a thank you email the next day.