7 replies to this topic

[bradyrands]

Hey everyone!

Sort of new here. I made this topic to discuss the sadly forgotten West End performer, Martin Smith, who died in 1994 and was very popular in the time before his death.

He played many roles, including Marius and Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, Stine in City Of Angels, Che in Evita, and the Phantom in The Phantom Of the Opera for an incredibly brief period at the end of 1989. He was also on countless cast recordings for shows, and released a solo album a year before his death entitled "Martin Smith & A Handful Of Keys".

I run a website dedicated to his memory:
In Memory of Martin Smith

Did anyone ever see him in any shows in the 80's/90's? Specifically I'm interested in his Phantom. He was fired due to "vocal inconsistency" after around 2 months of being with the show, and there's no currently circulating "document" of his performance other than a couple of pictures.

Great to be part of this forum

~Brady

[Daniel]

I saw Martin in The Merry Widow with Valerie Masterson at Sadlers Wells several years ago. I also have the CD of that production.

[Daniel]

Corection - it was Bitter Sweet, not Merry Widow

[dallardice]

I saw Martin in "A Swell Party", in which he performed 'Love for Sale'.  Word was that it was the first time that a man had performed that song in a West End show.  I really liked him in that so saw him again in "City of Angels" which I loved.  I didn't really follow theatre at that time so was shocked when I read about his death a year later.  I don't think his album really shows off his voice or his talent, but it's better than nothing.

[The Scorpion]

Nice idea to keep his memory alive. I may be mistaken but he didn't he have a problem with his lungs? I can't remember exactly what it was now. Something like bronchitis. I don't know if that could explain the supposed "vocal inconsistency". It's a surprising reason for asking him to leave Phantom though if true, given there have been other Phantoms lacking in the vocal department in the show's history.

[bradyrands]

The Scorpion, on 31 January 2013 - 11:42 PM, said:

Nice idea to keep his memory alive. I may be mistaken but he didn't he have a problem with his lungs? I can't remember exactly what it was now. Something like bronchitis. I don't know if that could explain the supposed "vocal inconsistency". It's a surprising reason for asking him to leave Phantom though if true, given there have been other Phantoms lacking in the vocal department in the show's history.

He didn't have any sort of lung problems, he did have AIDS but that doesn't affect voice much.
Martin Smith was untrained and Phantom was pretty much the most vocally challenging role he had taken on at that point (yes Valjean is also a difficult vocal role, but the difference is Valjean has high notes occasionally whereas Phantom you get up there and STAY up there).
So I think it just wore him out to a point where he couldn't sing it anymore each night.

At any rate, to anyone who saw him in his shows I encourage you to submit reviews or comments on his performances on the website right here:
inmemoryofmartinsmith.weebly.com/reviews--fan-memories.html

There's a forum at the bottom you can fill out, and I will take care of publishing it onto the site!

Thanks,

~Brady

[lilyrose]

I saw him in Children of Eden and Cityof Angels.  If you want some photos of him in Children of Eden then I ahve a site for the show at http://www.lilyrose.org/londpix.html

[ABowlerHat]

bradyrands, on 06 February 2013 - 09:45 PM, said:

(yes Valjean is also a difficult vocal role, but the difference is Valjean has high notes occasionally whereas Phantom you get up there and STAY up there).

Not entirely true.