Patrick Leveque grew up in Mill Valley, California. He performed in several
regional productions in the San Francisco area, they include: “Into the Woods,”
“Lady in the Dark,” “Camelot,” “Victor Victoria,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and
“Oklahoma!” He has also performed as a soloist at Davies Symphony Hall.
He has a BA in Theater and in Music from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara,
California. He holds a Masters in Music from the Conservatory of Music in San
Francisco, California.
Leveque is currently the Hairdresser/Marksman in the Las Vegas production of
“Phantom” and also understudies the role of Raoul, Viscount de Chagny.
We were very fortunate to have been in the audience for one of his first
performances of Raoul in ‘Phantom.” We thought, “What a great performer.” I set
out to find out about this young man as I feel he is one of theatre’s up-and-coming
young artists. I hope that we see more of him in Las Vegas, or wherever he goes
in the future. His voice kept us wanting more, and he seemed very at ease in the
role of Raoul. I decided to see if this young actor would like to have a chat with
me about his career, his future plans and other things that brought him to Las
Vegas.
CW: Welcome to Las Vegas Patrick, I hope you stay awhile and we can see more of
you in the future. You seemed so at ease in the role, one would have thought you
were doing it for a long time. I later found out that was your first time performing
the role on stage before an audience.
PL: Thank you.
CW: How did you get into performing?
PL: I got into performing, because at the age of 6 I started the piano. After I
stopped practicing piano, on a regular basis, in high school I started singing in
school musicals.
CW: How did you get into this show?
PL: By auditioning at the open call in Burbank, California
CW: Do you enjoy working in “Phantom“? What is it like working in this show?
PL: Yes, I enjoy working on “Phantom” very much. I grew up with this show and it
is one of the reasons that I was interested in musical theater. Working on this
new version in particular is very exciting and the cast and crew are wonderful...
like a family.
CW: When did you see “Phantom,” and where?
PL: I saw Phantom the first time in San Francisco about 10 years ago. Then I saw it
again in New York City (on Broadway) in February 2005.
CW: I always wondered what it was like being an understudy. Not only do you have
to learn your regular role, but that of the person you understudy. Then you must
be ready to take over the lead’s role, sometimes at a moments notice. Can you
give us some insight into what that is like? Also, what problems have you had
when going in for lead if any?
PL: Being an understudy is hard. One has to learn their regular show and at a
moments notice switch to another role. For me it has been a tremendous learning
experience. I am not a person who "multi-tasks" especially well. So this has been
a wonderful challenge. With the role of Raoul in this production the most difficult
things for me to learn have primarily involved getting used to technical elements
that do not exist in my regular roles in the show.
CW: What problems did you encounter in learning the role of Raoul?
PL: There were no major problems learning the role of Raoul...just a few technical
elements to get accustomed to...the cage, the fireworks and the jump.
CW: The cage of course is not in the other productions of “Phantom.” Is it a tight
fit in the cage, it seemed to be for you, as you seem a little bigger than Tim Martin
Gleason?
PL: When the knives come out it is a tight fit for all of us. Yes, I am a little bigger
than Tim. He is about a ½ an inch taller than I am, but I am bigger.
CW: Do the fireworks bother you? I know they bother my eyes.
PL: The fireworks are fun, but they demand respect when you are onstage.
Sometimes we can be left to face the pyro dust on stage, which is never easy on
the eyes or the voice. Our fireworks crew is truly the best.
CW: When you jump off the bridge is that a hard stunt?
PL: The jump off the bridge just takes some getting used to. Ben (the other
understudy) and I had about a month of getting acclimated to it's full height and
we would start from the ground up going one foot at a time until we got used to
the jump's full height.
CW: Can you tell us what the full height of the jump is? It also seemed you jumped
from a higher point than other actors in the role of Raoul. You took a different
dive off the bridge. Could you explain why you did that or was it a suggestion from
the director/stunt coordinator?
PL: I believe that the full height of the jump from bridge to crash pad is around 10
feet. I do it differently from Tim because he learned his dive on The National Tour
and I learned mine from our Stunt Coordinator Eric Braun and our Stage Manager
Ray Gin.
regional productions in the San Francisco area, they include: “Into the Woods,”
“Lady in the Dark,” “Camelot,” “Victor Victoria,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” and
“Oklahoma!” He has also performed as a soloist at Davies Symphony Hall.
He has a BA in Theater and in Music from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara,
California. He holds a Masters in Music from the Conservatory of Music in San
Francisco, California.
Leveque is currently the Hairdresser/Marksman in the Las Vegas production of
“Phantom” and also understudies the role of Raoul, Viscount de Chagny.
We were very fortunate to have been in the audience for one of his first
performances of Raoul in ‘Phantom.” We thought, “What a great performer.” I set
out to find out about this young man as I feel he is one of theatre’s up-and-coming
young artists. I hope that we see more of him in Las Vegas, or wherever he goes
in the future. His voice kept us wanting more, and he seemed very at ease in the
role of Raoul. I decided to see if this young actor would like to have a chat with
me about his career, his future plans and other things that brought him to Las
Vegas.
CW: Welcome to Las Vegas Patrick, I hope you stay awhile and we can see more of
you in the future. You seemed so at ease in the role, one would have thought you
were doing it for a long time. I later found out that was your first time performing
the role on stage before an audience.
PL: Thank you.
CW: How did you get into performing?
PL: I got into performing, because at the age of 6 I started the piano. After I
stopped practicing piano, on a regular basis, in high school I started singing in
school musicals.
CW: How did you get into this show?
PL: By auditioning at the open call in Burbank, California
CW: Do you enjoy working in “Phantom“? What is it like working in this show?
PL: Yes, I enjoy working on “Phantom” very much. I grew up with this show and it
is one of the reasons that I was interested in musical theater. Working on this
new version in particular is very exciting and the cast and crew are wonderful...
like a family.
CW: When did you see “Phantom,” and where?
PL: I saw Phantom the first time in San Francisco about 10 years ago. Then I saw it
again in New York City (on Broadway) in February 2005.
CW: I always wondered what it was like being an understudy. Not only do you have
to learn your regular role, but that of the person you understudy. Then you must
be ready to take over the lead’s role, sometimes at a moments notice. Can you
give us some insight into what that is like? Also, what problems have you had
when going in for lead if any?
PL: Being an understudy is hard. One has to learn their regular show and at a
moments notice switch to another role. For me it has been a tremendous learning
experience. I am not a person who "multi-tasks" especially well. So this has been
a wonderful challenge. With the role of Raoul in this production the most difficult
things for me to learn have primarily involved getting used to technical elements
that do not exist in my regular roles in the show.
CW: What problems did you encounter in learning the role of Raoul?
PL: There were no major problems learning the role of Raoul...just a few technical
elements to get accustomed to...the cage, the fireworks and the jump.
CW: The cage of course is not in the other productions of “Phantom.” Is it a tight
fit in the cage, it seemed to be for you, as you seem a little bigger than Tim Martin
Gleason?
PL: When the knives come out it is a tight fit for all of us. Yes, I am a little bigger
than Tim. He is about a ½ an inch taller than I am, but I am bigger.
CW: Do the fireworks bother you? I know they bother my eyes.
PL: The fireworks are fun, but they demand respect when you are onstage.
Sometimes we can be left to face the pyro dust on stage, which is never easy on
the eyes or the voice. Our fireworks crew is truly the best.
CW: When you jump off the bridge is that a hard stunt?
PL: The jump off the bridge just takes some getting used to. Ben (the other
understudy) and I had about a month of getting acclimated to it's full height and
we would start from the ground up going one foot at a time until we got used to
the jump's full height.
CW: Can you tell us what the full height of the jump is? It also seemed you jumped
from a higher point than other actors in the role of Raoul. You took a different
dive off the bridge. Could you explain why you did that or was it a suggestion from
the director/stunt coordinator?
PL: I believe that the full height of the jump from bridge to crash pad is around 10
feet. I do it differently from Tim because he learned his dive on The National Tour
and I learned mine from our Stunt Coordinator Eric Braun and our Stage Manager
Ray Gin.
Vegas' Arts & Entertainment Corner
| Interview with Patrick Leveque in Andrew Lloyd Webber's “Phantom The Las Vegas Spectacular” |
Interview by Carolyn Weaver
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