Laird Mackintosh (born in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian actor based in New York City. He notably played the title role for the last performance of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.[1]

Career

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Mackintosh began his career as a dancer in the National Ballet of Canada (1990-1992). He studied at L'Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec (Montreal), American Ballet Theatre's School of Classical Ballet in New York City and The National Ballet School in Toronto.

In 1993 he joined the Toronto (LivEnt) production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in the role of Porter/Marksman and subsequently went on to play the leading role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny for three years and also to understudy the role of the Phantom.[2]

He performed with Toronto's Opera Atelier between 1997 and 2002. In 2002, Mackintosh joined the company of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival appearing as Freddy Eynesford-Hill in My Fair Lady. He remained with the company for eight seasons, playing many leading roles. He has also played Robert in The Drowsy Chaperone (Vancouver), Phil Davis in White Christmas (Halifax), Prince Charming in Ross Petty's Cinderella (Toronto), Gustl in The Land of Smiles, Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Woods (Avon Theatre), and Algernon Moncrieff in Earnest, the Importance of Being (Toronto Operetta Theatre).

He made his Broadway debut in 2011 in the role of George Banks in Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City.

He played Nicky Goldberg in the independent film Songbird directed by Alex Boothby, Don Giovanni in Avenging Angelo (Sylvester Stallone/Warner Bros.), Young Anwyn Noble in Prince Charming (Martin Short/Hallmark) and Bob Kachler in Rad (Lori Loughlin/Taliafilm).

He played Gabriel John Utterson in the 2013 Broadway revival of Jekyll & Hyde and James Wilson in the 2016 Encores! production of 1776.

On 26 August 2013, Mackintosh joined the Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera as Monsieur André and an understudy for The Phantom. On 5 May 2014, he started a one-week limited engagement as the Phantom between Hugh Panaro's departure and Norm Lewis' arrival. He concluded his limited run as the Phantom on 12 May. He also had limited runs as the Phantom from 25 December 2017 – 13 January 2018 (In between James Barbour's departure and Peter Joback's arrival) and from 2 – 14 April 2018 (In between Joback's departure and Ben Crawford's arrival). He continued to play Monsieur André until September 2019 when he left the production. He temporarily returned to the production in October 2022 as a Phantom cover, then again from January–March in 2023, covering the roles of Monsieur Lefèvre/Firechief and understudying the role of the Phantom. He returned to the role for a charity performance on 14 April 2023, and he also played the role for the final two performances on 15 and 16 April 2023 while Ben Crawford was sick. This meant he became the last person to play the Phantom in the Original Broadway Production.[1]

In December 2019, he joined the U.S. tour of My Fair Lady in the role of Henry Higgins.[3]

Stage credits

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[4][5][6]

Year(s) Production Role Notes
1993-1994 The Phantom of the Opera Porter / Marksman Canada
1995-1999 Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

2002 My Fair Lady Freddy Eynesford-Hill Stratford Festival
The Threepenny Opera Reverend Kimball
2003 Gigi Manuel
Love's Labour's Lostc Lord
2004 Anything Goes Lord Evelyn Oakleigh
2005 Into the Woods Rapunzel's Prince
Hello Dolly! Cornelius Hackl
2007 To Kill A Mockingbird Arthur "Boo" Radley
2008 The Music Man Ewart Dunlop / Travelling Salesman
2009-2010 Mary Poppins Policeman / Ensemble

u/s Bert
u/s George Banks
u/s Northbrook
u/s Park Keeper

North American tour
2010-2011 George Banks
2011 Broadway
2011-2012 North American tour
2012-2013 Jekyll & Hyde Gabriel John Utterson US National Tour
2013 Broadway
2013-2014 The Phantom of the Opera Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

2014 The Phantom of the Opera
2014-2016 Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

2016 1776 James Wilson Off-Broadway
Encores!
2016-2017 The Phantom of the Opera Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

Broadway
2017-2018 The Phantom of the Opera
2018 Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera
Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

Titanic J. Bruce Ismay Regional
2018-2019 The Phantom of the Opera Monsieur Gilles André

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

Broadway
2019-2020 My Fair Lady Professor Henry Higgins US National Tour
2021-2022
2023 The Phantom of the Opera Monsieur Lefèvre / Firechief

u/s The Phantom of the Opera

Broadway
The Phantom of the Opera

References

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  1. ^ a b Laird Mackintosh Will Play Phantom of the Opera's Final Broadway Performance; Principal Ben Crawford Sidelined
  2. ^ https://playbill.com/article/im-really-speechless-laird-mackintosh-reacts-to-being-the-final-phantom-of-the-opera [bare URL]
  3. ^ "Interview: My Fair Lady's Laird Mackintosh on bringing the classic musical across the country". 7 July 2022.
  4. ^ AboutTheArtists
  5. ^ Playbill
  6. ^ IBDB
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