Ethan, you did the role of the Phantom nearly 1000 times. Not in a row but always for a long run. And not only in three different theaters but in three different countries ( Vienna, Austria - London, England - Toronto, Canada ). Anyway - where can you get the motivation to do a show every day again and again while maintaining - for which you are best known - a good quality of performance?

Surely it's my job: When I accept a role, I have to show it to the audience in optimal quaility. Every day if possible. Of course we are all just human beings and we have our better and our worse days ... but as an actor you should be able to leave your personal problems, your trouble or simply your daily mood at the stage door when entering the theater. Then you can match yourself step by step with the personality you have to characterize on stage. Thank God I've been lucky so far with my engagements in long run productions, where my roles were always very interesting personalites so it never got boring. You can find new sides of the character each day and then you can play them out. In the special case of the Phantom, it was exciting for me to experience how do I do it as a 29-year-old, then as 35-year-old and finally as 38-year-old man. As I personally developed, the Phantom could develop with me. It's my duty to the arts to do a role just as long as I can fill it with life and it's a challange for me as singer and/or actor. Otherwise your performance won't satisfy the audience. I always try to make the best out of my daily shape and to give everything I can give. I always try to please the audience, those who are seeing the show for the very first time as well as those who have seen it twenty times or more.

Seems like you are close to giving up your own personality with that job. How do you save yourself and your private life?

I'm trying to be critical with my self and to keep myself honest about my performance and to myself. That means that you always have to talk to yourself and to go inside yourself. I can only be internally at rest when I'm pleased with what I've done, so it can't harm me when I often "switch personalities". Definitely you should pay attention to the ears and eyes around you as well, but I think you can be lucky to have just a few really good advisors around you. Then you have reached a balance of friendships and advice.

Once more back to the Phantom ... you had the experience of doing this role in three different countries. Could you notice some differences between the artists and the audiences?

Definitely, each production, as every country and every audience had some specialties. But after all I was fortunate to have positive experiences everywhere. I always felt respected and appreciated as an artist. Okay, the experience I had in Toronto was something very special and a special highlight of my life. I was treated like a Hollywood star with a limousine and stuff...

What do you think about the fact that many productions have a cast where the artists are nearly the same age and also almost look identical. I miss some individualists...

Yeah, that's a pity if they only present one age and one look. It's a pity for my young colleages who have no time for personal development and it's mostly a pity for the audience. Imagine, during your life, your experiences and your knowledge grow, and so your potential grows as well, and you have a great depth that you can create a role with. There's no use in only playing a role. On stage this role must appear as absolute reality. The best thing is when you can make the audience believe that they can read the character's mind. It's the same with an artist, you know. If he only has a small number of colours on his plate, the portrait he is painting appears lifeless. But the more colours he has, the more details he can put into his painting. A lot of things are necessary to make your character not 3 dimensional, but 8 dimensional.

As Leopold Mozart, Ethan Freeman proves that he means what he says. As Mozart's father, you can feel his pride and how he is internally torn apart when he needs to let his son leave. You can feel his coldness and sometimes the love for his son. He plays his role as convincingly as we saw him in Jekyll & Hyde. There, his acting was full of nuances and very exciting. Most impressive was that he never pulled a strong line to seperate the monster from the doctor. In the audience I could feel the seed in Dr. Jekyll which grew with the transformation to Mr. Hyde. That makes the evening not 3 dimensional, but 8 dimensional.