Originally posted on October 2 2008
I can’t claim to have known him, but I saw Rob Guest perform a number of times in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. He had a beautiful, rich voice, and unlike some singers was able to act enough to be convincing in his roles. Australia has lost one of it’s leading male performers (even if he was born in New Zealand). Guest was only 57 years old, and we could have assumed that he still had many years of performing left in him. By all accounts he was as generous with his time and helping young performers as he was at captivating an audience.
I regret that now I will never be able to see him as The Wizard of Oz in Wicked. Rodney Dobson, who was also excellent in Les Mis will be taking over the role, and I’m sure he will do a good job. But it still would have been nice to see Rob Guest in the role.