Merman's star power lifts 'Phantom' By Sandy MacDonald
In the Gold Dust Ophans' "Phantom of the Oprah," Varla Jean Merman is very much front and center - and brilliant - as ingenue soprano Christine Daaé.
Today is Wednesday, August 19, 2026 Broadway Baby Birthdays: Erika Christensen Tracie Thoms Kyra Sedgwick John Stamos Adam Arkin Peter Gallagher José Fernández William Mastrosimone Fred Dalton Thompson Vanya Franck Michael Dyne Mel Reed Joan Peers Barry Kelley Claude Dauphin Muriel Kirkland Ogden Nash Kenneth MacKenna John C. Wilson Olga Baklanova Elsie Ferguson Fred Stone William Burress Lawrence D'Orsay John Deacon Gerald McRaney Paul Ukena Frank Thompson Floyd Huddleston