David Gaschen is best known for his role as the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera and now you can hear this worldwide renowned vocalist and performer in the Christmas performance, He Rules the World.
At the age of 26, David was the youngest Phantom to be cast and now holds the distinguished honor of having performed the role of the Phantom well over 1,300 times globally. Bringing his talents, and having coached many others to follow in his footsteps, Gaschen joins this rock concert that passionately brings to life the true meaning of Christmas through electrifying melodies and heartfelt lyrics along with conveying animations.
We sat down with Gaschen to learn more about his involvement sharing the story of Christmas and a message of joy, unity, and redemption that resonates with all hearts.
Interviewed for Family Entourage
Family Entourage: I was so excited when I first heard about He Rules the World and how fantastic it cab be for families or for anyone to go. So talk to me a little bit about what it means for you to be part of this new production.
FE: You have such an amazing background and The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorites. I feel like a lot of introductions, so to speak to Broadway and so forth, is through that show. Talk to me about the vocal chops it takes to do that, and then being able to use your gift in another arena.
David Gaschen: Well, it is truly an honor. I’ve done so many shows, different shows that really weren’t Christian based at all. I wouldn’t call the Phantom of the Opera Christian based, but when I got the opportunity, I was asked by Peter and Jen [executive producers] if I wanted to join the team and I said, absolutely. I’ve been waiting for something like this. Because what the world needs now is an absolute family show that actually mentions the name of Christ in a Christmas show and we don’t have that. It’s family enough to where sure it’s pop, the kids would like the music, the parents will like the music and the story. And once I saw and heard the music, I was like, I am so in. I am so in.
DG: Exactly. Phantom is an interesting show. People think as soon as you say Phantom of the Opera, you’re an opera singer, which I did train in opera at Texas Tech University, but I was never going to do opera. It was always going to be musical theater. But it’s a discipline that is, you have to treat it as though you’re almost an Olympic athlete. The discipline to keep your voice, because you only get one set of vocal chords, you don’t get a trade in like a used car. So you have to make sure it lasts. And with that training to be able to do other shows, different styles that really help because once you’ve trained to the top of opera the hardest style, it’s easier to come back down. It’s hard to train to jazz and then go up and sing in Aria. So I’ve been very fortunate. I had a wonderful voice teacher at Texas Tech and I’ve worked real hard at trying to keep my voice in and to keep it in shape to keep it going. That’s what keeps, when you have repetitive shows like Phantom, you do eight shows a week and to be able to do this, this is right back in that realm of it. When you do repetitive shows and the muscle memory just comes right back, it just comes right back.
FE: I love that He Rules the World is positioned at Christmastime. It seems like there’s something intangible about that time of year always, that creates a little bit more joy and kindness in others. But talk to me about getting to bring this show at Christmas time with that message — when maybe you could speculate and say people are more willing to receive it?
DG: The thing is that as soon as I heard it was based on Christ and based on Christmas of what Christmas actually is, as opposed to gifts and lights and everything else like that, it immerses you in what actually happened, the pain, the struggle, the different views of different people involved with the birth of Christ, the innkeeper, the angels, the shepherds, Mary Joseph. And to be able to spread that, especially in the time that we’re living now, it’s difficult to try to tell people about Christ because there’s no gray area there either they don’t like you at all or they’re all in. And as time has progressed to be able to lay this in front of them with beautiful music and fun music and a good story, you just hope one person in the audience sees it and says, now I know I’m going to believe. And that’s the goal of the whole cast is to say, just get, if one person has never seen this and they get to see it and they come to Christ, that’s really all that matters.
FE: I love live theater. I think there’s something so different in the way that you’re able to connect with an audience when you are sitting there. And I can only imagine what that is like as talent as a performer. Talk to me about how those kind of work together for you.
DG: Live theater is great. I run a voice studio now as well as doing live performances. But the energy that when you give off the energy and they send the energy back from the audience, there’s no high like that ever in the world. And especially when you’re sending off the energy of a wonderful story, the best story ever told. Right? The best story that’s ever been. And to see their faces. See, I’m one of those actors, I like to see the people’s reaction. I react off of that. But to see their reactions, to see of all the lights of the whole thing, and then to be able to tell them the story. The goal is to tell them the story, not just have ’em enjoy the music, but to have them really know the meaning of the words. And to have that, it’s an adrenaline rush every time. Just the one song we did for you earlier, I was like, I had to calm down. I made him turn on the air conditioner. My adrenaline was pumping. And it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to share what God gave me and give him the glory and people enjoy it.
FE: Well, and maybe on a final note, family is so important and it is something that is that we try to curate things that we can always all do together. You said you’re a father. Maybe just speak to the show, being able to be something that families can all do together at any age.
DG: Absolutely. I mean, I have a college graduate and I have a college going to be a sophomore. And those kids loved it. A couple of years ago when we first performed this, I took my kids and they loved it. They’re like, we’d never heard that type of music using old hymns. And they thought, oh gosh, it’s going to be old hymns. Well, they are old hymns, but it totally reimagined old hymns. They were in shock that their father actually singing rock music. And to be able to take a family to that, to be able to take them together and see what you’ve been trying to tell them their whole life, it’s like being a dad. The kids won’t believe me necessarily, but if their coach said something or a friend said something, the exact same thing, they believe you. Right? And it’s great to see their reactions that my wife said when they were standing. They were just sitting there going, this is unbelievable. And that’s what it’s all about because we’re missing family, we’re missing traditional family values, and hopefully these types of things will turn it around.
Get your tickets now for He Rules the World
