Teen Treated to $13,750 ‘Phantom’ Swan Song

Emily Willard got a special present from her father today--a 10th-row seat to Michael Crawford’s final performance as “The Phantom of the Opera” Sunday at the Ahmanson Theatre.

And it only cost Dale Willard $13,750.

Willard, chief executive officer for a Glendale-based aerospace sealant and construction firm, was high bidder on KABC Channel 7’s “A.M. Los Angeles” auction for three pairs of tickets to the sold-out matinee. Crawford initiated the auction as a benefit for two charities after hearing scalpers were asking as much as $1,550 per seat.

Willard bid $27,500 for two seats. Second was Larry Klein with $21,000, who bought the seats as a surprise for his wife. The third runners-up were Gail Frankel and Jean Raymondi, who bid $7,500.

Proceeds from the highest bid will go to Para Los Ninos, a social service agency serving homeless and transient families in Los Angeles. Proceeds from the runners up will go to Equity Fights AIDS.

Although Willard was determined to get one of the coveted pairs, it wasn’t as if Emily was going to miss out if he hadn’t bid so high. The teen-ager, who has already seen “Phantom” 30 times, already had tickets to Sunday’s show, as well as tickets for Thursday, today and Saturday.

“We hate to see Crawford leave, but we’re glad we’ll be there for his final performance,” Willard said.

So will Larry Klein, although he got in a bit of trouble when he told his wife about the surprise purchase. She screamed angrily. Then she stopped speaking to him.

But by the time Klein, an insurance and investment broker, received the tickets from Crawford during Friday’s “A.M.” show, his wife was speaking to him again. “She even told me she was proud of me,” he said, chuckling a bit.

Klein, who is also a registered representative with the production who is selling limited partnerships for the musical’s U.S. tour and its opening in Paris, had never seen the show. “The whole household has been talking about ‘Phantom’ for months, but we had given up any hope . . . It was just too difficult to get seats,” he said.

The third runners-up, Gail Frankel and Jean Raymondi, had seen the musical only two weeks ago, but had been hoping to see it again before Crawford left.

“He’s so phenomenal, so sensuous,” said Raymondi, 34, a registered nurse. “I don’t know if Robert Guilluame (who is replacing Crawford) can come up to it.”