His Role in All This? To Lead the Noble Phantom Quest

Every columnist looks for a cause, but they’re getting harder to find. All the good ones have been taken. Saving a beagle from being euthanized usually works; so does finding housing for a downtrodden family or health care for an elderly widow.

Believe it or not, even those causes have detractors. Some people argue that we have too many dogs already or that people should take care of their own problems. It’s hard to find a cause for which everyone wants to hop on the bandwagon.

I got one.

Not only have I stumbled onto the cause, but a number of readers seem to have mistaken me for its leader. For a guy who couldn’t organize an office softball team, they flatter me with talk like that.

Like many great movements, this began with an almost unnoticed act. Movie industry sources let it slip that Warner Bros. is considering casting Antonio Banderas in the lead role of the “Phantom of the Opera,” the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to which Warner has the movie rights. Banderas sang the role of Che in the movie version of Webber’s “Evita,” and it’s been reported that he wants to play the phantom too.

To “Phantom” fans who saw Michael Crawford create and then perfect the role, however, it is unthinkable that a film version would feature anyone else. Maybe Banderas could have stood in for Crawford on Broadway for a couple nights, they say, but a movie is forever. No substitutes allowed.

Two weeks ago I aired a Crawford fan’s lament about a Banderas casting. I mentioned that I too was a Crawford fan.

Just like that, I had my cause.

Thanks to the Internet and the Crawford fan club network, response came from all over the United States and several other countries. Dozens of phone calls, letters and electronic mail insisted in varying degrees that no one but Crawford play the role.

Not a dissenting vote was cast. This is a cause without a rebel.

“Thank you for joining this crusade and for anything you can do,” wrote a woman from Charlotte, N.C.

“Please continue the fight,” an e-mailer identified only as “Ceeeceee” wrote.

“Let me say I support your efforts 100%,” an unidentified e-mailer wrote. “Making this movie without Michael Crawford would be like having a beautiful flower that smells like a sewer.”

“I am writing to tell you I am behind you 100% in your campaign to stop this abomination from happening,” another woman wrote. “I have already sent a letter to Warner Bros. begging them not to embark on this fatal mistake.”

An unidentified e-mailer congratulated me: “I have been told you are helping in the quest to have Michael Crawford as the phantom in the upcoming movie. How wonderful to have someone connected with the media helping.”

“It’s good to hear that you are helping the world get rid of Banderas as the phantom,” wrote someone with the last name of “Crawford,” but who said he was not related to Michael. Another e-mail: “Do you realize that there are a lot of Michael maniacs between here, England and Australia that are counting on the power of your column to help sway Warner Bros. and [Webber’s production company] regarding the casting of Banderas as the phantom?”

“Alicia” e-mailed with this entreaty: “Please do whatever you can to help get Michael the part. I support you 100% and if there is anything I can do, like write anyone about this, just let me know and I’d be happy to do it.”

To which “Matt” added: “Just wanted to let you know that you have my support 100% in your noble quest.”

A note from “Cynthia” read: “Mr. Parsons, please accept my apology for referring to you as ‘Ms.’ in my e-mail of April 15. I hope this in no way reflects poorly on my attempt to get Mr. Crawford considered for the role of the phantom.”

Before the movement goes much further, I thought it would be helpful to see if there’s any truth to the Banderas rumor. “There’s no casting that’s firm yet,” a Warner Bros. spokeswoman told me this week. “There’s no director attached, and there are no stars attached. I know his [Banderas’] name has come up many times, but there’s nothing I can confirm for you because there is nothing final.”

When I wrote the first column a couple weeks ago, I figured it was another beagle-in-the-shelter job.

Now, I sort of hope the Banderas reports prove true. If they are, there’s a worldwide movement afoot. Thousands, perhaps millions of people will be looking for someone to lead them in this--how did the man phrase it?--yes, this “noble quest.”

Excuse me. I’ve got some thinking to do.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to dana.parsons@latimes.com