Parcel Arrived Safely

Like Noel Coward, Crawford has a talent to amuse - though in the performing rather than creative sense. Add to this warm, wide, friendly smile, a good voice and the skill (acquired by determination and considerable courage) to execute his own hazardous stunts, and you have a unique all-round theatrical performer - one obviously destined for fame. It was to be a journey that would carry the unknown lad from Kent's Isle of Sheppey (on the very edge of England, where it meets the North Sea) by way of television's 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave' Em' to the starriest theatres of London and America, as the athletic lead-player in 'Barnum', and virtuoso of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's record-breaking 'Phantom of the Opera'. It wasn't of course all smooth sailing, and inevitably the very demanding roles, and the adulation they brought, exacted their toll. While the crowds roared their approval and adoration, cracks began to appear in Crawford's happy family life. It was a hardprice to pay, and behind the public popularity it isn't difficult to guess at a core of well-disguised loneliness. A not unusual theatrical story - of highs and lows, disappointments, triumphs, emotional mistakes and thespian togetherness; but told here by the man himself with ingenuous charm, honesty, gratitude to all those who helped, and taught him his craft - and a kind of awe at his incredible luck. (Kirkus UK)