Davis Gaines
Davis Gaines is an American stage actor and baritone. He has performed as The Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera over 2,000 times, on Broadway, on tour, in Los Angeles, and in San Francisco. He won the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor. He performed the role for a Phantom segment for the Kennedy Center Honors in 1994.
He originated the lead role of The Man in Whistle Down the Wind. Gaines was also the singing voice of Chamberlain in The Swan Princess. He guested in "Murder in White", a 1993 episode of Murder, She Wrote. He was also a musical guest star for Broadway on Ice, a touring ice show with live music. Gaines played the role of Anthony Hope in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in concert, alongside George Hearn as Todd, Patti LuPone as Lovett, Timothy Nolen as Turpin, and Neil Patrick Harris as Tobias. He has since reprised the role of Anthony in numerous productions. He also played the Old Confederate Soldier and Judge Roan in Parade at the Lincoln Center in 2015.
He's also known for his performances in regional productions of Les Misérables, Parade, Damn Yankees, and Hello, Dolly!. He received an Ovation Award for his performance in the role of Don Quixote / Miguel de Cervantes in Man of La Mancha. He was also in the original Off-Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins as an understudy for the roles of the Balladeer and Charles Guiteau. In 2000, he was in a concert version of The Frogs opposite Nathan Lane and Brian Stokes Mitchell at the Library of Congress.
One of his first jobs was as a costumed character at Walt Disney World theme park; as a high school student, he played Pinocchio character J. Worthington Foulfellow.
Stage credits
Sources:| Year | Title | Role | Location | Notes |
| 1979 | The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas | Cowboy / Dogette / Aggie / Photographer / Governor's Aide | - | US National Tour |
| 1980 | Camelot | Sir Lionel's Squire / Ensemble | New York State Theatre | Broadway |
| 1981 | Camelot | Sir Lionel's Squire | - | US National Tour |
| 1981 | Camelot | Sir Sagramore's Squire | - | US National Tour |
| 1982 | The Death of von Richthofen as Witnessed from Earth | Member of The Flying Circus u/s R. Raymond-Barker | The Public Theater | Off-Broadway |
| 1983 | Hello, Dolly! | Cornelius Hackl | - | US National Tour |
| 1984 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Joseph | Paper Mill Playhouse | |
| 1984 | Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Joseph | Westport Country Playhouse | |
| 1985 | Guys and Dolls | Sky Masterson | Seattle Repertory Theatre | |
| 1985 | Cabaret | Clifford Bradshaw | Darien Dinner Theatre | |
| 1986 | Hello, Dolly! | Cornelius Hackl | Heinz Hall | |
| 1986 | Camelot | Sir Lancelot du Lac | Garde Arts Center | |
| 1986 | The New Moon | Robert Mission | New York City Opera | Alternate |
| 1986 | Damn Yankees | Joe Hardy | Paper Mill Playhouse | |
| 1988 | Damn Yankees | Joe Hardy | Royal Alexandra Theatre | |
| 1988 | Arsenic and Old Lace | Mortimer Brewster | Hart House Theatre | |
| 1989 | Company | Robert | Birmingham Theatre | |
| 1989 | She Loves Me | Steven Kodaly | Lillie Blake School | |
| 1989 | Show Boat | Gaylord Ravenal | Minnesota Opera | |
| 1989 | West Side Story | Tony | North Shore Music Theatre | |
| 1990 | Carousel | Billy Bigelow | North Shore Music Theatre | |
| 1990 | The Phantom of the Opera | Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny | Majestic Theatre | Broadway |
| 1990-1991 | Assassins | u/s The Balladeer u/s Charles Guiteau | Playwrights Horizons | Off-Broadway |
| 1991-1994 | The Phantom of the Opera | The Phantom of the Opera | - | US National Tour |
| 1994-1996 | The Phantom of the Opera | The Phantom of the Opera | Majestic Theatre | Broadway |
| 1995 | Pippin | Pippin | Majestic Theatre | Broadway |
| 1996-1997 | Whistle Down the Wind | The Man | National Theatre | |
| 1997 | The Boys from Syracuse | Antipholus of Syracuse | New York City Center | Off-Broadway Encores! |
| 1998 | The Phantom of the Opera | The Phantom of the Opera | - | US National Tour |
| 1999 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope | Ahmanson Theatre | Concert |
| 2000 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope | Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre | Concert |
| 2000 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope | Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center | The New York Philharmonic |
| 2000 | The Frogs | William Shakespeare | The Library of Congress | Concert |
| 2001 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope | San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center | Concert |
| 2001 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Anthony Hope | Ravinia Festival | Concert |
| 2009 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Sweeney Todd | Bob Carr Theater | Concert |
| 2009 | Parade | Old Confederate Soldier / Judge Leonard Roan | Mark Taper Forum | |
| 2010 | 1776 | Richard Henry Lee | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2011 | Camelot | King Arthur | Wells Fargo Pavilion | |
| 2012 | Man of La Mancha | Don Quixote / Miguel de Cervantes | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | Won an Ovation Award |
| 2012 | Monty Python's Spamalot | King Arthur | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2012 | Silence! The Musical | Dr. Hannibal Lecter | Hayworth Theatre | |
| 2013 | Mack and Mabel | Mack | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2013 | I Do! I Do! | Michael | Laguna Playhouse | |
| 2014 | The Music Man | Professor Harold Hill | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2014 | Les Misérables | Inspector Javert | Orlando Shakespeare Theater | |
| 2015 | Parade | Old Confederate Soldier / Judge Leonard Roan | Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center | Concert |
| 2015 | Les Misérables | Inspector Javert | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2016 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Lawrence Jameson | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2016 | Lend Me a Tenor | Tito Merelli | La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts | |
| 2017 | Evita | Juan Perón | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2017 | Newsies | Joseph Pulitzer | The Muny | |
| 2018 | Parade | Hugh Dorsey | Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts | |
| 2019 | Oliver! | Fagin | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2019 | Something Rotten! | Nostradamus | Carpenter Performing Arts Center | |
| 2022 | The Fantasticks | El Gallo | Orlando Shakespeare Theater |
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
Ovation Awards- 2012: Won the award for Lead Actor in a Musical for his role as Cervantes/Quixote in the Musical Theatre West production of ''Man of La Mancha''