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A thunderous standing ovation congratulated Norm Lewis as he became the first black actor to take on the title role in Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera."
The Tony Award nominee, who brought his deep and rich voice as Porgy to the recent “Porgy and Bess” revival, made his “Phantom” debut Monday night opposite a returning Sierra Boggess as Christine.
Lewis played John in “Miss Saigon” on Broadway, Javert on Broadway in “Les Miserables” in 2006 and was in the shows “Side Show,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Chicago” and “Sondheim on Sondheim.” Lewis is the first black Phantom on Broadway, though Robert Guillaume played the role in the Los Angeles production in 1990. Lewis’ debut in the musical makes him Broadway’s 13th Phantom.
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The widow of the man who was driving a Porsche sports car that crashed and killed actor Paul Walker sued the automaker on Monday, claiming design flaws caused both men to die in a fiery crash in November.
The wrongful death lawsuit by Kristine M. Rodas says her husband was driving at 55 mph — not at unsafe speeds as law enforcement investigators determined — before it crashed last year. Roger W. Rodas was driving a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT capable of more than 200 mph, but his wife's lawsuit says the vehicle lacked a proper crash cage and safety features in the gas tank that would have saved both men's lives.
The lawsuit also contends that a failure in the car’s suspension system forced it to careen out of control and strike three trees while driving down a street in Santa Clarita.
“The Carrera GT was unsafe for its intended use by reason of defects in its manufacture, design, testing, component and constituents, so that it would not safely serve its purpose,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Porsche Cars North America, which did not immediately return email messages seeking comment.
