Feature Article
BEING BOLD. THINKING HIGHER.
Most of the time, Lackey plays the role of the Auctioneer, who opens the macabre musical by setting
the stage for the main story. However, Lackey is also
the understudy for the Phantom. This summer, he is
getting several opportunities to play the lead role as
the “man behind the mask.”And when he does take
the stage in the $40 million Venetian Resort theater
as the Phantom, all eyes are on him.
“When the drum roll begins,”Lackey said, describing the emotions playing the Phantom, “your heart
is pounding out of your chest. When you’re ready
to sing your first note, the Phantom is behind this
one-way mirror. The audience can’t see you but you
can see them. … They just hear the voice coming out
from all around but they can’t see you until the mirror comes up. It’s very, very exciting.”
But for the former art student-turned-theatre major-turned-pizzeria owner, forging an acting career
is not all about excitement. In fact, except for the
exhilarating 95 minutes or so he has on stage during
each performance, Lackey approaches his career in
workmanlike fashion.
Before each performance, whether as the Auctioneer
or the Phantom, there’s an extensive process of
makeup and costumes to undergo. As the Phantom,
it may mean having a dressing assistant or two shove
a skull cap over his matted down hair and then begin
the detailed process of putting on the makeup and
prosthetics to complete the transformation. Once he
is in costume, then comes the preparation to get in
character. Even though Lackey is approaching 500
Vegas performances, he has to perform as if it’s his
very first time in the role.
“It honestly doesn’t get tired,”Lackey said of his
role. “On one hand, yes, some days you go to work
and it’s a job. But once the music starts and you put
on your costumes and see the audience there…”
In other words, he enjoys what he’s doing.
Typically Michael opens the show
as the Auctioneer, seen above.
But he also serves as the Phantom
understudy to Brent Barrett, seen
at right. The Phantom of the Opera
has grossed more than $3 billion
worldwide since its London premiere
in 1986. Photos by Joan Marcus.
18
Reflections Summer ’07
It’s not what he envisioned as a boy raised on a farm
outside of Hillsdale, Mich. After graduating from
high school, Lackey enrolled at Eastern Michigan
University, where he said he felt out of place from
the start. A friend introduced him to Siena Heights,
and he enrolled there the next fall as a sophomore
art major. He used his art and woodworking skills to
help build sets in the theater department. But that’s
not what eventually attracted him to performing.
“What attracted me to theater, first of all, was the
fact that I loved to sing,”Lackey said. “I was rather
introverted (as a college student), but then I took a
speech class at Siena. I didn’t realize I had a penchant
for speaking in front of a crowd. Suddenly, I was one
of the teacher’s favorite students.”
His very first show at Siena Heights was playing
the role of Woody Mahoney in the musical Finian’s
Rainbow. From there, Lackey’s interest in acting
grew so much, he soon couldn’t imagine himself
doing anything else.
“Some people say if you’re going into something
like theater or the arts, you need a backup,”Lackey
said of his career aspirations. “To be perfectly honest,
I went on to my acting career because I didn’t have
a backup.”