Stanley tells The Queen Latifah Show: "When I saw Phantom in London in 1988 I watched it and I said, 'I can do that.' I had no background in it. Ten years later I got a call from my talent agent and they says, 'How do you feel about trying to do a musical?'"

Stanley had to go through an audition process like any other actor and landed the job - which he says changed his life.

He adds: "I went to New York, got the role and they flew me up to Toronto where the show had run for 10 years. I took over doing eight shows a week there.