I have never seen Michael Crawford on Stage either, but you should research a little before you form an opinion of him. He used to be on the TV show Condor Man, so I'm pretty sure that he could pull off a close up shot of his face. I'm not saying that he should have been cast in the film, but there are plenty of trained actors who are trained singers that could have done so much better. I do feel bad for Gerard Butler though, he had big shoes to fill and not having any formal voice training is not his fault. The fault lies with those who cast him.

Thank You