Davis Gaines performed the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera more than 2,000 times, for over five million people, during his run on Broadway , in Los Angeles and in San Francisco…where he received the Bay Area Critics' Award for Best Actor. Subsequently, he was chosen by Hal Prince and Lloyd Webber to play the leading role in the world premiere of Whistle Down the Wind in Washington, D.C. His Broadway, off Broadway and National touring theater credits include Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! with Carol Channing, Camelot with Richard Burton, the Maury Yeston/Larry Gelbart musical One Two Three, Four Five, She Loves Me and Forbidden Broadway.

Most recently, Gaines played the sailor, Anthony Hope, in the 20th anniversary concert productions of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in Los Angeles, London, New York, San Francisco and at Ravinia Festival. Both the DVD and CD have recently been released. Other concert performances include the Encores! production of The Boys From Syracuse, Sitting Pretty, The Cat and the Fiddle and Pippin. Film work includes a featured role in Warlock: The Armageddon with Julian Sands and television credits include Chicago Hope, Veronica's Closet, Bodies of Evidence and Murder, She Wrote. He appeared in three PBS Great Performances broadcasts (Sweeney Todd with the San Francisco Symphony, Broadway Originals with the Boston Pops and Jerry Herman's Broadway at the Bowl), Additionally, Gaines has sung for five U.S. Presidents and with every major symphony orchestra in North America, including the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. He has also performed in cabaret at New York's Rainbow and Stars and Hollywood's Cinegrill. His voice can be heard on 27 cast recordings and compilation albums, as well as two solo CDs on LAP Records, Against the Tide and All My Tomorrows: Songs of Sammy Cahn.