Elaine Paige
Encyclopedia
Elaine Paige OBE
(née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre
. Raised in Barnet
, North London
, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair
marked her West End
debut.
Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón
in the first production of Evita in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public. For this role, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a Musical. She went on to originate the role of Grizabella
in Cats
and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well
" with Barbara Dickson
from the musical Chess
, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She then appeared in the original stage production of Chess, followed by a starring role in Anything Goes
which she also co-produced. Paige made her Broadway
debut in Sunset Boulevard
in 1996, playing the lead role of Norma Desmond, to critical acclaim. She appeared in The King and I
from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in The Drowsy Chaperone
. She has also worked sporadically in television.
In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards
, Paige has won many other awards for her theatre roles and has been called the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. She has released 22 solo albums, of which eight were consecutively certified gold
and another four multi-platinum. Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts across the world. Since 2004 she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called Elaine Paige on Sunday
.
, North London
, where her father worked as an estate agent and her mother was a milliner. Her mother had been a singer in her youth, and her father was an amateur drummer. Paige stands at just under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, which she says has caused her to lose out on leading roles. Her original ambition was to become a professional tennis player, at which point her headmistress pointed out to her "they'd never see you over the net", but Paige continued to play tennis and has referred to the sport as one of her passions.
At 14, Paige listened to the film soundtrack of West Side Story
, which evoked the desire for a career in musical theatre. Paige's musical ability was encouraged by her school music teacher, Ann Hill, who was also the head of the music department. Paige was a member of Hill's choir, and her first role on stage was playing Susanna in a school production of Mozart
's The Marriage of Figaro
, which was followed by parts in The Boy Mozart and solos in Handel
's Messiah
— "a difficult work for little children". Paige also recalls singing the mezzo
role of Bastienne in Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne
. After singing the aria, she chose to break down in character and to release a sob much to the audience's shock who, having been convinced by her acting, thought she was in real pain.
Her father later suggested that she should go to drama school, so she attended the Aida Foster stage school
. Lacking confidence, she initially disliked stage school; her father encouraged her to endure and she grew to enjoy her time there. After graduating, her first job was modeling children's clothing at the Ideal Home Exhibition. Prior to stage school she attended Southaw Girls' School - a secondary modern in Oakleigh Park in Hertfordshire where she had achieved just two CSE
qualifications.
/Leslie Bricusse
musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
in 1964, playing the role of a Chinese
urchin. To audition for the role she sang "I'm Just a Girl who Cain't Say No" but was rejected the first time. She was successful the second time around after being convinced to re-audition under a new name. Browsing through a phone book for inspiration, she became aware of the "page" she was observing and decided upon that name with the addition of an "i". At the age of 20, she made her West End
debut in Hair
on 27 September 1968, remaining in the cast until March 1970. While also being an understudy for the character of Sheila, she played a member of the tribe in the chorus, for which role she was required to be naked on stage in one scene. She also appeared as an urchin in the West End's Oliver!
. Over the next decade, she played roles in various musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar
; Nuts; Grease
, in which she played the lead role of Sandy from 1973 to 1974; Billy
, from 1974 to 1975 playing Rita; and The Boyfriend, as Maisie (1975–1976).
After months of acting and singing auditions, Hal Prince
offered the still relatively unknown Paige the title role of Eva Perón
in the first stage production of the Tim Rice
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
musical, Evita. Her performance won her critical acclaim and brought her into public prominence at the age of 30. Paige was actually the second choice for the part after Julie Covington, but Covington had turned the opportunity down. For her performance in Evita, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a Musical, which at that time was called the Society of West End Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and the Variety Club Award for Showbusiness Personality of the Year. She played the role for 20 months in total, from 1978 to 1980. She also released her first studio album in 1978, entitled Sitting Pretty. Just prior to her success in Evita, Paige had strongly considered becoming a nursery nurse, but after she sang for Dustin Hoffman
, he made her promise that she would continue in theatre work. She admitted that she was "fed up with the whole thing" and that she could not even afford new clothing or to eat out; "Evita saved me" she stated.
in the original production of Cats
from 11 May 1981 to 13 February 1982. She took on the role late in the rehearsal process when the actress Judi Dench
had to withdraw due to a torn Achilles tendon
. Paige's performance of the song "Memory" from Cats, with which she had a Top 10 hit, is her signature piece. The single reached number 5 in the UK charts
and has since been recorded by a further 160 artists. She reprised the role of Grizabella for the video release
of Cats in 1998, one of only two performers in the film from the original London cast. Paige's website claims that the video soon became the bestselling music video in the UK and America.
The 1983 production of Abbacadabra
, written by former ABBA
members, Björn Ulvaeus
and Benny Andersson
, saw Paige star in the role of Carabosse. She then originated the role of Florence for the 1984 concept album of Chess
, with lyrics by Tim Rice
and music by Ulvaeus and Andersson. Her albums, Stages
(1983), and Cinema
(1984), rejoined the cast recording of Chess in the UK top 40 chart, giving her three consecutive successful albums. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well
", a duet from Chess, singing with Barbara Dickson
. The single held the number 1 position in the British singles charts for four weeks, and still remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo, according to the Guinness Book of Records. From 1986 to 1987, Paige appeared as Florence in the stage production of Chess, a role that earned her another Laurence Olivier Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical. She next sang at the White House
in 1988.
Paige then took on the part of Reno Sweeney in the musical production of Anything Goes
, which she co-produced and starred in from 1989 to 1990. Patti Lupone
was appearing as Sweeney on Broadway around that time, so Paige sought to become the co-producer of the West End production as a way to secure the role there before Lupone could take it. Playing Reno Sweeney was Paige's first experience using an American accent on stage, and the part obtained her third nomination for an Olivier Award. Beyond her theatre roles, she appeared in the television programme Unexplained Laughter in 1989 alongside Diana Rigg
.
In 1993, Paige signed up for a year as French chanteuse Édith Piaf
in Pam Gems
' musical play, Piaf
, to critical acclaim. The Guardian
wrote that Paige was "a magnificent, perfect Piaf". The demanding production required Paige to sing 15 songs, some in French, and to be on stage for 2 hours 40 minutes in total, and forced her to leave early due to exhaustion. Her portrayal of Piaf earned her nomination for a fourth Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical; she subsequently released an album, entitled Piaf, containing Édith Piaf songs.
for her contributions to musical theatre.
Paige stepped briefly into the role of Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's West End production of Sunset Boulevard
in 1994, when Betty Buckley
was taken ill due to her undergoing an emergency appendectomy. The nature of the situation meant that Paige only had two-and-a-half weeks in the rehearsal process before her first performance. She admitted feeling daunted by the task which would follow having seen Glenn Close
in the role just prior to entering her own rehearsals. London critics were largely won over by Paige in a performance that "not only wrings out every ounce of dramatic action but delivers some unexpected humor as well" and she took over the part full time the following year. She then won the Variety Club Award for Best Actress of the Year, and was nominated for a best actress Olivier Award in 1996 for her performance in the musical.
During the run of Sunset Boulevard at the West End's Adelphi Theatre
in 1995, Paige discovered a lump in her breast, prompting her to consult her doctor, who at first reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about. She returned twice, and her doctor subsequently sent her for tests that confirmed the lump was cancerous, nine months after she discovered it. Continuing her role in the production Paige did not miss a show, and stated, "When I did the show I became very emotional. Some of the lyrics suddenly took on an entirely different meaning. Words like, 'as if we never said goodbye' became more real". Paige went in for day surgery on a Sunday due to her theatre commitments, had five years of medical treatment and completed a radiation programme. She spoke for the first time of her encounter with breast cancer
in a 2004 interview, and has since described the period as "the most awful thing that’s happened to me in my life".
Paige transferred to the American production of Sunset Boulevard to make her Broadway
debut at the Minskoff Theatre
on 12 September 1996, staying with the show until it closed on 22 March 1997. On the Sunset Boulevard set in Broadway, the staircase steps had to be raised six inches (15 cm) in order to accommodate Paige's short stature, or it would have been hard to see her behind the banister. Paige was welcomed to the Broadway stage with a long standing ovation from the audience, and received largely positive reviews for her New York performance as Norma Desmond: "The lush sound and the sheer power of her voice are, to put it simply, incredible", wrote one critic, whilst another said "Her voice has great range, remarkable clarity and emotional force". Paige was the first Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard to sing one of the show's key songs, "With One Look", which she did first at Lloyd Webber's wedding to Madeleine Gurdon
, although at the time the song was called "Just One Glance". Lloyd Webber noted, regarding Paige's performance of one of the show's other prominent songs, "As If We Never Said Goodbye", that it was "as good, if not the best, of anything I've ever heard of mine". Regarding the key lyric in the song, "This world's waited long enough. I've come home at last", Paige had sought to change the way the melody was sung, despite being fully aware of Lloyd-Webber's fastidious tendencies. To her, the moment was not exploited to its fullest potential, so she approached the show's director, David Caddick, and expressed her wish to hold the word "home", to which he agreed. Although she had been disappointed when she hoped to perform on Broadway in Evita, Cats and Chess, Paige stated of her debut there, "It was just the most perfect time to go with that particular show". After Sunset Boulevard finished, she suffered from depression, commenting that the show's closing "was the most terrible feeling. ... I'd felt I'd lost something so very important to me. I thought it had died and gone away".
Arts commentator Melvyn Bragg
hosted a special edition of The South Bank Show
about Paige's career in 1996, entitled The Faces of Elaine Paige. The episode saw her visiting parts of the world where plays she had starred in had been set.
In 1997, Paige made her United States concert debut when she opened the Boston Pops season, which was aired on WGBH
in America. The following year, she made a guest star appearance at Andrew Lloyd Webber
's 50th birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall
. During the birthday tribute show, she sang "Memory" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", two songs from her past musical productions by Lloyd Webber. Paige's next role was Célimène in the non-musical play Le Misanthrope
in 1998, but she admitted that she missed the musical element and that the silence was slightly unsettling to her. A Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Operatic and Dramatic Association
soon followed. She later performed alongside Bette Midler
in a 1999 New York concert to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
From 2000 to 2001, she starred as Anna Leonowens
in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein
's The King and I
at the London Palladium
. Paige had turned down an offer for the role the first time she was approached, but later accepted, admitting that she had "forgotten what a fantastic score it was", although she did question her own suitability for the role. Before the opening, the box office had already taken in excess of £7 million in ticket sales. The critic for The Independent
commented, "It may well be impossible to be a success as Evita and a success as Anna" complaining that Paige was not refined enough for the role, whereas The Spectator
asserted that the role further strengthened her title as the "First Lady of British Musical Theatre". During her time in The King and I, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Despite Paige wanting to pull out of the show, her mother insisted that she should continue until her contract had finished, and Paige's sister, Marion Billings, admitted, "That was very hard for Elaine, having to go on stage night after night knowing she wanted to be with Mum".
in Salt Lake City, Utah
, and then made her Los Angeles
concert debut at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. In 2003, she played Angèle in Where There's a Will, directed by Peter Hall. She next sang the role of Mrs Lovett in the New York City Opera
production of Stephen Sondheim
's Sweeney Todd
in March 2004, earning positive reviews from critics, and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award
for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Paige then embarked upon a UK tour which was entitled "No Strings Attached".
In September 2004, Paige began a weekly radio show, Elaine Paige on Sunday
, on BBC Radio 2, featuring music from musical theatre and film. In an unfavourable review, the show was described by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian as "a chilly, alienating listening experience" and a "rare wrong move" on the part of Radio 2. Lisa Martland of The Stage agreed that "it is by far the music that brings me back to the programme ... and not her lightweight presenting style". However, the show regularly attracts 3 million listeners, and interviews are also featured each week. Paige also focused on television appearances, playing Dora Bunner in the 2005 ITV
adaptation of Agatha Christie
's A Murder is Announced
in the Marple
series, before performing a guest role as a post mistress in Where the Heart Is
. The episode of Marple was watched by 7.78 million viewers.
The release of Paige's first full studio album of new recordings in 12 years was marked in 2006, entitled Essential Musicals. The album included popular songs from musicals identified by a poll on her radio show, in which 400,000 listeners voted. At this point, Paige had recorded 20 solo albums in total, of which eight were consecutively certified gold
and another four multi-platinum, and she had been featured on seven cast albums. Paige also appeared in concert in Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore
. On 20 and 21 December 2006, she performed in concert in Shanghai, extending her concert tour to two dates to satisfy demand. With a noticeable absence from musical theatre, having not taken a role for many years, she explained in 2006 that "there's been nothing that I've wanted to do, and if you're going to commit to a year at the theatre, six days a week, and have no life, then it's got to be something that you want to do with all your heart". She also affirmed that she believes for older actors it becomes harder to obtain theatre roles.
In 2007, Paige made a return to the West End stage for the first time in six years, as the Chaperone/Beatrice Stockwell in The Drowsy Chaperone
at the Novello Theatre
. The production ran for a disappointing 96 performances, although it had opened to a standing ovation from the audience and a generally optimistic reaction from critics. The Daily Telegraph
wrote, "Elaine Paige is a good sport ... enduring jokes about her reputation for being 'difficult' with a grin that doesn't seem all that forced. ... Only the self-importantly serious and the chronically depressed will fail to enjoy this preposterously entertaining evening". Paul Taylor from The Independent
was less impressed and wrote "a miscast Elaine Paige manages to be unfunny to an almost ingenious degree as the heroine's bibulous minder". For her performance, Paige was nominated for a What's On Stage Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She next collaborated with the duo Secret Garden
in recording the song "The Things You Are to Me" for their 2007 album, Inside I'm Singing.
To raise money for Sport Relief
Paige danced the Tango
on Sport Relief does Strictly Come Dancing with Matt Dawson
in March 2008, where they were voted second overall. She opened the Llangollen
International Musical Eisteddfod
in July 2008, performing some of her well-known songs from her 40-year career. She next started her world tour, with dates in China, America and Australia. To further celebrate 40 years since her professional stage debut, in October 2008 Paige released a picture-based autobiography entitled Memories. The book took around eight months to compile; "Since Evita I suppose, I had kept a yearbook. My parents always kept cuttings and things like that for me. I did have quite a lot of reference material to work out" Paige commented.
An album entitled Elaine Paige and Friends
was produced by Phil Ramone
in 2010. The album features duets with Paige and artists such as Johnny Mathis
, Barry Manilow
and Olivia Newton John as well as a duet with Sinéad O'Connor
on a new song 'It's Only Life' penned by Gary Barlow
and Tim Rice. Having entered the top 20 of UK album charts, Elaine Paige and Friends went on to achieve gold status.
Paige played the role of Carlotta Campion in the Kennedy Center production of Follies
in May and June 2011 at the Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, DC, receiving favorable reviews for her performance of the iconic showstopper, "I'm Still Here." The cast also included Bernadette Peters
, Jan Maxwell
, Linda Lavin
, Danny Burstein
, and Rosalind Elias
, among others. She went on to reprise this role in the Broadway transfer of the musical at the Marquis Theatre
beginning 7 August 2011.
throughout the 1980s. She has said that she wanted to have children, but "it's a wonderful life I have, so I'm very fulfilled in other ways".
Paige's singing abilities have won her worldwide praise, as have her acting skills with Andrew Gans of Playbill magazine writing that "Paige's gift is to dissect a role and determine what phrasing, gesture or emotion can bring a scene to its fullest dramatic potential". Mark Shenton also highlighted her voice in 2008 as "one of the most distinctive and impressive voices in the business". Lloyd-Webber insists that her rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" is one of the best interpretations of a song by him.
Paige has gained herself a reputation as someone who can be "difficult". The Times'
Brian Logan wrote, "Paige is not exactly known for her humility. In newspaper profiles, that dread word 'difficult' is often applied". On one occasion, she told a male interviewer that she was going to stop giving interviews to female reporters because, in her own words, "I don't trust other women in these situations. They establish a sisterhood with you and then betray it every time". What has been seen as a cold side to her personality was also noted by Logan, but Paige has said that a common misconception of her is that she is confident and very serious. Another editor found her "refreshingly down-to-earth" and "very friendly".
songs more difficult to sing, and described them as challenging. She concluded, "it's a quieter kind of singing, more controlled, not belting it out".
In light of the physical demands of performing in theatre Paige has said "Musical theatre is the hardest thing any actor will ever do. You become obsessive about sleeping, eating the right food, not speaking and giving yourself vocal rest and keeping exercised". Regarding the pressure of having to be in a fit condition to perform in theatre each night, she remarked "you wouldn't want to read the letters people write when you're off and they're disappointed — it's so awful, the guilt one feels for not being there". As part of a rigorous routine before musical roles to look after her voice, Paige stops eating dairy product
s and drinking alcohol and also focuses on keeping fit. After about three months into the production when her voice is tiring from performing, she even gives up her social life, sometimes only communicating by notepad and fax. The rehearsal process is when Paige is most contented, using the valuable time to "delve and discover" without the need to feel embarrassed. She also never reads her reviews from critics, finding that it is not helpful to have too many opinions.
Paige has named reality television series such as Any Dream Will Do
, which aim to find an unknown actor to play the lead role in a musical, as the greatest threat to theatre today, believing that "actors already striving in the theatre wouldn't dream of putting themselves on these shows". In a later interview, she questioned the seriousness of the actors auditioning for these types of shows: "you wouldn't put yourself up for one of those shows in case you got bumped off the first week and all your colleagues saw it". She has also expressed a wish for more new musicals to be put into production, instead of frequent revivals.
The group consisted of Elaine Paige, Jill Longstaff, Joan Knighton, Terry Pritchard, John Shepherd and Russel Stone.
POF060: I'm A Train / Up On A Cotton Cloud
POF086: Just Another Fly / 2010
POF124: Mother of Convention / Songs Mother Made
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. Raised in Barnet
Barnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, Paige attended the Aida Foster stage school, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
marked her West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
debut.
Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
in the first production of Evita in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public. For this role, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a Musical. She went on to originate the role of Grizabella
Grizabella
Grizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S...
in Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well
I Know Him So Well
"I Know Him So Well" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. In this duet, two women – Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress – express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing...
" with Barbara Dickson
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...
from the musical Chess
Chess (musical)
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...
, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She then appeared in the original stage production of Chess, followed by a starring role in Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
which she also co-produced. Paige made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut in Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
in 1996, playing the lead role of Norma Desmond, to critical acclaim. She appeared in The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old...
. She has also worked sporadically in television.
In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
, Paige has won many other awards for her theatre roles and has been called the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. She has released 22 solo albums, of which eight were consecutively certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and another four multi-platinum. Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts across the world. Since 2004 she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called Elaine Paige on Sunday
Elaine Paige on Sunday
Elaine Paige on Sunday is a showtunes radio programme on BBC Radio 2 hosted by the actress Elaine Paige. Launched in September 2004, the show is produced by Malcolm Prince and regularly attracts 3 million listeners.- Guests :...
.
Background
Elaine Mary Bickerstaff was raised in BarnetBarnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, where her father worked as an estate agent and her mother was a milliner. Her mother had been a singer in her youth, and her father was an amateur drummer. Paige stands at just under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, which she says has caused her to lose out on leading roles. Her original ambition was to become a professional tennis player, at which point her headmistress pointed out to her "they'd never see you over the net", but Paige continued to play tennis and has referred to the sport as one of her passions.
At 14, Paige listened to the film soundtrack of West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
, which evoked the desire for a career in musical theatre. Paige's musical ability was encouraged by her school music teacher, Ann Hill, who was also the head of the music department. Paige was a member of Hill's choir, and her first role on stage was playing Susanna in a school production of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, which was followed by parts in The Boy Mozart and solos in Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
— "a difficult work for little children". Paige also recalls singing the mezzo
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
role of Bastienne in Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne
Bastien und Bastienne
Bastien und Bastienne , K. 50 is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart....
. After singing the aria, she chose to break down in character and to release a sob much to the audience's shock who, having been convinced by her acting, thought she was in real pain.
Her father later suggested that she should go to drama school, so she attended the Aida Foster stage school
Aida Foster stage school
The Aida Foster School was founded by Aida Foster in 1929 as a hobby to teach dancing. It expanded over the years to become one of Britain's foremost stage schools. Many of the 20th-century stage and film personalities obtained their professional education from the school, and many their first...
. Lacking confidence, she initially disliked stage school; her father encouraged her to endure and she grew to enjoy her time there. After graduating, her first job was modeling children's clothing at the Ideal Home Exhibition. Prior to stage school she attended Southaw Girls' School - a secondary modern in Oakleigh Park in Hertfordshire where she had achieved just two CSE
Certificate of Secondary Education
The Certificate of Secondary Education was a school leaving qualification awarded between 1965 and 1987 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland....
qualifications.
Early career – 1968-1980: West End debut and Evita
Paige's first professional appearance on stage was during the UK tour of the Anthony NewleyAnthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
/Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd
The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical is best known for producing the standards "Who Can I Turn To?" and "Feeling Good." The show title is a transposition of the phrase "the smell of the...
in 1964, playing the role of a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
urchin. To audition for the role she sang "I'm Just a Girl who Cain't Say No" but was rejected the first time. She was successful the second time around after being convinced to re-audition under a new name. Browsing through a phone book for inspiration, she became aware of the "page" she was observing and decided upon that name with the addition of an "i". At the age of 20, she made her West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
debut in Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
on 27 September 1968, remaining in the cast until March 1970. While also being an understudy for the character of Sheila, she played a member of the tribe in the chorus, for which role she was required to be naked on stage in one scene. She also appeared as an urchin in the West End's Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
. Over the next decade, she played roles in various musicals, including Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
; Nuts; Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
, in which she played the lead role of Sandy from 1973 to 1974; Billy
Billy (musical)
Billy is a musical based on the novel and play Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall. The book was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the music is by John Barry, and the lyrics are by Don Black.-Production:...
, from 1974 to 1975 playing Rita; and The Boyfriend, as Maisie (1975–1976).
After months of acting and singing auditions, Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
offered the still relatively unknown Paige the title role of Eva Perón
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
in the first stage production of the Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musical, Evita. Her performance won her critical acclaim and brought her into public prominence at the age of 30. Paige was actually the second choice for the part after Julie Covington, but Covington had turned the opportunity down. For her performance in Evita, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a Musical, which at that time was called the Society of West End Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and the Variety Club Award for Showbusiness Personality of the Year. She played the role for 20 months in total, from 1978 to 1980. She also released her first studio album in 1978, entitled Sitting Pretty. Just prior to her success in Evita, Paige had strongly considered becoming a nursery nurse, but after she sang for Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
, he made her promise that she would continue in theatre work. She admitted that she was "fed up with the whole thing" and that she could not even afford new clothing or to eat out; "Evita saved me" she stated.
1981–1993: Cats and Chess era
Paige went on to portray some of Lloyd Webber's most notable female characters, creating the role of GrizabellaGrizabella
Grizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S...
in the original production of Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
from 11 May 1981 to 13 February 1982. She took on the role late in the rehearsal process when the actress Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
had to withdraw due to a torn Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
. Paige's performance of the song "Memory" from Cats, with which she had a Top 10 hit, is her signature piece. The single reached number 5 in the UK charts
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and has since been recorded by a further 160 artists. She reprised the role of Grizabella for the video release
CATS (film)
Cats is a 1998 direct-to-video film of the long-running West End production of Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber himself personally oversaw orchestration for the film and called on Gillian Lynne, the original show's...
of Cats in 1998, one of only two performers in the film from the original London cast. Paige's website claims that the video soon became the bestselling music video in the UK and America.
The 1983 production of Abbacadabra
Abbacadabra
Abbacadabra is the name of a French children's musical based on songs from the pop group ABBA, originally produced for French television in 1983 by Alain and Daniel Boublil, but which was later also transferred to an English stage version and two other television programs.-French television...
, written by former ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
members, Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
and Benny Andersson
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
, saw Paige star in the role of Carabosse. She then originated the role of Florence for the 1984 concept album of Chess
Chess (musical)
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...
, with lyrics by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
and music by Ulvaeus and Andersson. Her albums, Stages
Stages (Elaine Paige album)
Stages is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1983 on the Warner Music and has been re-issued on CD. The album charted in the UK album charts at #2 in 1983....
(1983), and Cinema
Cinema (Elaine Paige album)
Cinema is the forth solo album by Elaine Paige. The album was released in 1984 on Warner Music, peaking at #12 in the UK album charts. This album has been re-issued on CD.It was the second of Paige's recordings to be produced by Tony Visconti...
(1984), rejoined the cast recording of Chess in the UK top 40 chart, giving her three consecutive successful albums. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well
I Know Him So Well
"I Know Him So Well" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. In this duet, two women – Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress – express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing...
", a duet from Chess, singing with Barbara Dickson
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Ruth Dickson, OBE is a Scottish singer whose hits include "I Know Him So Well" and "January February"...
. The single held the number 1 position in the British singles charts for four weeks, and still remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo, according to the Guinness Book of Records. From 1986 to 1987, Paige appeared as Florence in the stage production of Chess, a role that earned her another Laurence Olivier Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical. She next sang at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in 1988.
Paige then took on the part of Reno Sweeney in the musical production of Anything Goes
Anything Goes
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
, which she co-produced and starred in from 1989 to 1990. Patti Lupone
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
was appearing as Sweeney on Broadway around that time, so Paige sought to become the co-producer of the West End production as a way to secure the role there before Lupone could take it. Playing Reno Sweeney was Paige's first experience using an American accent on stage, and the part obtained her third nomination for an Olivier Award. Beyond her theatre roles, she appeared in the television programme Unexplained Laughter in 1989 alongside Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
.
In 1993, Paige signed up for a year as French chanteuse Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
in Pam Gems
Pam Gems
Pam Gems was a British playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf.-Personal life:...
' musical play, Piaf
Piaf (play)
Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
, to critical acclaim. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
wrote that Paige was "a magnificent, perfect Piaf". The demanding production required Paige to sing 15 songs, some in French, and to be on stage for 2 hours 40 minutes in total, and forced her to leave early due to exhaustion. Her portrayal of Piaf earned her nomination for a fourth Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical; she subsequently released an album, entitled Piaf, containing Édith Piaf songs.
1994–2001: Sunset Boulevard and Broadway debut
In 1995, Paige was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen ElizabethElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
for her contributions to musical theatre.
Paige stepped briefly into the role of Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's West End production of Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard (musical)
Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the...
in 1994, when Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
was taken ill due to her undergoing an emergency appendectomy. The nature of the situation meant that Paige only had two-and-a-half weeks in the rehearsal process before her first performance. She admitted feeling daunted by the task which would follow having seen Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
in the role just prior to entering her own rehearsals. London critics were largely won over by Paige in a performance that "not only wrings out every ounce of dramatic action but delivers some unexpected humor as well" and she took over the part full time the following year. She then won the Variety Club Award for Best Actress of the Year, and was nominated for a best actress Olivier Award in 1996 for her performance in the musical.
During the run of Sunset Boulevard at the West End's Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
in 1995, Paige discovered a lump in her breast, prompting her to consult her doctor, who at first reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about. She returned twice, and her doctor subsequently sent her for tests that confirmed the lump was cancerous, nine months after she discovered it. Continuing her role in the production Paige did not miss a show, and stated, "When I did the show I became very emotional. Some of the lyrics suddenly took on an entirely different meaning. Words like, 'as if we never said goodbye' became more real". Paige went in for day surgery on a Sunday due to her theatre commitments, had five years of medical treatment and completed a radiation programme. She spoke for the first time of her encounter with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in a 2004 interview, and has since described the period as "the most awful thing that’s happened to me in my life".
Paige transferred to the American production of Sunset Boulevard to make her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut at the Minskoff Theatre
Minskoff Theatre
The Minskoff Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre, located at 1515 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan. It is now showing the musical The Lion King, based on the Disney animated film of the same name....
on 12 September 1996, staying with the show until it closed on 22 March 1997. On the Sunset Boulevard set in Broadway, the staircase steps had to be raised six inches (15 cm) in order to accommodate Paige's short stature, or it would have been hard to see her behind the banister. Paige was welcomed to the Broadway stage with a long standing ovation from the audience, and received largely positive reviews for her New York performance as Norma Desmond: "The lush sound and the sheer power of her voice are, to put it simply, incredible", wrote one critic, whilst another said "Her voice has great range, remarkable clarity and emotional force". Paige was the first Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard to sing one of the show's key songs, "With One Look", which she did first at Lloyd Webber's wedding to Madeleine Gurdon
Madeleine Gurdon
Madeleine Astrid Gurdon, Baroness Lloyd-Webber, is an English former equestrian sportswoman, and the third and current wife of musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber.-Early life:...
, although at the time the song was called "Just One Glance". Lloyd Webber noted, regarding Paige's performance of one of the show's other prominent songs, "As If We Never Said Goodbye", that it was "as good, if not the best, of anything I've ever heard of mine". Regarding the key lyric in the song, "This world's waited long enough. I've come home at last", Paige had sought to change the way the melody was sung, despite being fully aware of Lloyd-Webber's fastidious tendencies. To her, the moment was not exploited to its fullest potential, so she approached the show's director, David Caddick, and expressed her wish to hold the word "home", to which he agreed. Although she had been disappointed when she hoped to perform on Broadway in Evita, Cats and Chess, Paige stated of her debut there, "It was just the most perfect time to go with that particular show". After Sunset Boulevard finished, she suffered from depression, commenting that the show's closing "was the most terrible feeling. ... I'd felt I'd lost something so very important to me. I thought it had died and gone away".
Arts commentator Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
hosted a special edition of The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
about Paige's career in 1996, entitled The Faces of Elaine Paige. The episode saw her visiting parts of the world where plays she had starred in had been set.
In 1997, Paige made her United States concert debut when she opened the Boston Pops season, which was aired on WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
in America. The following year, she made a guest star appearance at Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's 50th birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. During the birthday tribute show, she sang "Memory" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", two songs from her past musical productions by Lloyd Webber. Paige's next role was Célimène in the non-musical play Le Misanthrope
Le Misanthrope
The Misanthrope is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by the King's Players....
in 1998, but she admitted that she missed the musical element and that the silence was slightly unsettling to her. A Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Operatic and Dramatic Association
National Operatic and Dramatic Association
NODA has a membership of 2500 amateur theatre groups and 3000 individual enthusiasts throughout the UK, staging musicals, operas, plays, concerts and pantomimes in a wide variety of performing venues, ranging from the country’s leading professional theatres to tiny village halls.Founded in 1899,...
soon followed. She later performed alongside Bette Midler
Bette Midler
Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...
in a 1999 New York concert to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
From 2000 to 2001, she starred as Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens was an English travel writer, educator, and social activist. She worked in Siam from 1862 to 1868, where she taught the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. She also co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...
in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
. Paige had turned down an offer for the role the first time she was approached, but later accepted, admitting that she had "forgotten what a fantastic score it was", although she did question her own suitability for the role. Before the opening, the box office had already taken in excess of £7 million in ticket sales. The critic for The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
commented, "It may well be impossible to be a success as Evita and a success as Anna" complaining that Paige was not refined enough for the role, whereas The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
asserted that the role further strengthened her title as the "First Lady of British Musical Theatre". During her time in The King and I, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Despite Paige wanting to pull out of the show, her mother insisted that she should continue until her contract had finished, and Paige's sister, Marion Billings, admitted, "That was very hard for Elaine, having to go on stage night after night knowing she wanted to be with Mum".
2002–present: Radio and return to West End and Broadway
Paige sang at the opening of the 2002 Winter Olympics2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, and then made her Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
concert debut at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. In 2003, she played Angèle in Where There's a Will, directed by Peter Hall. She next sang the role of Mrs Lovett in the New York City Opera
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
in March 2004, earning positive reviews from critics, and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Paige then embarked upon a UK tour which was entitled "No Strings Attached".
In September 2004, Paige began a weekly radio show, Elaine Paige on Sunday
Elaine Paige on Sunday
Elaine Paige on Sunday is a showtunes radio programme on BBC Radio 2 hosted by the actress Elaine Paige. Launched in September 2004, the show is produced by Malcolm Prince and regularly attracts 3 million listeners.- Guests :...
, on BBC Radio 2, featuring music from musical theatre and film. In an unfavourable review, the show was described by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian as "a chilly, alienating listening experience" and a "rare wrong move" on the part of Radio 2. Lisa Martland of The Stage agreed that "it is by far the music that brings me back to the programme ... and not her lightweight presenting style". However, the show regularly attracts 3 million listeners, and interviews are also featured each week. Paige also focused on television appearances, playing Dora Bunner in the 2005 ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
adaptation of Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced
A Murder is Announced is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1950 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in the same month...
in the Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
series, before performing a guest role as a post mistress in Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1997 TV series)
Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
. The episode of Marple was watched by 7.78 million viewers.
The release of Paige's first full studio album of new recordings in 12 years was marked in 2006, entitled Essential Musicals. The album included popular songs from musicals identified by a poll on her radio show, in which 400,000 listeners voted. At this point, Paige had recorded 20 solo albums in total, of which eight were consecutively certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and another four multi-platinum, and she had been featured on seven cast albums. Paige also appeared in concert in Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. On 20 and 21 December 2006, she performed in concert in Shanghai, extending her concert tour to two dates to satisfy demand. With a noticeable absence from musical theatre, having not taken a role for many years, she explained in 2006 that "there's been nothing that I've wanted to do, and if you're going to commit to a year at the theatre, six days a week, and have no life, then it's got to be something that you want to do with all your heart". She also affirmed that she believes for older actors it becomes harder to obtain theatre roles.
In 2007, Paige made a return to the West End stage for the first time in six years, as the Chaperone/Beatrice Stockwell in The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old...
at the Novello Theatre
Novello Theatre
The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster.-History:The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of the Waldorf Hotel, both being designed by W. G. R. Sprague. The theatre opened as the Waldorf Theatre on 22 May 1905, and was...
. The production ran for a disappointing 96 performances, although it had opened to a standing ovation from the audience and a generally optimistic reaction from critics. The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
wrote, "Elaine Paige is a good sport ... enduring jokes about her reputation for being 'difficult' with a grin that doesn't seem all that forced. ... Only the self-importantly serious and the chronically depressed will fail to enjoy this preposterously entertaining evening". Paul Taylor from The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
was less impressed and wrote "a miscast Elaine Paige manages to be unfunny to an almost ingenious degree as the heroine's bibulous minder". For her performance, Paige was nominated for a What's On Stage Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She next collaborated with the duo Secret Garden
Secret Garden (duo)
Secret Garden is an award-winning Irish-Norwegian duo playing New Instrumental Music, also sometimes erroneously known as Neo-classical music.Secret Garden features the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian composer/pianist Rolf Løvland...
in recording the song "The Things You Are to Me" for their 2007 album, Inside I'm Singing.
To raise money for Sport Relief
Sport Relief
Sport Relief is a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, which brings together the worlds of sport and entertainment to raise money to help vulnerable people in both the UK and the world's poorest countries...
Paige danced the Tango
Tango (dance)
Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
on Sport Relief does Strictly Come Dancing with Matt Dawson
Matt Dawson
Matthew James Sutherland "Daws" Dawson, MBE is a retired English rugby union player who played scrum half for Wasps and Northampton Saints. During his international career he toured with the British and Irish Lions three times and was part of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side...
in March 2008, where they were voted second overall. She opened the Llangollen
Llangollen
Llangollen is a small town and community in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, situated on the River Dee and on the edge of the Berwyn mountains. It has a population of 3,412.-History:...
International Musical Eisteddfod
International Eisteddfod
The Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is a music festival which takes place every year during the second week of July in Llangollen, North Wales. Singers and dancers from around the world are invited to take part in over 20 high quality competitions followed each evening by concerts where...
in July 2008, performing some of her well-known songs from her 40-year career. She next started her world tour, with dates in China, America and Australia. To further celebrate 40 years since her professional stage debut, in October 2008 Paige released a picture-based autobiography entitled Memories. The book took around eight months to compile; "Since Evita I suppose, I had kept a yearbook. My parents always kept cuttings and things like that for me. I did have quite a lot of reference material to work out" Paige commented.
An album entitled Elaine Paige and Friends
Elaine Paige and Friends
Elaine Paige and Friends is a duet album from Elaine Paige, released on November 1, 2010. Phil Ramone produced the album for Rhino/Warner Bros Records. The CD debuted on the UK top 20 chart at #18. Paige toured the UK in concert in support of the recording in the beginning of 2011...
was produced by Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
in 2010. The album features duets with Paige and artists such as Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
, Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
and Olivia Newton John as well as a duet with Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
on a new song 'It's Only Life' penned by Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
and Tim Rice. Having entered the top 20 of UK album charts, Elaine Paige and Friends went on to achieve gold status.
Paige played the role of Carlotta Campion in the Kennedy Center production of Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
in May and June 2011 at the Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, DC, receiving favorable reviews for her performance of the iconic showstopper, "I'm Still Here." The cast also included Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
, Jan Maxwell
Jan Maxwell
Jan Maxwell is an American stage and television actress. She is a four-time Tony Award nominee.-Biography:She is the daughter of former First District Judge Ralph B. Maxwell and Elizabeth Maxwell, a lawyer for the EPA. She attended West Fargo High School, West Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead...
, Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
, Danny Burstein
Danny Burstein
Danny Burstein is a versatile American actor who is known for his work in theater, film and television. He won the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and was nominated for the 2008 Drama Desk Award and 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical...
, and Rosalind Elias
Rosalind Elias
Rosalind Elias is an American mezzo-soprano, a rich-voiced singer of fine musicianship who enjoyed a long and distinguished career at the Metropolitan Opera.-Life and career:...
, among others. She went on to reprise this role in the Broadway transfer of the musical at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...
beginning 7 August 2011.
Legacy
Having had so many starring roles in famous musicals, many to critical acclaim, Paige is often referred to as the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. In 2008, she celebrated the 40th anniversary of her professional debut on the West End stage debut. Paige has never married nor had children, although she had an 11-year affair with the lyricist Tim RiceTim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
throughout the 1980s. She has said that she wanted to have children, but "it's a wonderful life I have, so I'm very fulfilled in other ways".
Paige's singing abilities have won her worldwide praise, as have her acting skills with Andrew Gans of Playbill magazine writing that "Paige's gift is to dissect a role and determine what phrasing, gesture or emotion can bring a scene to its fullest dramatic potential". Mark Shenton also highlighted her voice in 2008 as "one of the most distinctive and impressive voices in the business". Lloyd-Webber insists that her rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" is one of the best interpretations of a song by him.
Paige has gained herself a reputation as someone who can be "difficult". The Times'
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
Brian Logan wrote, "Paige is not exactly known for her humility. In newspaper profiles, that dread word 'difficult' is often applied". On one occasion, she told a male interviewer that she was going to stop giving interviews to female reporters because, in her own words, "I don't trust other women in these situations. They establish a sisterhood with you and then betray it every time". What has been seen as a cold side to her personality was also noted by Logan, but Paige has said that a common misconception of her is that she is confident and very serious. Another editor found her "refreshingly down-to-earth" and "very friendly".
Views on theatre
Though Paige has enjoyed a long career in musical theatre, she rarely goes to watch musicals, much preferring to watch films or plays. Furthermore, she considers herself primarily an actress before a singer, stating, "I really prefer to be in character". Comparing the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein to that of Lloyd Webber, Paige has said that she finds Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
songs more difficult to sing, and described them as challenging. She concluded, "it's a quieter kind of singing, more controlled, not belting it out".
In light of the physical demands of performing in theatre Paige has said "Musical theatre is the hardest thing any actor will ever do. You become obsessive about sleeping, eating the right food, not speaking and giving yourself vocal rest and keeping exercised". Regarding the pressure of having to be in a fit condition to perform in theatre each night, she remarked "you wouldn't want to read the letters people write when you're off and they're disappointed — it's so awful, the guilt one feels for not being there". As part of a rigorous routine before musical roles to look after her voice, Paige stops eating dairy product
Dairy product
Dairy products are generally defined as foods produced from cow's or domestic buffalo's milk. They are usually high-energy-yielding food products. A production plant for such processing is called a dairy or a dairy factory. Raw milk for processing comes mainly from cows, and, to a lesser extent,...
s and drinking alcohol and also focuses on keeping fit. After about three months into the production when her voice is tiring from performing, she even gives up her social life, sometimes only communicating by notepad and fax. The rehearsal process is when Paige is most contented, using the valuable time to "delve and discover" without the need to feel embarrassed. She also never reads her reviews from critics, finding that it is not helpful to have too many opinions.
Paige has named reality television series such as Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
, which aim to find an unknown actor to play the lead role in a musical, as the greatest threat to theatre today, believing that "actors already striving in the theatre wouldn't dream of putting themselves on these shows". In a later interview, she questioned the seriousness of the actors auditioning for these types of shows: "you wouldn't put yourself up for one of those shows in case you got bumped off the first week and all your colleagues saw it". She has also expressed a wish for more new musicals to be put into production, instead of frequent revivals.
Stage roles
| Duration | Production | Role | Theatre | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–1970 | Hair Hair (musical) Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement... |
Member of the Tribe | Shaftesbury Theatre Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New... |
|
| 1973–1974 | Grease Grease (musical) Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,... |
Sandy | New London Theatre New London Theatre The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden... |
|
| 1974–1975 | Billy Billy (musical) Billy is a musical based on the novel and play Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall. The book was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the music is by John Barry, and the lyrics are by Don Black.-Production:... |
Rita | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,... |
|
| 1975–1976 | The Boyfriend | Maisie | Haymarket Theatre, Leicester | |
| 1978–1980 | Evita | Eva Perón Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in... |
Prince Edward Theatre Prince Edward Theatre The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster.The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet... |
|
| 1981–1982 | Cats Cats (musical) Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot... |
Grizabella Grizabella Grizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S... |
New London Theatre | |
| 1983–1984 | Abbacadabra Abbacadabra Abbacadabra is the name of a French children's musical based on songs from the pop group ABBA, originally produced for French television in 1983 by Alain and Daniel Boublil, but which was later also transferred to an English stage version and two other television programs.-French television... |
Miss Williams/Carabosse | Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith |
Rear of the Year Rear of the Year is a light-hearted British award for celebrities who are considered to have a notable posterior. It was created by publicity consultant Anthony Edwards and is organised by Rear of the Year Limited.-History:... |
| 1986–1987 | Chess Chess (musical) Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;... |
Florence Vassy | Prince Edward Theatre |
|
| 1989–1990 | Anything Goes Anything Goes Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London... |
Reno Sweeney | Prince Edward Theatre |
|
| 1993–1994 | Piaf Piaf (play) Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light... |
Édith Piaf Édith Piaf Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads... |
Piccadilly Theatre Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A... |
|
| 1994, 1995–1996, 1996–1997 | Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard (musical) Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the... |
Norma Desmond | Adelphi Theatre Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals... (West End) then the Minskoff Theatre Minskoff Theatre The Minskoff Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre, located at 1515 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan. It is now showing the musical The Lion King, based on the Disney animated film of the same name.... (Broadway) |
Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen... |
| 1998 | Le Misanthrope Le Misanthrope The Misanthrope is a 17th-century comedy of manners in verse written by Molière. It was first performed on 4 June 1666 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, Paris by the King's Players.... |
Célimène | Piccadilly Theatre |
|
| 2000–2001 | The King and I The King and I The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in... |
Anna Leonowens Anna Leonowens Anna Leonowens was an English travel writer, educator, and social activist. She worked in Siam from 1862 to 1868, where she taught the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. She also co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design... |
London Palladium London Palladium The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety... |
|
| 2003 | Where There's a Will | Angèle | Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Yvonne Arnaud Theatre The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, Surrey presents in-house productions which often tour and transfer to London's West End. Other performances include opera, ballet and pantomime. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, the company has two performance venues, a main theatre and the smaller Mill... then the Theatre Royal, Brighton Theatre Royal, Brighton The Theatre Royal, Brighton is a theatre in Brighton, England, United Kingdom presenting a range of West End and touring musicals and plays, along with performances of opera and ballet and a Christmas pantomime.-History:... |
|
| 2004 | Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Sweeney Todd (musical) Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond.... |
Mrs Lovett | New York City Opera New York City Opera The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and... |
Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... - Outstanding Actress in a Musical |
| 2007 | The Drowsy Chaperone The Drowsy Chaperone The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old... |
The Drowsy Chaperone/Beatrice Stockwell | Novello Theatre Novello Theatre The Novello Theatre is a West End theatre on Aldwych, in the City of Westminster.-History:The theatre was built as one of a pair with the Aldwych Theatre on either side of the Waldorf Hotel, both being designed by W. G. R. Sprague. The theatre opened as the Waldorf Theatre on 22 May 1905, and was... |
|
| 2011 | Follies Follies Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars... |
Carlotta Campion | Kennedy Center (Washington DC) then the Marquis Theatre Marquis Theatre The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr... (Broadway) |
Solo albums
| Year | Album title | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Sitting Pretty | First solo album release, issued by EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... |
| 1981 | Elaine Paige Elaine Paige (album) Elaine Paige is the second solo album from Elaine Paige, released in 1981. The album charted at #56 in May 1982 and was re-issued on CD in 1995 by Warner Music.... |
First album released on WEA Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... charted in the UK at #56 in May 1982 |
| 1983 | Stages Stages (Elaine Paige album) Stages is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1983 on the Warner Music and has been re-issued on CD. The album charted in the UK album charts at #2 in 1983.... |
Second album released on WEA Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... charted in the UK at #2 in 1983 |
| 1984 | Cinema Cinema (Elaine Paige album) Cinema is the forth solo album by Elaine Paige. The album was released in 1984 on Warner Music, peaking at #12 in the UK album charts. This album has been re-issued on CD.It was the second of Paige's recordings to be produced by Tony Visconti... |
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| 1985 | Love Hurts Love Hurts (Elaine Paige album) Love Hurts is the fifth solo album by Elaine Paige, released in 1985, on the Warner Music label. The album peaked at #8 in the UK album chart. The album has also been released on CD.... |
|
| 1986 | Christmas Christmas (Elaine Paige album) Christmas is an album Elaine Paige, released in 1986, the fifth and final album to be released on the label until the release of Piaf in 1994. The album reached number 27 in the UK album charts... |
|
| 1987 | Memories: The Best Of Elaine Paige Memories: The Best Of Elaine Paige Memories: The Best Of Elaine Paige is a compilation album by Elaine Paige, released in 1987, on the Warner Music label.This album covers Elaine Paige's career at WEA from 1981 up until 1986, with tracks from all of her five albums recorded for the label... |
Compilation album with material from albums recorded at WEA Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... ; includes one new recording. |
| 1988 | The Queen Album The Queen Album The Queen Album is a solo album by Elaine Paige. It was released in 1988 and peaked at No. 51 in the UK in November 1988. This is the only album from Paige to be released on Siren Records and distributed by Virgin Records... |
Issued on Siren Records, Virgin Vip Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny... label. Features songs previously recorded by Queen Queen (band) Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor... |
| 1990 | The Collection | Second compilation album with material from albums recorded at WEA Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... ; No new material. |
| 1991 | Love Can Do That Love Can Do That (album) Love Can Do That is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1991. It was Paige's first album released by RCA and marketed in Europe by BMG. Produced by Dennis Lambert and recorded at The Zoo in Encino, California. The album reached #36 in the UK album chart... |
Elaine Paige's first album on RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label... , reached #36 in the UK album chart. |
| 1991 | An Evening With Elaine Paige | Live recordings of her 1991 UK Tour |
| 1993 | Romance & the Stage Romance & the Stage (album) Romance & the Stage is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1993.It was produced by Peter Matz and recorded at CTS Studios, London. The recording features songs primarily taken from stage musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Annie Get Your Gun and Kismet.The album was released by RCA Records... |
|
| 1994 | Piaf | Songs featured in the musical Piaf |
| 1995 | Encore Encore (Elaine Paige album) Encore is the title of a solo album released in 1995 by Elaine Paige. The album peaked at #20 on the UK Albums Chart in July 1995.It is primarily a compilation of material from earlier recordings but also includes three new recordings, all taken from the musical Sunset Boulevard, the London... |
Compilation album with material taken from the WEA albums; 1981 to 1994. Includes three new recordings from the musical Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard (musical) Sunset Boulevard is a musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Based on the 1950 film of the same title, the plot revolves around Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on the... |
| 1996 | Performance | Live recordings of her 1991 UK Tour |
| 1997 | From a Distance From a Distance (Elaine Paige album) From a Distance is a compilation album released in 1997 by Elaine Paige.It is primarily a compilation of material from Love Can Do That and Romance & the Stage, but also includes "One Night in Bangkok" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" from Elaine Paige in Concert, as well as "From a Distance", recorded... |
A compilation of Love Can Do That and Romance & the Stage plus two tracks from the 1991 UK Tour |
| 1998 | On Reflection: The Very Best Of Elaine Paige On Reflection: The Very Best of Elaine Paige On Reflection: The Very Best of Elaine Paige is a compilation album by Elaine Paige, released in 1998.It is primarily a compilation of material from earlier recordings, including much of the same material as her earlier Encore album, but also includes the 1998 version of "Memory", taken from the... |
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| 2004 | Centre Stage: The Very Best Of Elaine Paige | Including 9 previously unreleased studio recordings and 3 live recordings |
| 2006 | Essential Musicals Essential Musicals (album) Essential Musicals is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 2006. The album was produced by Mike Moran, vocals were recorded at Air-Edel studio in London, orchestra backing recorded at The Hungarian State Radio Studios, Budapest. The album peaked at #46 in the UK album charts... |
A collection of songs from Musical theater, issued on Universal Music TV label, W14. Charted at #46 in UK album charts. |
| 2007 | Songbook | |
| 2009 | Elaine Paige Live Elaine Paige Live Elaine Paige Live is a live solo album by Elaine Paige, recorded in 2009 and released in 2009 to coincide with Paige's 40th anniversary concert tour.It was produced by Paige and the tour's musical director Chris Egan... |
Live recording made as part of Paige's tour celebrating 40 years since she first appeared in the West End |
| 2010 | Elaine Paige and Friends Elaine Paige and Friends Elaine Paige and Friends is a duet album from Elaine Paige, released on November 1, 2010. Phil Ramone produced the album for Rhino/Warner Bros Records. The CD debuted on the UK top 20 chart at #18. Paige toured the UK in concert in support of the recording in the beginning of 2011... |
Cast recordings
| Year | Album title | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Fresh "Hair" | Original London Cast Recording |
| 1974 | Billy | Original London Cast Recording |
| 1978 | The Barrier: A Love Story | 1978 London Studio Cast Recording |
| 1978 | Evita | Original London Cast Recording |
| 1981 | Cats | Original London Cast Recording |
| 1984 | Chess | |
| 1989 | Anything Goes | 1989 London Cast Recording |
| 1992 | Nine Nine (musical) Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½... |
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| 2000 | The King and I | 2000 London Cast Recording |
| 2011 | Follies | 2011 Broadway Revival Cast Recording |
Other albums and guest appearances
Elaine featured with the group 'The Colors of Love' on three singles in 1968/9 on the label 'Page One' with three records written by Mike Hazelwood and Alan Hammond.The group consisted of Elaine Paige, Jill Longstaff, Joan Knighton, Terry Pritchard, John Shepherd and Russel Stone.
POF060: I'm A Train / Up On A Cotton Cloud
POF086: Just Another Fly / 2010
POF124: Mother of Convention / Songs Mother Made
| Year | Album title | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Hatching Out | With the group Sparrow; lead vocals on "Don't Ask", "Many Things Are Clear", "Dream Song", Rainsun Song" and "Hello Goodbye". The last track was unreleased until the album was re-issued on CD in 1995. |
| 1998 | Songs from Whistle Down the Wind | Recording of the song "If Only" |
| 2000 | Michael Ball Michael Ball (singer) Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad... - Christmas |
Duet on "As Long As There's Christmas" |
| 2001 | Andrew Lloyd Webber — Masterpiece | Live recording of concert at the Great Hall of the People Great Hall of the People The Great Hall of the People is located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square, Beijing, People's Republic of China, and is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party of China. It functions as the People's Republic of China's... , Beijing, China. |
| 2010 | I Dreamed a Dream - The Susan Boyle Susan Boyle Susan Magdalane Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from ... Story |
Live duet with Susan Boyle |
Videos and DVDs
| Year | Album title | Other notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Lyrics by Tim Rice | Performances of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "I Know Him So Well" |
| 1998 | Cats CATS (film) Cats is a 1998 direct-to-video film of the long-running West End production of Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber himself personally oversaw orchestration for the film and called on Gillian Lynne, the original show's... |
Reprising her role as Grizabella |
| 1991 | Elaine Paige in Concert Elaine Paige in Concert (video) Elaine Paige in Concert was a video recording of a concert performance at Birmingham Symphony Hall, which was part of Elaine Paige's 1991 UK tour.... |
Live recording at the Birmingham Symphony Hall of 1991 concert tour |
| 1998 | Andrew Lloyd Webber — Celebration | Live performances of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Memory" |
| 2001 | Andrew Lloyd Webber — Masterpiece | Live performances of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", "The Heart is Slow to Learn", "Memory", "The Perfect Year", "As If We Never Said Goodbye", "No Matter What" and "Ni Yong You Wo De Wei Lai — Friends for Life" (The Chinese translation of "Amigos Para Siempre") |
| 2009 | Elaine Paige Live — Celebrating A Life On Stage | A live recording from Elaine`s `40th Anniversary Tour` including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", "Tomorrow", "Memory", "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien", "As If We Never Said Goodbye", "I Get A Kick Out Of You" and "Broadway Baby" |
External links
- Official website
- BBC Radio 2 - Elaine Paige at bbc.co.ukBbc.co.ukBBC Online is the brand name and home for the BBC's UK online service. It is a large network of websites including such high profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services co-branded BBC iPlayer, the pre-school site Cbeebies, and learning services such as Bitesize...
- Elaine Paige at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....