Sarah Brightman [Christine]

[cinty]

I'm wondering what people think of Sarah Brightman. I absolutely love her. She has slowly risen up to become my favourite Christine, (though Emmy is very close behind) I think she is beautiful, and she can handle all the singing so beautifully. I love her voice on the higher range. She's just so perfect for the role. When I first heard her, my reaction was "uh" and I didn't like her, but now I just love her. I've really grown to appreciate the pureness of her voice. I wish I could have seen her and Michael Crawford live! I love the fact that ALW wrote the role just for her, how sweet. :)
Perhaps I had better say that she ties with Emmy Rossum. :cd3: But anyway, just post your thoughts on her here.

[Christine Daaé]

She really is gorgeous. I want to be able to sing like she does! I envy her voice. I'm only just now getting to sing as high as she does -- she can hit an E above high C. Amazing, huh?

~ Zelda de le Fantôme

[cinty]

I know-she's beautiful. Whenever I hear her hit that E, I nearly fall out of my chair. It's incredible. Have you heard any of her other albums? I really want her "best of ALW" one.
This is my favourite picture of her.. because it always looks like she has been pricked with a pin or something. :D But she still looks lovely
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/cintie/sarahnew93.jpg

[Requiem]

Sarah Brightman is my favourite Christine by a mile. I love her voice, she can hit every note with such beautiful ease, in parts it doesn't even seem as though she has to try. Her looks were also perfect for Christine - she's such a dainty, pretty little thing, so innocent looking, even now, and she's in her 40's!

I first heard Sarah in Phantom of the Opera when I was really little. Since then, my sister and I have gotten almost all of her solo albums, and I must say, they are incredible! My favourites would be Eden ("Deliver Me", "Eden" oh those monks...), La Luna ("Scarborough Fair", "Here with Me", "Whiter Shade of Pale"), Dive ("Captain Nemo", "Johnny wanna Live", "La Mer"), and her newest album, Harem. "It's a Beautiful Day", "Free", "Beautiful", and "The War is Over Now" are my favourites. The words to "Beautiful Day" are so lovely and sad, from Madame Butterfly (the Japanese Opera). With every new day, your promises fade away. It's a fine day to see, but the last day for me, it's a beautiful day.

I actually went to see Sarah in concert for her Harem World Tour, and it was the best concert I'd ever been to! I was pretty close to Sarah too, just a few metres away, and she is so much smaller than she looks, lol! It was really colourful and entertaining and "A Question of Honour" was so disco and circus-like, I loved it.

So yeah, in case you can't see, I love Sarah and her music. She's so fantastic, she just has a brilliant voice. Emmy was ok, but she struggled with some notes, you could hear it. Sarah just breezes through all her songs. Minus, maybe "Nessum Dorma", but then, who the hell can hit that note easily, if you're not Pavarotti?

[Christine Daaé]

I love "Nessun Dorma"!

The thing about "It's a Beautiful Day" is that during the Madama Butterfly parts, she sings it a step or two higher than the original song. I'm a purist, so . . . *sings* "Un bel di, vedremo levarsi un fil de fumo, sull'estremo con fin del mare, e poi la nave appare . . ."

Whee!

Anyway . . . I love Sarah to death. Emmy struggles too much. I don't like it. But anyway, I won't rant about her. I love Sarah!

~ Zelda de le Fantôme

[ChristineDaae]

I love her, and even with all of the different and wonderful stage Christine's I've seen and heard, I think Sarah is still my favorite, with Rebecca Caine following close behind.

[cinty]

Oh my gosh requiem! You have seen Sarah live? You are so very lucky! that is one thing I would love to do. I agree with you about Sarah being still beautiful even though she is in her forties now. She's got such timeless features. That hair, I think, is one of her chief beauties, and she has lovely eyes.
I want to get those Sarah cd's now! I only really associate Sarah with PotO because I wasn't familiar with her before Phantom, but I can see that she does a lot of other stuff too. I will have to go on a Sarah soundtracks spree!

[Christine Daaé]

Post number 200! Whee! Wait . . . why do I feel old all of a sudden?

Yes, Sarah Brightman is the original ALW Christine, and for me the only ALW Christine. She is the definitive ALW Christine.

Maybe I can be the definitive movie Christine? But that's for another topic. *is dwelling too much on her screenplay*

Anyway . . . yeah. Sarah Brightman is my idol. She's the one who made me want to become a singer.

~ Zelda de le Fantôme

[cinty]

You have Christine features, Zelda. I think you will make a great Christine some day. And you evidently have the voice! When I read your opera thread, I finally understood why you knew so much opera for your screenplay! I had no idea how you knew it all, and just supposed you had done lots of research. I'm truly amazed!
Anyway! sorry for going off topic.
I think, Sarah has the originality, the beauty, and the voice, all of which make her THE Christine. I love Emmy Rossum very much too, but Sarah is the ALW Christine for me.
But apparently she is trying to leave the Phantom image behind her and wants to forget it all.
That is so wonderful th at she inspires you Zelda! :) How lovely! If I ever meet her, I'll tell her about you.

[Reza Khan]

I'm on the fence with her. I've heard a few songs of hers from PotO and I wasn't overly impressed, but maybe I heard her at a lower point. Everyone always seems so in love with her, so I wonder if I should be listening to something different.

But continue your worship, I just needed to throw that in there. :)

Elizabeth

[cinty]

Originally posted by Misconception
I'm on the fence with her. I've heard a few songs of hers from PotO and I wasn't overly impressed, but maybe I heard her at a lower point. Everyone always seems so in love with her, so I wonder if I should be listening to something different.

But continue your worship, I just needed to throw that in there. :)

Elizabeth
If you've only heard a bit of her, I'm not surprised you don't like her. When I first heard her, I thought she was awful. If you are an Emmy phan, she is an acquired taste. I am an Emmy phan, but now I love Sarah just as much, just from more listening to her voice, and coming to appreaciate it's true beauty. And also, her later albums are REALLY gorgeous. She's an immensely gifted singer.:D

[Christine Daaé]

Yes, her later stuff is much better than her earlier stuff, with the exception of POTO, of course. Of course, when I heard her later stuff, I loved her immediately.

And thanks, Cinty! I don't actually know these arias, but I did lots of research. But I do still sing opera, like stuff from Puccini's operas and Mozart's operas. Sometime I'll post a clip of me singing "Habanera" from "Carmen". But anyway . . . I'm getting off-topic.

Yes, Sarah is wonderful. However, I didn't like "Dive". Or her early Broadway stuff, except POTO.

~ Zelda de le Fantome

[cinty]

Ahh! I now have Sarah's "Eden" a nd "Time to say Goodbye". How amazing!!! She is so extraordindary!!! I love her voice so much.. she's like an angel with that fresh beautful touch. by the way Zelda I love your avatar.
Sarah is my singing idol. :D

[The_Persian]

I think Sara is a fantastic singer... I especially love the way she sings Pie Jesu! It is so pretty, and she does it with complete ease. She has an amazing range.

The only thing is, I don't think she makes a good Christine. That may sound crazy, and I don't think anyone will agree with me, but she doesn't seem innocent enough. I mean, she sings everything beautifully, but she seems... almost over qualified to play Christine. Christine was supposedly just discovered... how could she not have been discovered before with a voice that good?

I think Emmy does a better job portraying the innocence of Christie. I still think that SB has a better voice, but not how I imagined Christine to sound.

This is random, but does anyone know if ALW is still married to SB??

[cinty]

Oh no, they broke up many many years ago, sadly.
that is fine The Persian- you certainly have a good point, personally I think that SB's voice has a veyr youthful sound to it but you have a good point as well. Everyone has different opinions. :)

[Angel_Of_Music0_G]

Sarah Brightman is a great singer I listen the soundtrack of her all the time !She has a wonderful voice but so does Emmy Rossum I really like her too! There both great singers Its so hard to choose who is better?
Angel_of_MusicO_G

[Ms Christine Daae]

She IS Christine to me. Her voice, her looks, everything. The role was written for her. She is stunning in it. LOVE her.

[sunshine]

Love her to death she has to be the one and only original. She has the most beautiful and pure voice.... complete and honest phan of Sarah B. She is Christine, I agree the role was written for her. :D

[TeeJay]

Yes I agree, she did the part the best!

[lisalawless]

I love love love Sarah Brightman she is wonderful. I first heard her when I was 14 on the POTO orignal album. And totally fell in love with her voice. I had to find out more about her. She is so beautiful too. Her voice just soars. I love the way Michael Crawford and Sarah sound together. She is Christine!

I love her later work too, Eden, Timeless, Fly, La Luna and her recent album Harem. It was a dream come true when I got to see her live in La Luna and then again in Harem. She is great live and she puts on such a great show.

[eriks_protege]

Sarah Brightman is awesome. She can sing anything from pop to opera (real opera, I mean). She has a super wide range. She has this pure, sparkling tone, and an amazing vibrato. Hey, Sarah, can I have some of that?

[~::HpWiggumFan::~]

I like Sarah Brightman--she has the classical soprano voice. Her curls in the original musical are so pretty. I saw some of the clips in the DVD of the 2004 movie, and I was like "Wow. She's pretty good!".

So I read somewhere that her career went under three stages: (what's the name of the first one again?), Musical Theater and Solo Career. But still wondering...does she still do Musical Theater until know?

[masquerading rose]

The first stage one was dancing. She originally started out in ballet. She took dance lessons from the time she was three until she was elven when she attended a boarding school for theatre. She moved to a dance group called "Pan's People". She then moved to lead a mix danced and singing group called "Hot Gossip". She went solo, but wasn't as succesful as she was when she was with "Hot Gossp" (yet). She auditioned for "Cats" and got the role, and met her future ex-husband (Which we all know is Andrew-Lloyd Webber). She continued to star in many more of his musicals (even after they split), She went solo (again) after their divorce and released "Dive". She continued realeasing more albums, and they were flying from the shelves. She is no longer doing theatre, but is now doing theme songs for movies and is currently recording another CD due to be realeased in 2008. So the first stage in her career was dance. Wow, I know a lot about Sarah Brightman.

But I really liked her as Christine. Forget everything negative I said about her earlier this year. I have seen the light. lol.

[Victoria]

I LOVE her so much! She is amazing!

Nuff said :p

[masquerading rose]

If you look at Sarah's portrayal of Christine, try comparing it to other stage portrayals (not movies) and you can see so many similarites, appearance and voice and style included.

I think Sarah is also an amazing actress (she was recently in a slasher-film), she brings the appropiate emotion into each of her songs. For example, in love songs, she always gives the person she's singing with a look of pure, true, ever-lasting love.

Aaaaaannnnd she's so generous and caring. That's something a lot of singers lose sight of when they become famous. She is fabulous, gorgeous and all around perfect.

[angelgirl]

I never got to see her onstage, (either wasn't born yet or was too little,) but I've heard her on the OLC and she is my 2nd favorite Christine, right behind Emmy. Her voice is really good. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to hit her high notes and failed miserably. (Even though I'm a soprano.)
All in all, she is amazing!
A.G.

[MlleMusique]

I adore Sarah Brightman.

I adore everything she's done, whether it be trashy, elegant, Classical, pop, theatre or a fashion mishap. I've never come across an artist who's more diverse or memorable, and what I love most is that she never apologizes for anything she's done, even if looking back she had to feel embarrassed.

In my opinion, she is, as most always will be, the only ALW musical Christine. Vocally she is unsurpassed in clarity, purity and warmth. Visually she is ethereal, fragile and yet very spirited. Acting-wise she may not reach the depths of characterization of other actresses, such as Sandra Joseph (that's an extreme example), but there's something honest and childlike about her portrayal that is unique. And her interactions and chemistry with Crawford and Barton are unsurpassed, as far as Christine with the Phantom and Raoul. She is the only Christine I've experienced who I would be happy to end up with the Phantom or Raoul--and I'm a serious R/C fan!

She's absolutely unique, as a person and a singer, and I love her to death.

[EriklovesLea]

I have to admit, my first intro to Sarah was not POTO but other songs, mainly "Pie Jesu" from ALW's "Requiem". which by the way is gorgeous whether you are religious or not.:angel1:
I( must have heard her sing other things as I love music, but right now, my mind fails me. MOTN was the only POTO song I was familiar with until I saw the 2004 movie in 2008.
I was not greatly enamoured of her. She is decent, but other female classical singers, like Jessye Norman, Renee Fleming and some from WAY back do much more for my ear.
However,the first video I saw was of her being led through the mirror. I almost laughed. Her eyes were like saucers and I told my friends on another site last year that she looked like a deer in the headlights.:lmao: Come to find out that I was not the only one, this observation had been made long ago.
Anyway, I don't have anyone that I would list as favorite. Emmy was good, but I would like to hear some others before I make a final judgement.:sing:
Anne

[MlleMusique]

I have to say, this deer-in-the-headlights expression bashing is really starting to annoy me!

I was going to write a big rant, but seeing as all of you here are apparently Sarah fans, it would be a little pointless. I just feel the need to point a few things out...

Granted, comparing Sarah to other actresses in the part, it appears she can't achieve any 'realistic, emotive' facial expressions and therefore people deduce that she fails as an actress.

I read an interview with her once, talking about Phantom and I found some pretty surprising things in there. She basically stated that her interpretation of Christine was how she perceived women from the Victorian era to act--very fragile, melodramatic, etc. It seemed those expressionless expressions were actually intentional. And if one looks at videos of her live Phantom performances (yes, they do exist), there is more depth and far more emotion than the promo videos, which make even Crawford look static at times.

Furthermore, in the 1990s Sarah was involved in a good number of straight theatre plays in London and elsewhere. I find it hard to believe that someone who can only possess one facial expression would land main roles in drama ranging from period pieces to a psychological thriller!

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm having a go at everyone. I'm not. It just annoys me when people take what they see at face value. Yes, she's not the most raw, realistic actress to ever grace the Phantom stage, but her portrayal of Christine is unique and I, for one, really quite like it!

Thanks for the space....

[The Countess]

She obviously isn't the best actress (or at least in the promo videos), but she had one of the greatest of voices for Christine. When you're playing an opera singer, I think that that is the most imortant thing.

[Fallen Angel]

I have to say, this deer-in-the-headlights expression bashing is really starting to annoy me!

I was going to write a big rant, but seeing as all of you here are apparently Sarah fans, it would be a little pointless. I just feel the need to point a few things out...

Granted, comparing Sarah to other actresses in the part, it appears she can't achieve any 'realistic, emotive' facial expressions and therefore people deduce that she fails as an actress.

I read an interview with her once, talking about Phantom and I found some pretty surprising things in there. She basically stated that her interpretation of Christine was how she perceived women from the Victorian era to act--very fragile, melodramatic, etc. It seemed those expressionless expressions were actually intentional. And if one looks at videos of her live Phantom performances (yes, they do exist), there is more depth and far more emotion than the promo videos, which make even Crawford look static at times.

Furthermore, in the 1990s Sarah was involved in a good number of straight theatre plays in London and elsewhere. I find it hard to believe that someone who can only possess one facial expression would land main roles in drama ranging from period pieces to a psychological thriller!

I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm having a go at everyone. I'm not. It just annoys me when people take what they see at face value. Yes, she's not the most raw, realistic actress to ever grace the Phantom stage, but her portrayal of Christine is unique and I, for one, really quite like it!

Thanks for the space....

*claps* I depise any kind of Sarah bashing...you should hear me rant when I get going...

Anyway, I absolutely love Sarah! Her singing in Phantom, her other music, everything about her!

Has anyone seen her new(ish) movie, Repo! The Genetic Opera? I think her acting has improved a lot.

[A_Single_Rose]

I've seen and heard several clips from the movie and I must say Sarah Brightman is awesome and absolutely gorgeous as Blind Mag. I can't get enough of Chase the Morning. It's beautiful. I've never really seen her act other than in Repo and a few Phantom clips, but she isn't half bad.

I do have to say that the deer in the headights look does annoy a bit, but her voice more than makes up for it.

[Hidden Away]

She's really a good Christine: vocal and acting. The people just always take pictures of her when she looks like the deer in the headlights number. I just wish that I was my mom to see the show with Sarah....*jealous glare!*

[MlleMusique]

I just wish that I was my mom to see the show with Sarah....*jealous glare!*

:eek4:

Your mum saw the show with Sarah?
Grrr! *joins in jealous glare*

Damn, now I have to be envious of your mum and that person on phansonline who saw Sarah in Aspects of Love...!

Does she have any photos? Program? Memories? *grovels*

[Hidden Away]

No she didn't save it, it was probably the last date that my parents went on before I was hospitalized and their attention was all on me so they couldn't send much time together after that show. Sooo...Yea that's what we get for living in New Jersey...easy access to NYC...

She just said that she was amazing...that's all. No details no nothing.

[blueeyedsuzie]

I am a big fan of Sarah Brightman, she was my first Christine ever! My mom brought me the CD after she saw the show. Since then I've been of Sarah's for a long time. Seen her in concert, and met her once. She's a lovely, talented woman!

[A_Single_Rose]

I am a big fan of Sarah Brightman, she was my first Christine ever! My mom brought me the CD after she saw the show. Since then I've been of Sarah's for a long time. Seen her in concert, and met her once. She's a lovely, talented woman!

You had the chance to meet her? How? That's amazing. For a woman her age, Sarah's still going strong. Her voice has altered much, but it's still grade A quality.

[musiquedelanuit]

Sarah Brightman is my favorite Christine, singer, and even celebrity in the universe!! there isn't a thing she's done that i haven't liked. she's truly heavenly