Sarah Brightman

[Angel]

Greetings, all

Well, I think the topic of this thread should be fairly obvious: Sarah Brightman, the original Christine Daae. Love her? Hate her? Indifferent?

Personally, I quite like her. At first I wasn't too keen on her voice - I found it too vibrato-y and too dramatic (more like Carlotta, I suppose ) - but she's started to grow on me.

Plus, she's absolutely gorgeous. I want her hair!

[LittleLotte394]

My thoughts exactly, Angel. You pretty much just took the words straight out of my mouth . I first heard her sing at my last birthday party (Phantom-themed, of course), when my aunt played the OCR . Like you said, her voice is kind of high-pitched and dramatic, but now that I've listened more, I enjoy it. I personally like the way she sings "Angel of Music, you decieved me.." etc. in Down Once More.

[Angel]

I'm glad someone agrees, LittleLotte!

She has her good and bad points, I think, like anyone. My mum calls her an 'acquired taste'. I'm still not too fond of her PONR (mostly because she drowns out Crawford ), but her title song is legendary, especially the very low and very high bits. I personally think her cadenza kicks butt over Emmy's.

[Simple Rose]

lol I am definitely the strangest POTO fan ever.

I'm not a huge fan of Sarah Brightman OR Michael Crawford. Both voices are far too nasal for me... I can get over vibrato-overload because that's just the way opera works, but I don't know. And... don't hurt me... but I don't think she's all that pretty lol I was actually kind of scared when I first saw pictures of her! Those big eyes and round face just don't do it for me.

Even though it's one of those "Life Goals" of every phan, I would rather see my local (Canadian) production or the Tour production than the original cast. Steve Barton does have an incredible voice, however. Hmm.. perhaps I should start a thread about him

[Angel]

I started out hating SB and quite liking MC. Then I went through a stage of being quite ho-hum about them both. But now, I'm quite the OLC fan And I agree - Steve Barton had an amazing voice ... I'm so sad he died

I won't hurt you if you don't think she's pretty I mean, she scared me a bit in POTO pictures (and in that old title song music video with Steve Harley!) but when she's just herself, with toned down make-up, I think she's gorgeous

Ah, the joy of diverse opinions!

[raoulsgem]

Sarah Brightman got me into Phantom of the Opera! We heard the OLC recording in chorus class and I loved it since. So yeah I do like her, but I haven't seen many pictures of her.

[Angel]

Sarah was my first Christine, too If you want to see some pictures, raoulsgem, well ... V

As Christine ... and a more recent one.


I have more ... but I think this'll do for one post

[Jaycee]

Well, I think Sarah Brightman's really pretty but personally i'm not a huge fan of her voice. The whole vibrato thing kind of annoys me. I haven't heard the whole original recording but I've heard the theme song and I liked Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler's version better. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

[Angel]

Each to their own My sister and I argue about this a lot. She likes Gerry and Emmy's more modern and emotional take on the music, while I prefer the more classically correct Crawford and Brightman. I think it all comes down to taste. One of my phriends literally can't stand listening to Sarah for too long because of the vibrato in her voice, while I have trouble listening to Emmy for a long time.

A thought: how do you think she'd be as Carlotta? ::ponders::

[Jaycee]

You knoow, I always thought she'd be the perfect Carlotta! My sister (who I'm proud to say is an RC phan, thanks to my forcing her to watch the movie) and I were listening to Sarah Brightman's version of the theme song and when it got to the high notes, My sis was like "She sounds like Carlotta!". She always agrees with me *grin*

[Angel]

I wish my sister always agreed with me sometimes ... but then I wouldn't have any excuse to rant at her

I think it would be a little weird seeing her as Carlotta simply because I'm so used to her singing Christine (hey, the part was written for her!). But she definitely has the range and the right tone for her voice. Especially now as she's quite a bit older ... she could have played Carlotta in the movie and made it work (although Minnie Driver was absolutely awesome, IMO).

But saying that, I think she's more of a performer than an actress, if you know what I mean. In clips I've seen of her on stage, she doesn't seem like an amazing actress. I think she acts more for the audience/camera than for her character, as I see it. (Hmm ... sound like a certain diva we know? )

Great. Now I'm going to debate this in my head all day.

[Jaycee]

well, when i say she'd be good as Carlotta, I'm really only thinking of her voice. I haven't actually seen her perform but i think she has quite a good "Carottaish" (yes that is a word....because i said so!)voice. But i also agree with you that Minnie Driver was very good as Carlotta, althoug it wasn't actually her singing (or maybe i'm mixed up and she wasn't the one acting...argh! I always forget these things)

[Angel]

Heh ... Carlottaish - I think that's my new favourite word

And yeah, Minnie Driver was the actress who played Carlotta in the movie and was dubbed by Margaret Preece, who I believe once played Carlotta on stage (but don't quote me on that!). Preece has a cameo role in the film - she is the Confidante in Il Muto (the purple one). Listen to her solo - she sounds exactly the same as Carlotta ... for rather obvious reasons.

[The Black Domino]

I love Sarah Brightman- but more as a singer than as a Christine, even though if it were not for her I might have not been a Phantom Phan, but anyways I still love her and she is my favorite crossover singer.

[Pam]

Sarah Briaghtman IS Christine to me. The role was written for her and no one else performs it like she does...

BTW, this is my first post!!! Hello everyone!!! *waves*

[Jaycee]

Heh, I think your mom was right when she called her an "acquired taste", angel! I'\ve found that the more I listen to her, the more I start to like her. Now if I could just get to like any of ther phantoms she sings with so I can actually listen to her title songs! I'm not crazy about Michael Crawford, to be honest and the one from that music video that you posted in the other thread angel, which is also the version of the ALW greatest hits cd is just terrible. I hat the way he does the "Sing my angel of music" It's practically monotone. That's the one thing GB did right IMO, but that 's for another topic.

[Angel]

I don't know if she recorded the title song with anyone other than Crawford (and Banderas ) ... I adore Sarah's title song on the OLC ... I think it's one of her best songs on that particular cast recording.

[Hi-chan]

I like Sarah Brightman. She was actually my second Christine, but she's milestones better than Emmy could ever DREAM of becoming! I especially like the way she sings the title song. Oh, man, can you say "totally wicked awesome?" Especially those high notes...XD That's some great stuff.

But, you know, I've always liked the title song with Brightman and Crawford a heckuva lot better. The movie version gets kinda blah after a while, not to mention that it's missing a verse. Plus, in the OLC, the instrumentals for the title song are just a tad bit cooler. I think the instrumentals in the movie version, cool as they are, seem rather overdone at times, like, just kinda "in your face", you know?

I also like her Think of Me waaaay better than Emmy's....the way she sings it just rocks. Although, I have pondered on whether or not her voice was too experienced for the role of Christine the ingenue...quite ironic. But she makes the character look (& sound) really sharp.

I have to admit, image-wise, Emmy's mah gal, but that's another story completely. ^_^;;

Anyway, bottom line: Sarah Brightman OWNS the character of Christine.

[Angel]

Hi-chan, my sentiments exactly. Sarah kicks Emmy's butt, vocals-wise, and there is no comparison between the OLC and movie title song. None at all ::hates the movie version instrumental especially the electric guitars grrr:: Ahem.

As for her sounding too experienced ... well, she does have a mature voice, but I still think it sounds much more appropriate to a student of Erik than Emmy's does. Besides, ALW!Christine is older than movie!Christine, isn't she? Like in her twenties instead of sixteen? Bleh.

Just a minor squee ... my mum gave me Sarah's La Luna album the other day ... yayness

[Hi-chan]

A small little tidbit: I have heard Sarah singing things other than Phantom. ^_^ She has an incredible voice...

Actually, I heard her sing waay before I even got the OLC recording of PotO. ;D My friend gave me this CD with a few of her favorite Sarah Brightman songs and said "Here put this on your computer so you can listen to it." 'Course I don't listen to it that often, but every once in a while, I'll get in the mood and listen to a few, just because she's cool that way. XD

And now that you mention it, Angel, I think she was a little older when she played Christine...don't quote me on that, because I'm not too sure, but I know she was definately older than Emmy.

[Angel]

Just looked it up ... Sarah was twenty-six when she originated the role of Christine Daae on West End. Since then, the youngest ALW!Christine has been Amy Nuttal, who was sixteen and apparently excellent (however, she may have been the alternate or understudy -- I'm not sure). The oldest was either Lisa Vroman or Jill Washington (not sure) who played the role at age forty-six. Generally stage Christines tend to be approximately thirty years old, I believe ... they favour the more mature voice for the role.

[Hi-chan]

angel said:

Generally stage Christines tend to be approximately thirty years old, I believe ... they favour the more mature voice for the role.

I really don't blame them! I don't blame them at all. ;D

Another small note: On YouTube.com, someone actually had footage of Sarah Brightman and the original cast of PotO...!...don't know how they got it, tho'... I found three videos in particular that I saved to my favorites because I liked them so much: the first one was Sarah singing Think of Me, the second was Sarah & Michael Crawford singing the title song, and the third was Sarah & Steve Barton singing All I Ask of You. ^__^

The quality of the videos is not all that great unfortunately, but this is the original cast we're talking about, so the awesome vocals more than make up for it.

[eriksprotege]

I love Sarah. She's superb. Crystalline tone, near-perfect technique...and a much better actress than a certain Ms. Emmy Rossum, I can tell you!

She's gotten better over the years, too. I found a clip on youtube of her singing WYWSHA during a concert (I think it was Harem), and it was perfect. Beautiful tone, perfect technique, and heart-wrenchingly sad.