Fans of acclaimed singer-actress Sarah Brightman will soon get to hear her iconic voice live this February as she steps into the role of Norma Desmond in a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard.
Based on the classic Paramount film about the relationship between a screenwriter and a former silent film star, this adaptation of Sunset Boulevard will have its Asia premiere at Singapore’s Sands Theatre.
CNA Lifestyle recently spoke to Brightman about her preparation for the role as well as her illustrious career.
YOU’RE ONE OF THE BIGGEST STARS IN OPERA AND OPERATIC POP. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO EXPLORE THIS UNIQUE FUSION?
I am actually not a star in opera or operatic pop. I decided when I was young that, although I had been training as a classical singer, I didn’t want to go into the opera field directly.
I felt I was too eclectic in my taste in music and wanted more freedom. In what you call operatic pop, it’s really just a fusion of all the things I was doing and training with my voice classically.
So it was very natural – there was nothing very calculated about it.
OVER THE YEARS, HOW HAS YOUR APPROACH TO MUSIC AND PERFORMING CHANGED?
I have always taken it all very seriously. I think as I got older, it became more serious and deeper. With experience, you actually understand what you don’t know – so it’s a tougher route as you get older.
YOU’VE PERFORMED MANY MASTERPIECES AT MULTIPLE ICONIC VENUES WORLDWIDE. WHAT IS THE MOST MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE OR LOCATION?
I have been very privileged and lucky to have performed in really beautiful places but the one that jumped out a lot to me – because it was so different – was performing at the Chinese Olympic Games in 2008.
We were performing outside, and we were standing on top of this huge globe which was hovering in the sky. I have not had an experience like that, and I don’t think I will ever have an experience like that again. It was truly magnificent.
