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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 and made her first professional appearance on stage in 1964. 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. The role won her 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, according to the Guinness Book of Records. 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 in film and 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 20 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.

Personal life

Paige has neither married nor had children, although she had an 11-year affair with the lyricist Tim Rice 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".

During the run of Sunset Boulevard at the 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. She continued her role in the production 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". 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".

Paige has sometimes been described as "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 was perceived to be a cold side to her personality was also noted by Logan, but Paige has expressed that a common misconception of her is that she is confident and very serious. Another editor perceived her to be "refreshingly down-to-earth" and "very friendly".

Paige is a patron of a number of charities. She supports the Breast Cancer Care and The Lupus Trust, after being diagnosed as a Lupus sufferer in 1989. Paige has been involved with The Children's Trust for 15 years, as well as choosing one other charity to support every year, such as Red Cross. She also supports Everychild, for whom she made a publicised trip to Peru in February 2003.

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 Hammerstein more difficult and formal to sing, and described it as challenging. She concluded, "it's a quieter kind of singing, more controlled, not belting it out".

Paige has said of the physical demands of performing in theatre: "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 products 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. 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.

Stage roles

Discography

Solo Albums

Cast recordings

Other albums and guest appearances

Videos and DVDs

References

1. Gans, Andrew. Diva Talk: Meet Broadway's New Norma, Elaine Paige. Playbill, 1996-09-11. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
2. ^ Fox, Sue. Relative Values: Elaine Paige, singer, and her sister, Marion. The Times, 2004-05-23. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
3. Cite error: The named reference know was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
4. Bertodano, Helena de. Tunes are child's play. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
5. Cite error: The named reference rock was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
6. ^ Hardy, Rebecca. Elaine's close curtain call. The Daily Mail, 2004-05-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
7. Cummins, Fiona. Elaine's Secret Breast Cancer Battle. Daily Mirror, 2004-05-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
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11. Dykes, Andy. The 5-Minute Interview: Elaine Paige, Singer, actor and broadcaster. The Independent, 2007-05-14. Retrieved on 2008-01-18.
12. ^ Cite error: The named reference walesonline was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
13. ^ Ellis, James. Elaine Page Interview. Metro, 2001-01-05. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
14. Burne, Jerome. Living with lupus. The Times, 2004-06-07. Retrieved on 2008-01-06.
15. Elaine Paige. everychild.org.uk. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.
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External links

• Official website
• BBC Radio 2 - Elaine Paige at bbc.co.uk
• Elaine Paige at IMDb
• Elaine Paige at the Internet Broadway Database
• UK Breast Cancer Campaign official website
• Elaine Paige appearing on BBC's The One Show

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• Living people
• Deaths
• English female singers
• English mezzo-sopranos
• English musical theatre actors
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People from Barnet