November 21, 2024 • 12 mins
The world-renowned diva talks with us about being "the original Christine" before that was an oft-used phrase, what she's thinking about while singing, whether she's seen "Step Brothers," and her upcoming "A Christmas Symphony" show here in Omaha on Dec. 1st.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scott Vorge.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh man, it brings tears to my eyes hearing her
saying maybe the most beautiful Christmas Carol of them all,
all Holy Night, which I hope is on the set
list when that incredible diva, Sarah Brightman comes to Omaha
for a performance of a Christmas Symphony on Sunday, December
(00:42):
one at the Orpheum. Ticket Omaha dot com or Sarah
Brightman dot com for ticket information. It is my pleasure
to welcome on to the radio right now, Sarah Brightman. Sarah,
welcome to Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Oh, thank you very much. How are you all there?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I hope cool.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It's good, It's it's wonderful to have you here. Everything
is fine. I'm curious, growing up in England, did the
American Midwest ever cross your mind? And if so, what
was that picture like in your mind about far away
places like Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Oh, I think beautiful plains, apple pie Land, just beautiful,
just beautiful expand because you know, it's wonderful here and
I love my country, but it is very small. We're
all cramped together, so I would feel and I would
get seen when I come into horribly various where you are.
(01:39):
It's sort of lovely, lovely expanse and I'm kind of
pretty really, that's how I feel.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, we're excited to have you here. I don't know,
pardon my ignorance, whether you've ever been to Nebraska before.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I think perhaps I was way back because I told
through you know most of America, so I will have
done back in the past.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well, I wanted to try and crawl inside that beautiful
head of yours this morning here, Sarah, and try and
get your thoughts on a few things, including the show
A Christmas Symphony. What was Christmas like for you growing
up and hoping and presuming that you had nice Christmases
growing up? How do you bring that feeling onto the
(02:26):
stage with this show?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Do you know I was very lucky growing up, because
I remember, whether it was right wrong, my Christmases were
absolutely runerful. How I come from a very large family,
very ordinary family. I've got five five siblings who obviously
all married and had children, and natural hats have children,
so our family Christmas tables is large. We have such
(02:54):
a twenty two twenty five people, accid Traditionally we hold
very close to our hearts around the Christmas period and
we do all of these traditional things that you know,
we've always done. It's actually, I mean, it's that's what's
been beautiful about bringing being able to bring a Christmas
(03:15):
symphony show to different parts of the world because it's
a very emotional time for me and I'm sure very
emotional for other people, especially audiences. So it's one of
the hardest things that took me to bring together because
I felt very responsible for four people's emotions. So I
(03:36):
walked together a lot of collectively a lot of beautiful
songs from this kind of a time of the year.
And you know, there are beautiful classical pieces which have
that wonderful sort of Christmas feeling about it. There are
some religious pieces, there's non religious pieces says party time
(03:57):
for a beautiful ballads. And I've also taken into consideration
a Christmas time for some people it's quite a sad time.
Maybe they've lost somebody who they all sort of remember
through the period and myth so there's there's that within
it as well. And I also, you know, I love
(04:18):
choirs and orchestra as I think that you kind of
expect that for a music believing So I have a
big orchestra, a big choir, and I've walked in beautiful Landing,
which brings in all that creates the atmosphere, sphere called
the sphere, and what people are watching on the stage.
(04:39):
It's a very personal show for me. This and I
like to go every year in different parts of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Sarah, it's it's wonderful having you on the program, just
from a technical standpoint, because I know not everyone's listening
while wearing headphones. I sense that you're on a speaker phone.
Is there any chance that you could pick up that
handset and talk to us? It might be a little
it more clear here this morning. I want everyone to
be able to understand every single word we're hearing this morning.
Is that possible. If not, that's okay. But I can
(05:10):
bring this to me that would be great. Yeah, that
is that's so much better. Thank you so much. It's
funny because anytime that you're interviewed, everyone always says, oh,
it's Sarah Bridgman, the original Christine in Phantom of the Opera,
and it has such a beautiful ring to it now.
Of course, when all that was offered to you, as
(05:31):
you and Andrew Lloyd Webber were literally and figuratively making
beautiful beautiful music together. The idea of being the original
Christine and Phantom was nothing. It was just an idea.
It was a notion. What was that time period like
for you? Seeing that explode in popularity over all these decades,
It was a very.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Intense time, but beautifully intense in that, you know, I
was lucky enough.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I mean, I feel I.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Feel very lucky to have this.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
To have a composer.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Writing for your voice, it doesn't happen very often. And
I think it was my voice that set off the
whole idea of doing the fashion of the opera because
of the sort of like the heroine in it.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Or whatever, and.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
It's and it's a love story as well, and I
would need to have any idea of what this would
mean in the sort of musical world for years to come.
And it was sort of explosive when it when it
came came out, and there was a lot of pressure.
But the beautiful thing is I sometimes go to see it,
(06:42):
you know, I take a niece or I take some
friends to what I've never seen it whatever, And I
just love watching watching this, this beautiful show. And also
my part that the different women that take it on
and bring their own sort of gift to it, and
I feel very very privileged to be the original Christine.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
What are you thinking about as you're belting out those
high notes at the end of the titular song Phantom
of the Opera and you culminate with that incredible high note.
But you you've of course sung this so many times,
so the audience's memorize is mesmerized by what you're doing.
What are you thinking about in there? Are you thinking about,
like what you're going to eat after the show, or
(07:27):
what you have going on next weekend? What's going through
your head during that moment?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Well, there's never time when you're when you're singing to
think about what you're easy off the show, because it's very,
very difficult to think and it takes huge amount of
focus on concentration.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I think that end note there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Is I think we're talking an or I can't remember,
but it's high and so it's it's an interesting thing
because you have to be very very committed to the
song to reach that note at the end, and the
note has to have beauty in it, but desperation and
madness and all of those things. So it's sort of
(08:12):
build up through the song. And you have to be really,
really concentrated, So I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Really, it's a journey speaking of desperation and madness. As
we're talking here with Sarah Brightman. Another one of your
most beloved songs that I can't wait to hear live
here in Omaha is time to say goodbye for some audiences.
That was made popular by Will Ferrell and John c
Riley in the movie Step Brothers. Have you seen that performance?
And of so, what do you think about it?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Do you know? I haven't seen that performance, so I'm
not even sure I knew that much about it.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
So I'm going to have to have a look.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Oh my gosh, please in the next couple of weeks
if you get I don't know if you ever just
sit around, heat popcorn and watch movies, but you should
see Stepbrothers at least the end of it. It's beautiful.
They pay so much trip you to that song in
the strangest, weirdest way. And then when I have a chance,
because I get a chance to introduce you from the
stage at your show here at the Orphume on Sunday,
(09:09):
December first, our radio station is honored to assist in
presenting the show. I'm going to ask you if you
saw it. So that's your homework, if I may be
so bold, over the next couple of weeks. Okay, all right,
well it will be.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
It will be a prescible homework because I love a
wonderful Well.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I got to tell you what I like from your canon, Sarah,
and that is the album Eden. The song only an
Ocean Away is incredibly special to me. And your cover
of Queens who Wants to Live Forever is so beautifully haunting.
Why did you choose that song?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I really enjoy not all of Queen's work, but for
some of it, and that's particular.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You know, you should.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
We love music, and as singers, we would like to
be able to sing every every song that we really enjoy,
but you can't. Your voice don't always suits that that
type of song or whatever. So apart from singing them
in the in the shower or listening to them, whatever
device you're using.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I'm very careful about picking.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Songs that I feel I can bring something to that
my voice could be suited to.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
In some way.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And I always felt that who Wants to Live Forever?
With something that I could do and record and also
sing live, So that's really how it came about, apart
from it being a beautiful message and a very very
sort of poignant piece of music.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, absolutely, and you sound amazing on it. And as
a big Freddie Mercury fan, I wouldn't think anyone else
could do that song justice, but you blew it out
of the water, Sarah, as of course, as you know
you do with everything that you sing. That's why I'm
so excited as we are here on News Radio eleven
ten Kfab to assistem presenting Christmas Symphony Sunday, December first,
(11:02):
on stage live at the Orpheum Theater featuring Sarah Brightman.
Ticket Omaha dot com or kfab dot com slash Contest.
We've got an opportunity for you to meet Sarah Brightman
and get a one night's stay at the Farnham Hotel
downtown as well as dinner for two at the Dynamite
Woodfire Grill to see this show kfab dot Com slash
contest Sarah. We ask our favorite guests on this program
(11:25):
to say a line for us that we feel is
the best thing to hear first thing in the morning. Now,
the line is, good morning, honey, I made you pancakes
for breakfast. But because you're Sarah Brightman, would you be
so kindness to say, good morning Phantom, I made you
pancakes for breakfast.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Okay, here we go.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Good morning Fansion, I made you pancakes for breakfast.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
That is the most classy stack of pancakes anyone's ever
made for us. Sarah, save travels to Omaha. We'll see
you here in just a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
It. Thank you so much for a lovely.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Interviews Scott Voise Mornings nine to eleven, Our News Radio
eleven ten kfab
Scott Vorge.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh man, it brings tears to my eyes hearing her
saying maybe the most beautiful Christmas Carol of them all,
all Holy Night, which I hope is on the set
list when that incredible diva, Sarah Brightman comes to Omaha
for a performance of a Christmas Symphony on Sunday, December
(00:42):
one at the Orpheum. Ticket Omaha dot com or Sarah
Brightman dot com for ticket information. It is my pleasure
to welcome on to the radio right now, Sarah Brightman. Sarah,
welcome to Omaha.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Oh, thank you very much. How are you all there?
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I hope cool.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
It's good, It's it's wonderful to have you here. Everything
is fine. I'm curious, growing up in England, did the
American Midwest ever cross your mind? And if so, what
was that picture like in your mind about far away
places like Nebraska.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Oh, I think beautiful plains, apple pie Land, just beautiful,
just beautiful expand because you know, it's wonderful here and
I love my country, but it is very small. We're
all cramped together, so I would feel and I would
get seen when I come into horribly various where you are.
(01:39):
It's sort of lovely, lovely expanse and I'm kind of
pretty really, that's how I feel.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Well, we're excited to have you here. I don't know,
pardon my ignorance, whether you've ever been to Nebraska before.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
I think perhaps I was way back because I told
through you know most of America, so I will have
done back in the past.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well, I wanted to try and crawl inside that beautiful
head of yours this morning here, Sarah, and try and
get your thoughts on a few things, including the show
A Christmas Symphony. What was Christmas like for you growing
up and hoping and presuming that you had nice Christmases
growing up? How do you bring that feeling onto the
(02:26):
stage with this show?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Do you know I was very lucky growing up, because
I remember, whether it was right wrong, my Christmases were
absolutely runerful. How I come from a very large family,
very ordinary family. I've got five five siblings who obviously
all married and had children, and natural hats have children,
so our family Christmas tables is large. We have such
(02:54):
a twenty two twenty five people, accid Traditionally we hold
very close to our hearts around the Christmas period and
we do all of these traditional things that you know,
we've always done. It's actually, I mean, it's that's what's
been beautiful about bringing being able to bring a Christmas
(03:15):
symphony show to different parts of the world because it's
a very emotional time for me and I'm sure very
emotional for other people, especially audiences. So it's one of
the hardest things that took me to bring together because
I felt very responsible for four people's emotions. So I
(03:36):
walked together a lot of collectively a lot of beautiful
songs from this kind of a time of the year.
And you know, there are beautiful classical pieces which have
that wonderful sort of Christmas feeling about it. There are
some religious pieces, there's non religious pieces says party time
(03:57):
for a beautiful ballads. And I've also taken into consideration
a Christmas time for some people it's quite a sad time.
Maybe they've lost somebody who they all sort of remember
through the period and myth so there's there's that within
it as well. And I also, you know, I love
(04:18):
choirs and orchestra as I think that you kind of
expect that for a music believing So I have a
big orchestra, a big choir, and I've walked in beautiful Landing,
which brings in all that creates the atmosphere, sphere called
the sphere, and what people are watching on the stage.
(04:39):
It's a very personal show for me. This and I
like to go every year in different parts of the world.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Sarah, it's it's wonderful having you on the program, just
from a technical standpoint, because I know not everyone's listening
while wearing headphones. I sense that you're on a speaker phone.
Is there any chance that you could pick up that
handset and talk to us? It might be a little
it more clear here this morning. I want everyone to
be able to understand every single word we're hearing this morning.
Is that possible. If not, that's okay. But I can
(05:10):
bring this to me that would be great. Yeah, that
is that's so much better. Thank you so much. It's
funny because anytime that you're interviewed, everyone always says, oh,
it's Sarah Bridgman, the original Christine in Phantom of the Opera,
and it has such a beautiful ring to it now.
Of course, when all that was offered to you, as
(05:31):
you and Andrew Lloyd Webber were literally and figuratively making
beautiful beautiful music together. The idea of being the original
Christine and Phantom was nothing. It was just an idea.
It was a notion. What was that time period like
for you? Seeing that explode in popularity over all these decades,
It was a very.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Intense time, but beautifully intense in that, you know, I
was lucky enough.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
I mean, I feel I.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Feel very lucky to have this.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
To have a composer.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Writing for your voice, it doesn't happen very often. And
I think it was my voice that set off the
whole idea of doing the fashion of the opera because
of the sort of like the heroine in it.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Or whatever, and.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
It's and it's a love story as well, and I
would need to have any idea of what this would
mean in the sort of musical world for years to come.
And it was sort of explosive when it when it
came came out, and there was a lot of pressure.
But the beautiful thing is I sometimes go to see it,
(06:42):
you know, I take a niece or I take some
friends to what I've never seen it whatever, And I
just love watching watching this, this beautiful show. And also
my part that the different women that take it on
and bring their own sort of gift to it, and
I feel very very privileged to be the original Christine.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
What are you thinking about as you're belting out those
high notes at the end of the titular song Phantom
of the Opera and you culminate with that incredible high note.
But you you've of course sung this so many times,
so the audience's memorize is mesmerized by what you're doing.
What are you thinking about in there? Are you thinking about,
like what you're going to eat after the show, or
(07:27):
what you have going on next weekend? What's going through
your head during that moment?
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Well, there's never time when you're when you're singing to
think about what you're easy off the show, because it's very,
very difficult to think and it takes huge amount of
focus on concentration.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I think that end note there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Is I think we're talking an or I can't remember,
but it's high and so it's it's an interesting thing
because you have to be very very committed to the
song to reach that note at the end, and the
note has to have beauty in it, but desperation and
madness and all of those things. So it's sort of
(08:12):
build up through the song. And you have to be really,
really concentrated, So I don't know what to say.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Really, it's a journey speaking of desperation and madness. As
we're talking here with Sarah Brightman. Another one of your
most beloved songs that I can't wait to hear live
here in Omaha is time to say goodbye for some audiences.
That was made popular by Will Ferrell and John c
Riley in the movie Step Brothers. Have you seen that performance?
And of so, what do you think about it?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Do you know? I haven't seen that performance, so I'm
not even sure I knew that much about it.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
So I'm going to have to have a look.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Oh my gosh, please in the next couple of weeks
if you get I don't know if you ever just
sit around, heat popcorn and watch movies, but you should
see Stepbrothers at least the end of it. It's beautiful.
They pay so much trip you to that song in
the strangest, weirdest way. And then when I have a chance,
because I get a chance to introduce you from the
stage at your show here at the Orphume on Sunday,
(09:09):
December first, our radio station is honored to assist in
presenting the show. I'm going to ask you if you
saw it. So that's your homework, if I may be
so bold, over the next couple of weeks. Okay, all right,
well it will be.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
It will be a prescible homework because I love a
wonderful Well.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I got to tell you what I like from your canon, Sarah,
and that is the album Eden. The song only an
Ocean Away is incredibly special to me. And your cover
of Queens who Wants to Live Forever is so beautifully haunting.
Why did you choose that song?
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I really enjoy not all of Queen's work, but for
some of it, and that's particular.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
You know, you should.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
We love music, and as singers, we would like to
be able to sing every every song that we really enjoy,
but you can't. Your voice don't always suits that that
type of song or whatever. So apart from singing them
in the in the shower or listening to them, whatever
device you're using.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I'm very careful about picking.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Songs that I feel I can bring something to that
my voice could be suited to.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
In some way.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
And I always felt that who Wants to Live Forever?
With something that I could do and record and also
sing live, So that's really how it came about, apart
from it being a beautiful message and a very very
sort of poignant piece of music.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, absolutely, and you sound amazing on it. And as
a big Freddie Mercury fan, I wouldn't think anyone else
could do that song justice, but you blew it out
of the water, Sarah, as of course, as you know
you do with everything that you sing. That's why I'm
so excited as we are here on News Radio eleven
ten Kfab to assistem presenting Christmas Symphony Sunday, December first,
(11:02):
on stage live at the Orpheum Theater featuring Sarah Brightman.
Ticket Omaha dot com or kfab dot com slash Contest.
We've got an opportunity for you to meet Sarah Brightman
and get a one night's stay at the Farnham Hotel
downtown as well as dinner for two at the Dynamite
Woodfire Grill to see this show kfab dot Com slash
contest Sarah. We ask our favorite guests on this program
(11:25):
to say a line for us that we feel is
the best thing to hear first thing in the morning. Now,
the line is, good morning, honey, I made you pancakes
for breakfast. But because you're Sarah Brightman, would you be
so kindness to say, good morning Phantom, I made you
pancakes for breakfast.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Okay, here we go.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Good morning Fansion, I made you pancakes for breakfast.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
That is the most classy stack of pancakes anyone's ever
made for us. Sarah, save travels to Omaha. We'll see
you here in just a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
It. Thank you so much for a lovely.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Interviews Scott Voise Mornings nine to eleven, Our News Radio
eleven ten kfab
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