Elaine Paige Talks EVITA, Tennis Aspirations, Embarrassing Moments, and More

Elaine Paige has graced the West End and Broadway stages in multiple hit musicals, including EVITA and CATS, but the actress originally had her sights set on a completely different profession- sports.

"Miss Hamer, my school headmistress, destroyed my dreams of being a professional tennis player," recalls Paige. "I was 15. She asked if I wanted to do A levels and I said, 'No I want to be a tennis player.' There was a pause and she said: 'But, Elaine dear, you can't even see over the net.' It was the first time I had realised I was short and not like other people."

Though Paige describes this as the worst thing anyone has ever said to her, it was a blessing in disguise. "The woman did me a favour: after that I started concentrating on singing and acting."

When asked about the best moment of her life, she says it has to be when she originated the role of Eva in EVITA on the West End. "The opening night of Evita in 1978 was extraordinary. I had won that part in the face of worldwide competition and I knew the show was going to be a hit. It was just so unusual and unique. The standing ovation went on so long that night that it was slightly embarrassing. At one stage I didn't want to go back on for another bow, but the manager literally shoved me on from the wings. My friend Dustin Hoffman escorted me to the after-show party on a boat on the Thames and we all had a fantastic night."

With the glamor and excitement of theatre always come the unglamorous behind-the-scenes life- and Paige certainly experienced this even in EVITA.

"Every night during Evita when I had to climb a ladder to a platform to sing Don't Cry For Me Argentina. A stagehand had to get under my skirt and climb the ladder with me to take the weight of the Christian Dior spangly dress. It was so hazardous that I would have fallen without help. It was often a different person each night and it was so embarrassing to have a young man somewhere so private." She calls this her most embarrassing moment ever.

Elaine Paige OBE 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, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. 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. For this role, she won 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. 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 sporadically in 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 due to her skill and longevity. She has released 22 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.

In 2014, Paige celebrated her 50 years in show business. Paige announced on her official website a "Farewell" concert tour and a new career-spanning album 'The Ultimate Collection' to mark this milestone in her career.

Source: Daily Mail