FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Elaine, Sierra & The Phantom

This week we are jumping off from where we left off earlier this week with the fantastic Elaine Paige CELEBRATING 40 YEARS concert DVD with another masterful performance by the bravura belter...

Elaine Paige, the first lady of the British musical theatre performs the first version of the impossibly romantic song that eventually became the title song of the Andrew Lloyd Webber PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel LOVE NEVER DIES which recently opened in the West End and is due to open on Broadway in November. This early version of the song, with lyrics by Don Black and then planned for a quite different PHANTOM sequel titled THE PHANTOM IN MANHATTAN, is called “The Heart Is Slow To Learn” and is enchantingly performed with particular dedicated conviction by Paige in this Chinese MASTERPIECE concert appearance recorded a few years ago as part of an Andrew Lloyd Webber retrospective.

Additionally, you, too, may particularly enlightening to compare this version to the one sung in LOVE NEVER DIES by that show’s strong Christine Da’ae, Sierra Boggess. Check out this clip for the Glenn Slater lyrics and soprano take on the track which is taken from the Jonathan Ross show a few weeks ago on which she appeared alongside, and was accompanied by, the composer himself.

That’s all for this week, and remember if you would like to see a particularly fun, hilarious, bizarre or just all-around excellent performance from the past highlighted here be sure to send us a link! Until next week...