Hello again, it has been some time since I stopped blogging due to work commitment. Regardless of how busy, my passion for musical never fades. Once again, I am obsessed by the all-time favorite greatest love story in the world, "Love Never Dies". To appreciate the musical, one must understand the background of the main fictional character. Christine Daae is one of them.
Christine was born in Sweden and was raised by her father (whom she called Daddy Daae) as her mother died when she was six. To earn a living, Daddy Daae played the violin while Christine sings at fairs. They are discovered at one of these fairs by kind-hearted Professor Valériuwho took them to Paris and provided for Christine's education. As a child without mother, Christine was extremely close to her father who told her Scandinavian fairy-tales of which the "Angel of Music" tale was her favourite.
Christine entered the Paris Conservatoire to be a professional singer but lost all her passion for singing after 4 years. When she arrived at Opera Garnier, no one appreciated her singing except Erik (the Phantom) who found beauty in her voice and fell in love with her. Erik told Christine that he was her "Angel of Music" and coached her in singing. When another singer fell ill during one performance, Christine was asked to take her place. Christine 's angelic voice captured everyone's attention including her childhood sweetheart, Raoul who was also present. The story continues in the Phantom of the Opera musical.
Christine's age however, was a mystery. According to the novel, she was around 20 years old when she first met Raoul but The Phantom of the Opera 2004 film altered her age to 15 or 16. Personally, as conservative Asian, I prefer her to be 20 years old when she first met Raoul. Even Christine's father name was also a mystery as Christine simply called him "Daddy Daae" in the novel.
Now that you know the background of Christine Daae, comes the question of which female artiste is your favourite to play this role in the musical?
(1) Sierra Boggess
This pretty American theater actress and singer (born in 1982) has previously been starred in this female leading role of Christine Daaé in the 2006 Las Vegas production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. She was also starred in the 2010-2011 West End (UK) production of Love Never Dies.
Watch Sierra's amazing performance of Love Never Dies at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXzfGf0gJss
(2) Emmy Rossum
This young American actress and singer-songwriter (born in 1986) was assigned the leading role of Christine Daaé in the 2004 The Phantom of the Opera movie.
Watch Emmy's lovely "Think Of Me" performance in the 2004 The Phantom of the Opera movie at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utdu_fTRP1U
(3) Anna O'Byrne
This Australian lady graduated with BMus (Hons) in classical voice from the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. She played the role of Christine Daaé in the Love Never Dies musical down under and was later invited to join the company of The Phantom of the Opera and making her West End debut at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, UK.
Watch Anna's stunning performance of Love Never Dies at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPvxOrsGwy0
Certainly, the perquisite to play the role of this leading female protagonist are:
1. Have suitable vocal range as Christine is a Soprano singer.
2. Have youthful look (Christine was portrayed between 15 to 20 years in The Phantom of the Opera and 20+ to early 30s in Love Never Dies) .
3. Able to perform ballet dancing as Christine also had some ballet training.
I have made my choice after watching the performances of the 3 female artistes and have selected my favourite based on her stunning performance which is full of expressiveness on stage. Perhaps you would like to make a guess on which one.
Another thing to ponder about is the tough decision made by Christine on whether to sing for the Phantom or leave Coney island with her husband, Raoul immediately upon learning that the one who hire her is the Phantom. Raoul had been a bad husband who gambled heavily until Christine had to sing to repay his debts. The Phantom, on the other hand had no right to interfere with Christine's life after her marriage. Ladies, what are your views?
