World of Celebrity: Sarah Brightman actress, songwriter and dancer

Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960).Brightman is the oldest of six children of businessman Grenville Geoffrey Brightman (1934–1992) and Paula Brightman (née Hall). She was raised in Little Gaddesden, a village near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, and lived in John O'Gaddesden House in the village. At age three, she began taking dance classes at the Elmhurst School for Dance in Camberley, Surrey.and went on to perform in local festivals and competitions.At age 11, she successfully auditioned for The Arts Educational School, Tring Park, a boarding school specialising in performing arts.Although Brightman was teased by other students and attempted to run away, she nevertheless remained at the school. Later, she auditioned for the Royal Ballet in London but was rejected.Brightman continued to study dance, particularly jazz, as a pupil of choreographer Arlene Phillips. At 13, on 1973 Brightman made her theatrical debut in the musical I and Albert at the Piccadilly Theatre, London, playing one of Queen Victoria's daughters (Vicki).In 1977, she was recruited to lead Arlene Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip. More provocative than Pan's People, the group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts. Hot Gossip released a follow-up single, "The Adventures of the Love Crusader", six months later, but it failed to chart.Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back".In 1979, Brightman appeared on the soundtrack of the movie "The World Is Full of Married Men" and sings the song Madam Hyde.

Sarah Brightman is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she originated the role of Christine Daaé. The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in CD format in 1987 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.After retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist. She is often credited as the creator of this genre and remains among the most prominent performers, with worldwide sales of more than 30 million records and 2 million DVDs. She has established herself as the world's biggest selling soprano of all time.Her duet with the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, "Time To Say Goodbye", topped charts all over Europe and became the highest and fastest selling single of all times in Germany, where it stayed at the top of the charts for fourteen consecutive weeks breaking the all-time sales record, with over 3 million copies sold in the country.and subsequently became an international success with 12 million copies worldwide.She has now collected over 180 gold and platinum sales awards in 38 different countries.Brightman is the only artist to have been invited twice to perform at the Olympic Games, first at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where she sang "Amigos Para Siempre" with the Spanish tenor Jose Carreras with an estimated global audience of a billion people, and sixteen years later in Beijing, this time with Chinese singer Liu Huan and performing the song "You and Me" to an estimated 4 billion people worldwide.Apart from music, Brightman has begun a film career, making her major debut in Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), a rock opera-musical film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, And in summer 2009, she completed filming Stephen Evans' "Cosi" or "First Night" in which she plays the role of a conductor, opposite Richard E. Grant.In addition, she formed her own production company, Instinct Films, where her first film is in pre-production.Brightman ranks among Britain's music millionaires with a fortune of £30m (about US$49m).