Sarah Brightman brings "A Christmas Symphony" to The Hanover Theatre

WORCESTER — It is a somewhat different departure for Sarah Brightman, the English soprano, actress and dancer who played Christine on stage in "Phantom of the Opera" and who brought her "Harem World Tour" to the DCU Center in 2004.

Brightman, the world’s biggest selling soprano, is crossing over to the United States to embark on a 17-stop tour with a Christmas-themed show accompanied by orchestra and a choir with a program that will include renditions of classics from the Christmas canon, holiday favorites, and her greatest hits.

"Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony" will be at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1.

"It's my first time doing this kind of show in the United States," Brightman said during a telephone interview when she was home in London pre-tour.

On the other hand, Brightman comes from a large family (the eldest of six children) and has always loved Christmas. In 2008 she released a holiday album titled "A Winter Symphony" that included "Silent Night" and "I Believe in Father Christmas" (or Santa, as he's known stateside).

And doing a holiday-style show is a way to help people feel normal once more, Brightman noted.

"We've all been through a peculiar time," she said of the pandemic. "I think people want to get back to the feel of normality again. Be entertained. Just be normal again."

"A Christmas Symphony Tour" was scheduled to get underway Nov. 26 at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and run through Dec. 21, wrapping up at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans.

Brightman had previously been touring would-wide with "Hymn In Concert," in support of her 2018 album "Hymn," an eclectic release with the title track a 1977 song by the revered but nowadays rather obscure English group Barclay James Harvest. Brightman's beautifully produced rendition of "Hymn" is sublime.

"Hymn in Concert" was to have come to The Hanover Theatre in October 2020, but the tour was shut down because of the pandemic.

Then, on Dec. 20, 2020, Brightman headlined her first-ever global livestream event, "Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony" from the historic Christ Church Spitalfields in London. Special guests were ex-husband and "Phantom of the Opera" co-creator Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as Aled Jones and Choir Gregorian. The songs included “Silent Night” and "Christmas Dream" (music by Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice.)

"Last year I was able to employ people again. Do something again," Brightman said. "I got such a great response. That's one of the reasons I wanted to carry it through the next year."

Complementing the U.S. tour, PBS is airing last year's "Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Special" on television stations throughout the holiday season. (She is one of the most popular artists ever to appear on PBS.)

The tour, however, will "have a lot more to it," Brightman said. Last year's special was under an hour. The touring show is about two hours.

Brightman is well known for spectacular shows that have been called "a feast for the eyes."

With the "Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony" touring show, besides the orchestra and choir, she's aiming for a certain ambience.

"One wants that look of Christmas — beauty and fun — that sort of feeling," she said.

As for the music, with a selection such as "Silent Night," "Everybody likes that," Brightman said. Similarly, "Oh Holy Night."

"I think it's going to be really great. It's just gonna be very different."

Touring the United States, on the other hand, will also have a feeling of familiarity.

She said she's toured the U.S. "Many, many times since about 1984 or '85. I've always appreciated my audience there. I've performed in arenas, stadiums, theaters. It's been a wonderful experience. In the United States they're very set up for this kind of thing."

In London during the pandemic, Brightman kept in touch with her family while working on her voice with her singing coach.

More recently, "I've been going to the theater again." she said. "All of us have been absolutely fine."

So now it's "a great time to celebrate with a show."

The COVID Delta variant is still out there in England and America, but Brightman said that they've taken precautions for the tour.

"We went through everything. Everybody has been doubly vaccinated and boosters and all of the those kind of things. We've all got to get back out there and live life again."

Brightman's recordings have over 180 gold and platinum awards in over 40 countries and she is the only artist to have simultaneously topped the Billboard dance and classical music charts.

She began singing and dancing at the age of 3 and possesses a unique vocal range of over three octaves. Her voice is sweet yet "ethereal," as one writer put it, with the ability "to create moods that devotees describe as otherworldly."

Brightman has also been described as a perfectionist.

Her early career included disco hit singles and an appearance in "Cats" on London's West End, where she met Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In addition to "Phantom of the Opera," she was on Broadway in Lloyd Webber's "Aspects of Love."

After successful years on the musical stage, and a divorce, Brightman decided to make a fresh start and worked with producer Frank Peterson as what has been called "a classical crossover artist." The first album was "Dive," a water-themed pop album that featured “Captain Nemo.” Next came the pop rock album "Fly" with its hit track “A Question of Honor” — with electronic, rock, classical strings and excerpts from the Alfredo Catalani opera “La Wally.” A subsequent single, “Time to Say Goodbye,” a duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli, became an international success selling 12 million copies worldwide. Later albums including "Eden," "La Luna," "Harem" and "Symphony" — all became chart topping Billboard hits and were accompanied by live world tours.

"Harem World Tour" at the DCU Center was described by Craig S. Semon, reviewing for Telegram & Gazette, as "an elaborate oasis of eye candy, classy singing and campy entertainment … Surrounded by eight exotic harem dancers frenetically gyrating to percussive, Middle-Eastern beats, Brightman (in the role of belly dancer queen) shook, shimmied and sang during the scorching opener, 'Harem.'"

It has been said that Brightman doesn't much care for the label "classical crossover," but she seemed all right with the term when asked about it.

"I don't think about it particularly. I understand why it was there back in the day. Different genres didn't really have one fit for people like myself. They put us on an area called crossover. It doesn't bother me particularly," she said.

Complementing her world tours, Brightman has sung at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

She said her "most unusual experience" performing was in Inner Mongolia where "a gentleman who made a lot of money had built a symphony hall in the countryside."

However, "It doesn't matter where you are — when you've got an audience and you're giving a great performance, it's just a joyous thing," she said.

Asked is she would ever perform in a musical again, Brightman said, "If I did I couldn't do one of the heavier musicals where I was on stage the entire time. I've been out of the mode for doing that for so long, so if I did, I'd do it very carefully. But never say never. Something might come up — (where I'd say) 'Oh God, I'd really like to do that.' "

She still likes to perform live, as evidenced by the "Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony" tour.

"I wouldn't do it (if I didn't feel that). Audiences really pick up whether a person is passionate on stage. They know," Brightman said.

"So I always say to myself, 'The day I don't feel like performing, I should stop.' It's a lot of work to do so you have to have a passion."

'Sarah Brightman: A Christmas Symphony'

When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1

Where: The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester

How much: Tickets are $45, $69.50, $85 and $150, with VIP packages available. (877) 571-7469; www.thehanovertheatre.org. Complete details of The Hanover Theatre's safety protocols can be found at https://thehanovertheatre.org/safetyprotocols

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sarah Brightman brings "A Christmas Symphony" to The Hanover Theatre