Andrea Stein Shines As Christine Daaé
Very rarely does one get the chance to meet and talk with an artist who appears to be born for the role they’re playing. Just as Hugh Jackman appears to be born to play Wolverine, and Rami Malek appeared to literally bring Freddie Mercury back to life, Andrea Stein seems to have been born to play Christine Daaé in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s celebrated adaptation of The Phantom Of The Opera.
The production, commissioned by Cloud Theatre - a professional English-speaking touring theatre company in Turkey - perfectly embodied everything that the classic tale represents: love, jealousy, magic, and the supernatural. Indeed, whenever Stein opened her mouth to release the beautiful sounds that the music expresses, there isn’t a better word than magical to describe its impact.
The role of Christine also seemed to be infused in Stein’s destiny. Growing up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, her parents took her to see a production of the show that had come to her hometown. “I made them take me back to see it seven times!”, she told me. “I started taking singing lessons as I wanted to sing like Christine”. There’s honestly nothing quite so wonderful as being able to witness somebody’s dreams finally coming true.
Although Andrea Stein’s dramatic training took place in New York, she is currently based in London, utilizing her skills in Adler technique, Michael Chekhov’s technique, Meisner, and Stanislavski. She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in an adaptation of the Chinese legend Quing Snake, and was also recently seen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare In The Park. With such an impressive and diverse range of skills and experience, Stein’s career is most certainly one to keep an eye on. I myself, however, will always be grateful to have seen her perform in the role of her dreams.
I ended by asking her how she would describe this wonderful endeavor of hers.
“It’s been a very demanding experience but also extremely gratifying, to be bringing this incredible show to so many kids. The audience's reactions have been extremely positive and welcoming. I’m really looking forward to what the future will bring, but this will be an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life!”