Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón in the first production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public.
Elaine Jill Bickerstaff[2][3] was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, where her father Eric worked as an estate agent and her mother Irene was a milliner.
She was successful in the second audition as Elaine Paige, appearing on stage during the UK tour of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd in 1964,[5] playing the role of a Chinese urchin.
[23] After months of acting and singing auditions,[9] Hal Prince offered the still relatively unknown Paige the title role of Eva Perón in the first stage production of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Evita.
[17] Just prior to her success in Evita, Paige had strongly considered becoming a nursery nurse, but after she sang for Dustin Hoffman, he made her promise that she would continue in theatre work.
[32] In 1981, in the Tales of the Unexpected episode "The Way to Do it", Paige plays Susie, a girl working in a small casino trying to keep guests happy and finally eloping with the main character.
[33] Paige went on to portray some of Lloyd Webber's most notable female characters, creating the role of Grizabella in the original production of Cats from 11 May 1981 to 13 February 1982.
[38] She reprised the role of Grizabella for the video release of Cats in 1998,[39] one of only two performers in the film from the original London cast; the other was Susan Jane Tanner as Jellylorum.
[26][45] From 1986 to 1987, Paige appeared as Florence in the stage production of Chess,[17] a role that earned her a second Olivier Award nomination, this time in the category, Best Actress in a Musical.
[5] The demanding production required her to sing 15 songs, some in French, and to be on stage for 2 hours 40 minutes in total, and forced her to leave early due to exhaustion.
[50][51] Paige stepped briefly into the role of Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's West End production of Sunset Boulevard in 1994, when Betty Buckley was taken ill and had to undergo an emergency appendectomy.
[52] London critics were largely won over by Paige in a performance that "not only wrings out every ounce of dramatic action but delivers some unexpected humour as well"[52] and she took over the part full-time the following year.
[53] During the run of Sunset Boulevard at the West End's Adelphi Theatre in 1995, Paige discovered a lump in her breast, prompting her to consult her doctor, who at first reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about.
[55] Paige transferred to the New York production of Sunset Boulevard to make her Broadway debut at the Minskoff Theatre on 12 September 1996,[18] staying with the show until it closed on 22 March 1997.
[56] On the Sunset Boulevard set in Broadway, the staircase steps had to be raised six inches (15 cm) in order to accommodate Paige's short stature, or it would have been hard to see her behind the banister.
[52] To her, the moment was not exploited to its fullest potential, so she approached the show's musical director, David Caddick, and expressed her wish to hold the word "home", to which he agreed.
[60] The episode saw her visiting parts of the world where plays she had starred in had been set: the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina where Eva Perón had given speeches; the Parisian haunts of Edith Piaf including a meeting with her collaborator Charles Aznavour; and Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.
[4] Paige sang at the opening of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and then made her Los Angeles concert debut at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
[29] She next sang the role of Mrs Lovett in the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in March 2004,[69] earning positive reviews from critics,[70] and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
In an unfavourable review, the show was described by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian as "a chilly, alienating listening experience" and a "rare wrong move" on the part of Radio 2.
[76] Paige also focused on television appearances, playing Dora Bunner in the 2005 ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's A Murder Is Announced in the Marple series, before performing a guest role as a post mistress in Where the Heart Is.
[82] Paul Taylor from The Independent was less impressed and wrote "a miscast Elaine Paige manages to be unfunny to an almost ingenious degree as the heroine's bibulous minder".
[92] Paige played the role of Carlotta Campion in the Kennedy Center production of Follies in May and June 2011 at the Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, DC, receiving favourable reviews for her performance of the showstopper, "I'm Still Here."
[97] In June, Paige made her debut at G-A-Y's Heaven nightclub in London and in November, she joined the inaugural Australian cruise of the performing arts on the MS Radiance of the Seas.
In May 2015 Paige was part of VE Day 70: A Party to Remember, a special concert which took place at the Horse Guards Parade, and was broadcast live on BBC1 and BBC Radio 2.
In April 2016, it was announced that Paige would perform a number of concerts – on successive weekends rather than intensive schedule of a regular tour – entitled "Stripped Back".
The tour initially ran from October until December 2016 and featured music by Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Burt Bacharach, Leonard Cohen, Sting, Elton John and Lennon-McCartney.
[99] In 2017, she appeared in pantomime at the London Palladium as Queen Rat in Dick Whittington alongside Julian Clary, Nigel Havers, Paul Zerdin, Gary Wilmot, Charlie Stemp, Emma Williams, Ashley Banjo and Diversity.
[17] Regarding the pressure of having to be in a fit condition to perform in theatre each night, she remarked "you wouldn't want to read the letters people write when you're off and they're disappointed – it's so awful, the guilt one feels for not being there".
[22] As part of a rigorous routine before musical roles to look after her voice, Paige stops eating dairy products and drinking alcohol and works hard on her fitness.