Sierra Boggess is no prima donna in 'Phantom of the Opera'

Broadway star Sierra Boggess continues her journey with Phantom of the Opera, this time starring as the diva Carlotta.

Summary

• Sierra Boggess stars as Carlotta Giudicelli in the 40th anniversary cast of 'Phantom of the Opera'
• She has previously appeared in the show on Broadway, in Las Vegas and at the 25th anniversary concert
• She previously starred in 'Phantom of the Opera' opposite Ramin Karimloo

After stints in the show on Broadway, in Las Vegas, and at the 25th anniversary concert performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Sierra Boggess has certainly given her all to Phantom of the Opera, in one of the greatest ingénue roles ever written – Christine Daaé.

But here Boggess is back in the show, this time as Carlotta Giudicelli, the prima donna who makes her entrance singing a high D from the (fictional) opera Hannibal and finds herself fighting for her career – and her life. Carlotta keeps a watchful eye on the fast-rising Christine, whom she views as a potential threat, but the role, says the 44-year-old Colorado native, is pure delight: “I’m seeing a musical I love through a whole different lens.”

Boggess was six when Phantom first opened on Broadway in 1988, and became aware of the show through the recording and then, of course, from the inside as the most widely seen Christine ever. That distinction, she says, comes from the global reach of the recording of the 25th anniversary London gala opposite Ramin Karimloo.

Revisiting the production as Carlotta reminds Boggess “why I wanted to do [Phantom] in the first place.” She gets a kick from entering from a crouching position behind the set, “rising with the scenery in a costume that must weigh about 50 pounds. I come down holding a severed head [in the opera-within-the-musical] and singing music at the top of my range. The thing is, you can’t hide in this part, or be less than you are. You have to be as incredible as the costumes and the set and the story and the music: I’ve never been in another show that makes you rise to the occasion the way this one does.”

Boggess’s skill set is formidable but she deflects all praise to her composer. “Andrew has written soul music in Phantom, by which I mean music that hits people in their full souls. I mean, we’re cheering on a musical with a central character who tries to kill Carlotta and who then brings Christine into his lair through her dressing room mirror, and then he sings ‘The Music of the Night’ and just by singing that number we’re like, ‘I want The Phantom and Christine to end up together.’ That’s the power of what Andrew has done. The music is transcendent; it surpasses everything.”

Boggess speaks with affection of watching Beatrice Penny-Touré follow where Boggess has led: Carlotta and Christine share little stage time together, so there aren’t many moments where the older performer has to listen to lines that once belonged to her. “From the moment I first met Beatrice, she came to my dressing room to introduce herself, and I felt really emotional. First of all, she’s so gorgeous – stunningly beautiful – and then I saw her perform and was like, ‘Oh my God, she is Christine.’”

The result has only reinforced Boggess’s awareness that “Christine wasn’t created for me: she’s not mine.” Has that been tricky for her fans who were in enthusiastic evidence at Boggess’s scintillating solo concert this past May at Drury Lane, with London’s then-Christine, Anna Zavelson, in the audience? “The fans have ownership over the show, and their favourites can be very subjective. But what I’m hearing now at stage door is that people still need this space – this show – to come to, and my job is the same: to give the fans the experience they have come for.”

Contracted through November, Boggess knows her renewed exposure to Phantom will end even as the show continues ever onward. In this world of gender-flipped productions where Old Deuteronomy, for instance, in Lloyd Webber’s Cats can be played by a woman Judi Dench on film, Melanie La Barrie at Regent’s Park over the summer), might she like to return someday as The Phantom? “Hmmm,” Boggess replies with a smile, letting the suggestion sink in. "I'll get back to you on that."

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This article first appeared in the October 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Sierra Boggess. (Studio photography by Michael Wharley, styling by Britt Taylor)