Claire Moore (2 January 1960 in

Over Hulton Over Hulton is a suburb of Westhoughton within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies south west of Bolton. History The ancient district of Hulton, contained three townsh ...

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

) is an English soprano singer and actress, best known for her leading role as Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber's ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' and as Ellen in ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed roma ...

.''

Biography

Early life

The daughter of Peggy and Geoff Moore, the latter a jazz musician, she was educated at Hesketh Fletcher School, Atherton, and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

Sixth Form College, before training at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Career

Her early work includes appearing alongside

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

in the 1982 London production of ''

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

'' and playing the lead role of Audrey in the 1983–85

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

production of '' Little Shop of Horrors.'' In 1986, she was cast as the alternate Christine Daaé in the original cast of ''The Phantom of the Opera.'' She played three shows each week instead of Sarah Brightman. When Brightman left the production after a year, Moore then took on the role full-time. She was voted "favourite Christine" by the Phantom Appreciation Society. In 1989 she left the role to play Ellen in the London production of ''

''. From 2000 to 2001, Moore played Mrs Anna (as alternate for

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

) in the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

production of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

.'' She has also played

Fantine Fantine (French pronunciation: ) is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. She is a young '' grisette'' in Paris who becomes pregnant by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their chil ...

and Madame Thenardier in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

''; and also appeared in the musicals of

Bernard J. Taylor Bernard J. Taylor is a writer and composer of musicals and stage plays. His stage works have been produced around the world and translated into German, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish and Italian. He is also the writer of 14 novels and thre ...

. Apart from musicals, her work also includes opera, and acting roles with the McKellen/ Petherbridge Company's Royal National Theatre productions of ''

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...

'', ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

'', ''

The Real Inspector Hound ''The Real Inspector Hound'' is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit. By chance, th ...

'' and ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...

''. She is featured on albums including the original cast recordings of ''

'', '' The Phantom of the Opera – Highlights'', ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

'', '' Oliver!'' and ''

'', as well as ''The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber'', ''Leading Ladies'' and two solo albums of songs by

. Living and working in London, she returns regularly to perform at her home town at events such as Bolton Choral Union concerts. She was seen in April and May 2008 as a vocal coach on BBC TV's '' I'd Do Anything'', a role she previously undertook in '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' (2006) and '' Any Dream Will Do'' (2007). Claire reprised her role as vocal coach for '' Over the Rainbow'' in 2010. In 2011 she appeared in the Royal National Theatre production ''London Road'' at the

Cottesloe Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. Claire was the soloist in a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

special in the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in September 2012. She was accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She was due to return to the London production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' in September 2013, this time to play Carlotta Guidicelli, but her run was cancelled due to injury. In 2017 she played the lead role of Chris in ''The Girls'' at the Phoenix Theatre In the 2019 National Theatre production of ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Fol ...

'', she played former Follie girl Hattie Walker and sang one of the shows most popular songs, ‘Broadway Baby’. She followed this by playing the dual roles of ‘Miss Andrew/Miss Smythe' in the 2019 West End revival of ''Mary Poppins'', the run of which was stopped on 16 March 2020 by the COVID-19 outbreak. 2022, Claire starred in the World Premier of the Great British Bake off the Musical at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham. Playing the Role of a contestant called ‘Babs’. Which in February 2023 was transferred to the West End, Claire continuing to play the role with many of her co-stars from Cheltenham.

References

Other sources

Pirate who became a star of the Opera
''This is Bolton'', orig. ''Bolton Evening News'', 7 November 1992

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Claire 1960 births Living people English musical theatre actresses English stage actresses English women singers Musicians from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Singers from Manchester English sopranos