Phantom of the Opera Tokyo: Kiwi star Tayla Alexander lands lead role in international production

Soprano singer Tayla Alexander, 22, is performing as a lead in Phantom of the Opera.

Tayla Alexander has long been noted as a rising opera star to watch and it seems she’s just landed her big break.

Portraying Christine in Phantom of the Opera, the 22-year-old Kiwi is currently in Tokyo where she is performing her lead role in front of sold-out crowds for a total of 16 shows.

Helping a Japanese audience to experience the magic of The Phantom Of The Opera with a Kiwi twist, Alexander is working with Stewart and Tricia Macpherson who have been producing the show since 1989.

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Having produced the production in many countries including the UK and London’s West End - where it received an Olivier Award nomination, Alexander is no doubt learning many industry skills from her peers before she embarks on creating her very own debut classical music album later this year. The rising star will also attend the Royal Academy of Music in September 2024.

Alongside Alexander is British star Ben Forster playing the Phantom as well as industry alum Paul Potts - an English tenor who first shot to fame in 2007 after winning the first series of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. Potts is playing the captivating Faust.

Taking to Instagram, Alexander has shared snippets from her first few days in Tokyo including a vlog (video blog) in which she showed fans what food, drinks and sightseeing experiences they had that day.

“Join me on my first full day in Tokyo Japan as I grasp my bearings before things get hectic,” she said adding, “Kicking off with a tech rehearsal and sound check run all day tomorrow.”

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The video featured a visit to Hamarikyu Gardens - a public park on the site of a 17th-century Shogun villa, a stroll through the busy streets and a vending machine coffee.

It comes after the singer shared a post on December 27 telling fans the new year is “starting with a bang”. As well as costume fittings and official rehearsals beginning for the show, she said she will celebrate the time after the 16-date run with some summer gigs before taking on another role in Le Comte Ory covering Emma Pearson as the countess and doing the role of Alice in May-June.

She added: “Some very exciting news coming soon about the next steps after that. How lucky am I! Bring on 2024.”

Alexander first gained recognition from the industry in April 2020 after sitting down with her dad Dwayne to record a video of them singing together. After uploading the clip to YouTube she caught the attention of German producer Daniel Thomas Loitz and went on to sign a multi-million dollar deal to make music in Europe.

Since then she’s performed around New Zealand, including as a studio artist with the New Zealand Opera, sung with SOL3MIO at Spark Arena, trained at the Auckland Opera Studio and earned her degree in music - and she hopes her story can “give a little bit of hope to other artists who are trying so hard to break through and to make a way, especially in a post-Covid world”.