Phantom Of The Opera's lead actress, who grew up in Singapore, excited about homecoming show
While stage actress Grace Roberts is British, she considers herself an honorary Singaporean.
So, returning to the Lion City feels like a homecoming for the London-based performer, who plays the female lead role of Christine in the upcoming Singapore run of the popular musical The Phantom Of The Opera.
Her family migrated to Singapore from Britain when she was a six-week-old baby, and she lived here until she was 18, attending local schools and eating local food. Even after leaving what she calls her home city, she returns quite often.
Ahead of the show's opening night at Marina Bay Sands' Sands Theatre on May 9, Roberts tells The Straits Times: "It always feels great to be back.
"I have so many fond memories here, from watching Imax movies at Science Centre Singapore to playing around the water fountains at Bugis Junction. I have visited the Singapore Zoo at least 50 times and loved its water play area when I was younger."
She also enjoys her satay, chicken rice, char kway teow and Old Chang Kee curry puffs.
Roberts, who is in her late 20s, has been playing the titular antagonist's love interest on The Phantom Of The Opera's international tour since 2024. She has performed in Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, and in Mumbai in India.
This will be The Phantom Of The Opera's fifth run in Singapore. It was first performed here at the Kallang Theatre in 1995 and then at the Esplanade Theatre in 2007. Live entertainment company Base Entertainment Asia presented the musical at Sands Theatre in 2013 and 2019.
In a full-circle moment, she first saw the 2013 production as a teenager, and fell in love with its story, music and costumes.
With music by legendary British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the show premiered in London in 1986. It features some of the most iconic numbers in musical theatre, such as its haunting title track, the spellbinding The Music Of The Night and the operatic ballad All I Ask Of You.
"The show was so grand," recalls Roberts. "Everyone has heard of it, and everyone knows the organ, the chandelier. As a young performer, you just aspire to be part of something so epic. Being able to sing Think Of Me and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again every night, it feels so amazing."
She adds: "I think I have been practising for this role for more than five years in my bedroom."
British actress Grace Roberts as Christine in The Phantom Of The Opera musical. PHOTO: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA SINGAPORE 2025
One of her character's defining moments is belting out the ending high note with no accompaniment at the title track's climax. She says: "I get a big chord from the orchestra, sing three Cs, and then I am on my own. I have to hit it well, because it is so exposed. Thankfully, the stage lighting is on me, so I can't see the audience that much. It removes some nerves because it is like there is nobody there.
"I sometimes do get nervous, but I have done so many shows now that it feels like second nature."
Her family members still live here and have links to Tanglin Trust School, a British international school located in Portsdown Road.
Roberts moved here from Britain when she was only six weeks old, and she lived here until she was 18. PHOTO: JENNIE SCOTT PHOTOGRAPHY
Her father, Mr David Roberts, still teaches English at the school. Her mother, Mrs Sian Roberts, who is retired, used to teach German there. Both are in their 50s. Her older sister Megan, now a director in a professional services firm in Singapore, also attended the school.
Grace Roberts, who attended Parry Primary School (now known as Xinghua Primary School), was from Tanglin Trust School's 2014 cohort during her teen years.
She played the female lead Audrey in its production of the musical Little Shop Of Horrors, and was awarded the Tanglin Alumni of the Year Award for Excellence in the Arts in February.
Roberts (left) in a production of the musical Little Shop Of Horrors at Tanglin Trust School, located at Portsdown Road, in 2014. In the show, she played the female lead Audrey, opposite her schoolmate Kyle Portnoy (right), who acted in the role of Seymour. PHOTO: TANGLIN TRUST SCHOOL
When she turned 18, she moved to London to train at the Royal Academy of Music and graduated in 2018. Roberts, who is engaged to fellow Britain-based theatre actor Simon Whitaker, played The Young Wife in the off-West End production of Hello Again in 2019, and appeared in a concert version of the musical Les Miserables in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel, in 2018.
Roberts (front row, in front of cake) celebrating her seventh birthday at a McDonald's restaurant in Hougang with her schoolmates from Parry Primary School, and some family friends. Parry Primary School merged with Xinghua Primary School in 2007. PHOTO: COURTESY OF GRACE ROBERTS
The soprano credits her classical training to her former singing teacher Hawk Liu, a Singaporean who gave her vocal lessons when she was 15 to 18.
"He shaped my technique and artistry, introducing me to cantatas composed by Bach and works by Mozart. He really pushed me, and I would not have known I could do what I can do, had he not been my teacher. I genuinely believe he is responsible for my voice's trajectory, and we are still in touch."
Singapore's melting pot of cultures and diverse arts scene were also instrumental in shaping her artistic journey, she adds.
Roberts - who is also the writer and editor of Pixie Dust And Passports, a travel blog which focuses on theme park- and Disney-related content - says: "Growing up here, I saw ballet and opera shows, zitar performances, gospel choirs and Disney On Ice extravaganzas. There were small local shows as well as Wicked and Les Miserables.
"There was so much available to me that would not necessarily have been the case had I been living in another country, and I am thankful for all of it."
Book It/The Phantom Of The Opera
Where: Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue When: May 9 to June 22; 8pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 2pm (Saturdays), 1 and 6.30pm (Sundays) Admission: $93 to $298 via Marina Bay Sands (str.sg/eZfK) and Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to sistic.com.sg)
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