Rebecca Caine

Rebecca Caine (born 25 November 1959) is a Canadian light lyric soprano, and musical theatre performer.

Caine was born in Toronto, Ontario and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

She is the daughter of Australian statistician Geoffrey Watson and the granddaughter of British constitutional law scholar Sir William Ivor Jennings.

Caine currently resides in London.

Caine's career has been divided between opera and musical theatre.

She made her West End debut at the age of 19 in the role of Laurey in Oklahoma!.

She then sang the role of Eliza in My Fair Lady on a national tour.

While making her debut at Glyndebourne as Amor in L'incoronazione di Poppea, she was asked to join the Royal Shakespeare Company where she created the role of Cosette in Les Misérables.

After a successful West End run, she joined the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera to play Christine opposite Michael Crawford as alternate (performing 2 shows a week) when original Christine Sarah Brightman left the show and was replaced by the original alternate, Claire Moore.

When the rights to a Canadian production of Phantom were secured, producer Garth Drabinsky aggressively pursued Caine to reprise the role in Toronto.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, who greatly admired Caine's portrayal of Christine in the London production, also strongly suggested she take the role.

At the time, Caine was very close to signing a contract to star in another West End show.

Ultimately, she chose Phantom and relocated to Toronto and also spent time in New York in early 1989 for principal cast rehearsals with director Hal Prince.

The Canadian production of The Phantom of the Opera premiered on September 20, 1989, at the restored Pantages Theatre, with Susan Cuthbert playing Christine two performances per week as Caine's alternate.

The show broke then box office records for advance ticket sales, and ran for just over ten years.

During her run in Toronto, she joined the Canadian Opera Company to make her North American operatic debut in the title role of Alban Berg's Lulu.

This led to offers from numerous international opera companies ranging from Claudio Monteverdi to Peter Maxwell Davies, including Pamina, Despina, Susanna, Aminta (Il re pastore), Vixen, Michaela, Musetta, Ophelie, Leila, Marguerite, Violetta, Julietta (Bohuslav Martinů) and Adina for companies such as the Canadian Opera Company, Scottish Opera, English National Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Spoleto Festival, Opéra de Nice, Vlaamse Opera, New Zealand Opera, National Theatre of Prague, and Opera North.

In 1996, Caine made a guest appearance on The Future Sound of London's album Dead Cities, performing operatic vocals on the song "Everyone in the World Is Doing Something Without Me".

In 2006 she performed as Hanna Glawari in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow for Opera Holland Park in London in 2006.

On October 7, 2006, Caine reunited with her former cast colleagues from the original London production of Les Misérables to sing "One Day More" after a performance in celebration of the show's 21st anniversary making it the longest running musical in the world.

In May 2009, Caine made her Chicago debut in the Chicago Opera Theater's production of Benjamin Britten's Owen Wingrave.

The original cast reunited again in 2010 to celebrate the show's 25th anniversary at the O2 Arena in London.

In December 2010, Caine returned to the musical theatre stage as Lady Raeburn in Salad Days produced by Tête à Tête.

In May 2011, Caine played Ottavia in a jazz adaptation of The Coronation of Poppea directed by Mark Ravenhill.

In the summer of 2012, Caine played Baroness Elsa Schraeder in the Sound of Music at the Kilworth House Theatre in Leicestershire.

The production also featured Helena Blackman as Maria and Jan Hartley as Mother Abbess.

In March 2013, Caine played Lady Vale in Darling of the Day at the Union Theatre, London, marking the show's UK premiere after an initial 31-performance run on Broadway over four decades previously in 1968.

From November 2014-January 2015, Caine played Katisha in The Mikado at London's Charing Cross Theatre.

In April 2015, Caine appeared as the Mother Abbess in a production of The Sound of Music in Lebanon.

In December 2015-February 2016, Caine joined the Asolo Repertory Theatre Company in Sarasota, Florida making her straight acting debut as Raquel De Angellis in Living On Love.

The following year she performed the role in a UK tour of the show from July–September 2016.

Caine appeared at the Sheffield Crucible in the world premiere of the new musical Flowers for Mrs Harris in the role of Lady Dant/Mme.

Colbert from May to June 2016.

In addition to her work with opera and theatre companies, Caine continues to perform concerts and solo cabaret performances throughout Britain and North America.

Caine has also taught for multiple years at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Greenwich.

Caine made her second appearance in a play from February–March 2018 as Mrs Chasen in Harold and Maude, alongside Sheila Hancock and later Linda Marlowe as Maude, at Charing Cross Theatre.

Caine returned to the role of Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music between December 2018-January 2019 at the Pattihio Theatre and Strovolos Municipal Theatre in Cyprus.

From September–October 2019, Caine appeared in the UK premiere of Preludes by Dave Malloy as hypnotherapist Nikolai Dahl at Southwark Playhouse.

The cast later reunited in May 2021 for two livestreamed concert performances of the production from the same venue.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Caine taught independently and also appeared in standalone concerts such as A Merry Little Christmas Celebration at Chichester Festival Theatre in December 2020.