<P> Brightman starred as Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera . The role of Christine was written specifically for her . Lloyd Webber refused to open The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway unless Brightman played Christine . Initially, the American Actors' Equity Association balked, because of their policy that any non-American performer must be an international star . Lloyd Webber had to cast an American in a leading role in his next West End musical before Equity would allow Brightman to appear (a promise he kept in casting Aspects of Love). In the end, it was a compromise that was successful . "Phantom" receive $17 million in advance sales prior to opening night on 26 January 1988 . The original cast album was the first in British musical history to enter the music charts at number one . Album sales now exceed forty million worldwide and it is the biggest selling cast album of all time, and has gone six times platinum in the United States, twice platinum in the UK, nine times platinum in Germany, four times platinum in the Netherlands, 21 times platinum in Korea and 17 times platinum in Taiwan . Despite the success both in London and on Broadway, Brightman received mostly negative reception from critics for her performance and was not nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Musical at the Tony Awards . While some reviewers praised Brightman for her singing, her acting was widely criticized . </P> <P> After leaving Phantom, she performed in a tour of Lloyd Webber's music throughout England, Canada and the United States, and performed Requiem in the Soviet Union . Studio recordings from this time include the single "Anything But Lonely" from Aspects of Love and two solo albums: the 1988 album The Trees They Grow So High, a collection of folk songs accompanied by piano, and the 1989 album The Songs That Got Away, a compilation of obscure musical theatre songs from shows by such composers as Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim . Brightman also sang the song "Make Believe" during the credits of the children's film Grandpa; Howard Blake composed the music and wrote the lyrics . </P> <P> She was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in 1989 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel . </P> <P> By 1990, Brightman and Lloyd Webber had separated . After their highly publicized divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's Aspects in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway . Her subsequent solo album, As I Came of Age, was an eclectic collection of folk - rock and musical theatre songs that Brightman herself chose . </P>

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