Elaine Paige: Celebrating a Life on Stage to Air on PBS June 8

Elaine Paige, the "First Lady of British Musical Theatre," performs her greatest hits in celebration of her 40th anniversary in showbiz in the new PBS special Elaine Paige: CELEBRATING A LIFE ON STAGE. The program takes the audience on a journey from Paige's beginnings in the musical Hair to performances from Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Chess, Cats, Sunset Boulevard and many more from the West End to Broadway. Part of special programming airing on PBS in June, Elaine Paige will premiere on Thirteen New York on Wednesday, June 9 at 8 p.m.

Paige is an English singer and actress best known for her work in musical theatre. She made her first professional appearance on stage in 1964 and her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut. Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Peron in the first production of Evita in 1978, for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a Musical. She went on to originate the role of Grizabella in Cats and had a Top-10 hit with "Memory," a song from the show. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson from the musical Chess, which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She appeared in the stage production of Chess, and in the following years appeared in Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, The King and I and The Drowsy Chaperone.

In addition to five Laurence Olivier Award nominations, Paige has won many awards for her theatre roles, leading to her designation as "First Lady of British Musical Theatre." She has released 20 solo albums, eight of which were certified gold, while four were certified multi-platinum. Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts around the world. Since 2004, she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called "Elaine Paige on Sunday."

Elaine Paige: CELEBRATING A LIFE ONSTAGE was filmed in 2009 at the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia, during her 40th anniversary tour. The program includes:
• "Life Goes On"
• "Easy to Be Hard"
• "I Don't Know How to Love Him
• "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"
• "As If"
• "I Dreamed a Dream"
• "I Know Him So Well"
• "Memory"

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