Sofia Alexandra Cepa Escobar Ferreira da Silva (born 29 November 1984) is a Portuguese soprano singer and actress. She is best known for being part of the cast in West End musicals, in London. She performed the role of Maria in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''. Her most acclaimed role was Christine Daaé, the lead character in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's ''Phantom of the Opera''.

Early life

Sofia Alexandra Cepa Escobar Ferreira da Silva was born on 29 November 1984 in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

, Portugal. She studied at Conservatório de Música do Porto in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, Portugal, and continued her studies at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. She had a scholarship that paid for her tuition. Her parents could not afford her studies in London, and took out a mortgage on their house to pay for her studies. Sofía worked as a waitress in a restaurant near the school after classes for 5 pounds an hour, until 2 am.

Career

Television

She was on the Portuguese TV series '' Morangos com Açúcar'' in 2003, as Professor Olívia Matos for 42 episodes. In 2009 Escobar was a judge on the Portuguese TV show ''Quem é o Melhor?''. Between 2015 and 2016, she was a jury member on '' Got Talent Portugal''.

Theatre

Escobar's first experience in the West End musicals was with '' The Phantom of the Opera'', after having been the lead understudy actress in 2007 and 2008. She played the lead Hanna Gzelak character in the Portuguese musical ''Scents of Light''. She performed in the ''

'', taking the role of Puerto Rican girl Maria. From 2010 to 2013 she played the role of Christine Daaé, the leading character in ''The Phantom of the Opera'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

in Haymarket, London. She is one very few non-native English speakers to have portrayed Daaé in an English-language production. In 2016 she was part of the cast in the new Portuguese musical ''Eusébio'', a tribute to the Portuguese footballer, that made it to the stage on April 6. She subsequently was in the play ''Entre o Céu e a Terra''. In 2018 she played Mary Cullen in '' El médico''.

Music

On 6 October 2012 she performed a duet with Spanish tenor

José Carreras Josep Maria Carreras Coll (; born 5 December 1946), better known as José Carreras (, ), is a Catalan operatic tenor from Spain who is particularly known for his performances in the operas of Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. Born in Barcelona, ...

in her hometown, invited by him.

Personal life

On 21 September 2013 she married the Spanish actor, Gonzalo Ramos in an intimate ceremony in

, Portugal. On 6 March 2014 she gave birth to the couple's first child, a boy, whom they called Gabriel Ramos Escobar.

Awards and nominations

Escobar won the "Best Actress in a Musical" award for by the Whatsonstage Theatregoer's Choice Awards while a performer in ''West Side Story''. She has been nominated in the best actress category for the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards due to her performance of Maria in ''West Side Story''. She got a Portuguese

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

nomination for Revelation of the Year 2010, where she sang " Think of Me" from ''The Phantom of the Opera''.

References

External links

Sofia Escobar bio at the Phantom of the Opera website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Escobar, Sofia 1984 births Living people Musical theatre actresses People from Guimarães Portuguese expatriates in England 21st-century Portuguese women singers Portuguese film actresses Portuguese television actresses