Broadway Actress Sandra Joseph Talks Phantom, Footware and Fulfillment

Tell Me About Yourself: I’m from Michigan. I moved to the New York City area after college to pursue theater. After a lot of rejection and temp jobs and scraping by I eventually landed the role of a lifetime as the lead character, Christine, in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Phantom Of The Opera. The show has been running for almost 22 years, it’s the longest running show in Broadway history. I’m married to Ron Bohmer, who’s currently playing “Father” in the Broadway musical Ragtime that’s opening this Sunday. He was in Phantom, playing the title character in the road company. Ron had lived in South Orange, so when we moved out of the city, we wound up in West Orange. I have two amazing step-daughters, Cassidy who's studying at Mt. Holyoke, and Austin, a freshman at Columbia High School.

Playing Christine sounds amazing. How did you land the part? You can say that I climbed the Phantom ladder. I was cast as the “on tour” understudy to Christine. There were actually two other actresses who alternated in the part. I was in the ensemble and was there in case of emergencies.

On April 26, 1995, in Orlando, Florida, I finally had my chance to play the role. My parents flew in from Michigan for that wonderful, memorable, magic time. I officially became Christine in the Broadway production in 1998, right after the 10-year anniversary of show. I played the role for over a decade and hold the record as the ‘longest-running Christine.'

When you’re in a role for that long does it ever become just a job? Oh, sure, even with that though, there's never a moment when you're not aware of how lucky you are to have such a great job, to do something you enjoy so much for a living. However, particularly in a long running show, it’s very challenging to bring the level of energy to it that it deserves–in that sense it become work. Your work changes from the creative part of it, which is what it's all about in the beginning, to keeping it alive for the other actors and the audience.

How did you stay fresh? You use tricks. You rely heavily on your fellow actors. I would give myself different goals. Some nights I would rely on listening, being present. Other nights I would concentrate on urgency. I would look for the surprising. That's what's so great about live theater--it’s never the same twice and is actually a collaboration with the audience. The audience can always tell if you are phoning it in. And sometimes the unexpected happens.

So, what happens when the unexpected happens? Well, one night the Phantom's hair caught on fire. That was unexpected. The actor was able to pat the flames out and continue, and the show went on. Probably the audience thought it was part of the show.

You were just on Law & Order. How cool was that?! It was a wonderful experience. The episode is called Doped, and it’s on iTunes. I worked on it for four days total over about two weeks. They’re the best production group and keep many New York-area actors in work.

What's your secret for always looking so gorgeous? I’ve been trained by Zen masters–my gaggle of gay friends who taught me a lot about fashion and facials. I’m passionate about health and fitness and became a vegetarian in my early 20s. I start every day with fresh vegetable juice. I believe you are what you eat. Every week you hear something different about what’s good for you, so I feel safe with fruits and vegetables. I’m an aspiring vegan and raw food person.

On my more frivolous side, I’m passionate about shoes and bags and clothes, too, but I try to give myself a break from fabulousness from time to time. It's impossible to keep up and be perfect every minute of the day. It’s a waste of energy.

So let's talk shoes. It’s true, I have a bit of a shoe obsession. Favorites are Manolos, Jimmy Choo, Louboutin, Kate Spade and Sergio Rossi. The irony is that I have horrible feet. All my beautiful shoes hurt like crazy, so I keep my favorites on display on bathroom shelves. I can lie in the bathtub and look around–they're like art to me. My latest obsession is the online sample sales. They’re my morning ritual. I check Ruelala.com, hautelook.com, ideeli.com for deals on shoes and accessories and dresses and jeans, too. Everything is at a great price, with major markdowns, as much as 70% off. [Some sale sites require invites, contact Sandra though her Web Site and she'll be happy to send you one.] Returns are very simple. I don’t believe it’s shallow to have a love of fashion and love of clothes. But I don't really have a natural gift for style, I need to look at magazines and have a lot of gay friends to tell me what works.

Vuitton or Gucci? Neither one because, to me, a label that's so obvious is not what I'm interested in. I like to go for something more unique like my Michael Kors purple patent leather bag. It’s very good quality but doesn’t hit you over the head.

Tell me about your writing. I’m writing a book with a working title Phantom Girl. It’s about my journey to Broadway, but not so much the journey up as the journey ‘in.’  The general trajectory is a Cinderella story, but it’s really about my own search for a sense of belonging in the world. We all struggle to some degree with self-worth. And it’s common to think that if we could only achieve a level of success we will automatically have feelings of confidence and security. I think that you don't gain an authentic lasting sense of self-worth from anything external, it has to come from within. I tell kids who are trying to get their first break to remember that you are unique, there’s no one exactly like you. No one who will play a character exactly like you, so be honest.

For me, it doesn't come so much from achievement but from getting through the struggles when life cuts you off at the knees. I recently lost my father and while I was broken open by the experience I had this bizarre sense of peace during the worst of the pain. There was energy field just brought me a profound connection to the planet. When you go through hard times, you find out who you are.

What’s up next? On November 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, I’m appearing with Ron in Broadway comes to Caldwell at the First Presbyterian church of Caldwell. And I just emcee’d a fundraiser for Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter in honor of my two adopted dogs, Murphy and Griffin.

You can find out more about and reach Sandra Joseph at www.sandrajoseph.com.