Sofia Escobar

Sofia Escobar (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. Her most acclaimed role was Christine Daaé, the lead character in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.[1]

Sofia Escobar
Born (1984-11-29) 29 November 1984
Guimarães, Braga district, Portugal
Alma materConservatório de Música do Porto
OccupationActress, singer
Years active2003-present
Spouse(s)Gonzalo Ramos (m. 2013)
Children1

Early and personal life

Sofia Alexandra Cepa Escobar Ferreira da Silva was born on November 29, 1984 in Guimarães,[2] district of Braga, Portugal.

She studied at Conservatório de Música do Porto in Oporto, Portugal, and continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[3]

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.[4] Sofia worked as a waitress in a restaurant near the school after classes for 5 pounds an hour, until 2am.[2]

She has been married to Spanish actor Gonzalo Ramos since September 21, 2013 and they have a son, Gabriel Ramos, (born March 6, 2014).[5]

Career

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.[6]

She played the lead Hanna Gzelak character in the Portuguese musical Scents of Light.

She performed in the West Side Story, taking the role of Puerto Rican girl Maria.[7]

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 in Haymarket, London. She is one very few non-native English speakers to have portrayed Daaé in an English-language production.

As an actress he participated on the Portuguese TV series Morangos com Açúcar in 2003, as professor Olívia Matos, in 42 episodes.[8] In 2009 Escobar was a judge on the Portuguese TV show Quem é o Melhor?.[8]

On October 6, 2012, she performed a duet with Spanish tenor José Carreras in her hometown, invited by him.[9][10] Between 2015 and 2016, she was a jury member in the Got Talent Portugal program. 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.[11][12] And she is now on the "Entre o Céu e a Terra" play.

Awards and nominations

Sofia Escobar won the "Best Actress in a Musical" award for by the Whatsonstage Theatregoer's Choice Awards while a performer in West Side Story.[3] 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 nomination for Revelation of the Year 2010, where she sang "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera.[13]

References
  1. "Sofia Escobar Official Website". sofiaescobar.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  2. "England: Portuguese Actress is up for theater prize :: Mundo Português". mundoportugues.org. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  3. "Sofia Escobar - The Phantom of the Opera". thephantomoftheopera.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  4. "Sofia Escobar - Anabela Mota Ribeiro". anabelamotaribeiro.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  5. "Sofia Escobar - Biography - IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  6. "Portuguese artists flood London's West End - The Portugal News". theportugalnews.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  7. "Sofia Escobar Official Website". sofiaescobar.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  8. "Sofia Escobar - IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  9. "Tenor José Carreras actuou em Guimarães com Sofia Escobar - SAPO Vídeos". videos.sapo.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  10. "José Carreras convida Sofia Escobar para cantar em Guimarães - Caras". caras.sapo.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  11. ""Um hino ao futebol", um musical para homenagear Eusébio - Observador". observador.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  12. "Estreia emotiva do musical sobre Eusébio - Primeira liga - Futebol - SAPO Desporto". desporto.sapo.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  13. "Sofia Escobar protagonizou um dos momentos musicais dos Globos de Ouro (VÍDEO) - Caras". caras.sapo.pt. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
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