Elaine Paige née Bickerstaff OBE (born on 5 March 1948 in Barnet, Hertfords… Read Full Bio ↴Elaine Paige née Bickerstaff OBE (born on 5 March 1948 in Barnet, Hertfordshire) is a well-known English singer and actress, primarily in musicals.

Paige's first professional appearance was in the UK tour of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd. She made her West End debut in Hair, and went on to featured roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Nuts, Grease, and Billy (a musical adaptation of the film Billy Liar.)

In 1978, Hal Prince offered the still relatively unknown Paige the title role in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita after Julie Covington, who played the role on the album turned down the part. This proved to be the defining moment in her evolution to the self proclaimed title "First Lady of British Musical Theatre".

Paige has portrayed some of Lloyd Webber's most notable female characters, originating the role of Grizabella in Cats (a role she reprised for a video release). She took on the role late in rehearsal when the actress Judi Dench had to pull out due to a torn Achilles tendon. Her performance of the song Memory from that show is her signature piece.

In 1994, Paige took over the role of Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard when Betty Buckley was ill, before stepping into the part full time the following year. She transferred to the American production to make her Broadway debut in a performance that Lloyd Webber described as "musically terrific" in 1996, staying with the show until it closed the following year. In 1998, Paige made a guest star appearance at the Andrew Lloyd Webber, fiftieth birthday celebration in the Royal Albert Hall. She sang Memory and Don't Cry for Me Argentina.

By no means has Paige limited her theatre credits to Lloyd Webber projects. In 1986, she appeared as Florence in Chess, (lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA), a role she had originated for the 1984 RCA double-disc concept album. The show was notable at the time for its set, which featured a large, tilting stage that resembled an illuminated chess board, with a proscenium built from television screens. For this role Paige was nominated for Laurence Olivier Award in a category Outstandng Performance by an Actress in a Musical.

She followed this success with a hit revival of Cole Porter's Anything Goes in 1989 which she co-produced with Tim Rice, based on the contemporary US (Lincoln Center) production starring Patti LuPone. In 1993, she embarked on a troubled run as famed French chanteuse Édith Piaf in Pam Gems' musical play Piaf (1993). In 2000 she appeared in another acclaimed revival, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's The King and I, in which the King was played by Jason Scott Lee.

In 2004, she sang the role of Mrs. Lovett in the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. In June 2007 Paige will play the title role in the musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone at London's Novello Theatre.

Paige also has had success in the UK singles charts. I Know Him So Well (from Chess), her duet with Barbara Dickson, held the #1 position in the British charts for four weeks, and still remains the biggest selling record by a female duo in the Guinness Book of Records. She also had a top ten hit with Memory from Cats. Additionally, she has had eight consecutive gold and four multi-platinum albums.

Paige released her first full studio album of new recordings in twelve years, "Essential Musicals" in October 2006. It includes popular songs from musicals identified by a poll on her radio show.

Paige has hosted her own BBC television specials as well as starred in several films for the network, and has also performed in a number of televised Royal Variety Shows. Arts commentator Melvyn Bragg hosted a special edition of The South Bank Show about Paige's career in 1996, entitled The Faces of Elaine Paige. She made special recordings of some of her most famous songs exclusively for the programme. It is frequently shown on PBS in the USA.

More recently, Paige has focused on television appearances, playing Dora Bunner in the 2004 ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced, before performing a guest role as a post mistress in Where the Heart Is.

In September 2004, Paige began a weekly radio show, Elaine Paige on Sunday, on BBC Radio 2, featuring music from musical theatre and film scores. Occasional interviews are also featured, having included theatre impressario Cameron Mackintosh, actress Angela Lansbury, the Pet Shop Boys and Elton John. Paige's show has been described by Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian as a "rare wrong move" on the part of Radio 2.

Smoke gets in your eyes
Elaine Paige Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

They asked me how I knew
My true love was true
I of course replied
"Something here inside
Cannot be denied"

They said someday you'll find
All who love are blind

When your heart's on fire
You don't realize
Smoke gets in your eyes

So I chaffed and I gaily laughed
To think they would doubt my love
Yet today, my love has flown away
I am without my love

Now laughing friends deride
Tears I cannot hide
So I smile and say

"When a lovely flame dies,
Smoke gets in your eyes."

Overall Meaning

Elaine Paige's rendition of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a classic ballad with a heartrending message that reveals the complex and uncertain nature of love. The song begins with the singer being asked how she knew that her love was true. She responds that there is something inside her that cannot be denied, indicating that her heart is telling her that she is in love.

The singer's optimism is then dismantled by others who warn her that when love becomes all-consuming, and the heart is on fire, it is easy to get lost in the smoke of emotions, insinuating that love could be an illusion. These words of caution do not deter the singer as she dismisses them and laughs them off.

However, later in the song, the singer is found without her love. Her laughing friends now mock her and her tears, which she cannot hide. The singer responds to them smilingly, acknowledging that when a beautiful flame dies, smoke indeed gets in your eyes.

Overall, the song is about how love can blind us, and how the pain that comes with losing a love you thought was true can cause distress and heartache. The song's depth lies in how it highlights the vulnerability of love and the uncertain nature of relationships.

Line by Line Meaning

They asked me how I knew
Someone inquired how I discerned my affection for my beloved

My true love was true
That my lover was indeed truthful

I of course replied
My immediate response was

"Something here inside
An internal feeling that

Cannot be denied"
I couldn't reject

They said someday you'll find
They advised me that one day you will learn

All who love are blind
Individuals who are enamored can't see clearly

When your heart's on fire
When you're emotionally invested

You don't realize
You aren't aware

Smoke gets in your eyes
Of the metaphorical smoke that clouds your judgment

So I chaffed and I gaily laughed
I brushed off the notion and laughed heartily