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Birth
Elaine Jill Bickerstaff was born on March 5, 1948 in Barnet, Hertfordshire to her father Eric and mother Irene -
First interest in performance
When Elaine was 14 years old her interest in singing and theater performance began while she was singing along to the soundtrack of "West Side Story" -
First audition
At 16 years old Elaine attended her first audition where she sang the song "I cain't say no" from the musical Oklahoma! but she was sadly rejected in her first audition -
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First big debut
At age 20 she made her first debut in west end in the musical 'Hair' playing a member of the tribe and was also an under study for the character "sheila" -
Evita
Elaine was selected to portray the character Eva Peron in 'Evita' this is the role that brought her into the attention of the broader public, she won a Laurence Oliver award for Preformance of the Year in a musical -
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Cats the musical
Elaine portrayed the character 'Grizzabella' in Cats the Musical during the productions original run and reprised her role for the video release of the musical in 1998. -
Award
Elaine was appointed officer of 'the order of the British empire' by queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to musical theater