It’s all about the applause

Young Chang

Dale Kristien looks like the stereotype of a high-octave singer.

She’s beautiful, theater director David Galligan says, has hair

that cascades down her back and a voice that resembles an angel.

“But the first thing she wants when she gets off the stage is a

beer,” he said. “And if I need something on the house fixed, I call

Dale. She’s the antithesis of everything you think a soprano is.”

Kristien, who has sung the role of Christine Daae in “Phantom of

the Opera” for a record-breaking four and a half years, confirms that

when she’s at home and something goes wrong, she sees it as a chance

to learn her “next craft.”

“Whether it’s plumbing, electrical, masonry,” said the Burbank

resident, who will perform for her sixth time at Orange Coast College

today. “And I like refinishing furniture.”

What she likes most, though, is the applause at the end of the

night.

It’s part of the reason she was able to play the same role for

more than four years and the reason she first started to love

performing.

“I absolutely hated working on stage,” Kristien said of her first

show in high school. “I hated it ‘cause it was so much work. Until

opening night when the audience applauded. Then I realized there was

payback. The audience feeds you.”

So did working with the original Phantom, Michael Crawford.

Kristien has sung with six phantoms in her run with the Broadway

show, but says “you never forget your first.”

“He was the Phantom,” she said. “I never had to act. He was just

there and being that guy, so he broke my heart every night.”

She will sing favorites from “Phantom of the Opera” and hits from

other Broadway classics tonight with a friend.

Kristien started singing when she was 18, when she realized she

could. She was too shy before then to really belt it out and have

anyone tell her she was good. But nearly two decades of goofing

around vocally with her twin sister gave Kristien the confidence to

audition for a play.

“I guess what I had decided was I could sing better than the

people I had heard at school,” she said.

A few years later she landed her first big break -- a chorus part

in “Camelot,” with Richard Burton.

Today Kristien’s credits include starring in “Show Boat” with the

Houston Grand Opera, regional and theater productions of shows

including “The King and I” and “The Sound of Music,” a performance

for former President George Bush, TV shows and a solo album.

“Her voice has matured beautifully,” said Galligan, who has worked

with Kristien on concerts, Christmas shows and an AIDS benefit called

STAGE. every year for 18 years. “Some people don’t take care of their

voices ....This woman trains her voice and keeps it in exquisite

shape. It’s like someone with a good figure. She keeps it in perfect

shape.”