New Album, Tour Plans Emerge For Sarah Brightman

With a new album titled "La Luna" (Angel) set for release on Aug. 29, soprano Sarah Brightman has plotted a major tour of North American arenas. Brightman's tour opens in Canada on Sept. 22 and is scheduled to run through mid-November.

Following the North American trek, Brightman's tour will travel to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand before concluding in Europe in December.

A new Brightman PBS concert special is scheduled to debut in December. Her 1998 concert special "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" and 1999's "One Night In Eden" were both staple programs during PBS pledge drives of the last two years. "One Night in Eden" was released as a home video and DVD in 1999 and has sold more than a half-million copies, according to Angel Records.

Among the tracks on "La Luna" is a cover of the 1967 Procol Harum hit "Whiter Shade of Pale," which was based on a Bach composition. An accompanying music video for the song has been filmed by director Paul Boyd (Shania Twain, Sting).

According to Angel Records, more than two million copies of Brightman's 1999 release, "Eden," have been sold worldwide to date, including more than 500,000 in the U.S.

Brightman was cast in the role of Jemima in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" in 1981, and she married Lloyd Webber in 1984. Before the couple parted in 1990, Brightman also played Christine Daaé in her ex-husband's production of "Phantom of the Opera."