# Gala: An Evening with Sarah Brightman

Gala - An Evening With Sarah Brightman was a 2016–17 concert tour by English soprano singer Sarah Brightman with eleven shows in Japan, three in South Korea and three in Mexico.
The Gala Tour features a classical crossover repertoire. Mario Frangoulis share duets like "The Phantom of the Opera," "Canto De La Terra" and "Carpe Diem," recorded with Frangoulis on Brightman's "A Winter Symphony" album, which he also features as a bonus track on "Tales of Christmas," his first holiday album released in 2015. Joining the two singers are pianist Di Wu, counter tenor Narcis Iustin Ianău, and maestro Paul Bateman, the show is directed by Anthony Van Laast.
For Japan concerts, Brightman sang the song titled "Stand Alone", from the drama Saka no ue no kumo (坂の上の雲; lit. Clouds over the hills) composed by Joe Hisaishi and performed by the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

## Set list

ACT I
* "Sunset Boulevard Overture"
* "Harem" (Only Turkey)
* "Stand Alone" (Only Japan)
* "Nella Fantasia" (Not performed in Japan and Turkey)
* "Anytime Anywhere"
* "Dust in the Wind"
* "Carpe Diem" (with Mario Frangoulis)
* "It's a Beautiful Day"
* "La Luna"
* "Rachmaninov #23" (Tsusi) (Di Wu solo)
* "A Whiter Shade of Pale"
* "Scarborough Fair" (Not performed in Japan)
* "Buongiorno Principessa" (Mario Frangoulis solo) (Not performed in Mexico)
* "Vincero Perdero" (Mario Frangoulis solo) (only Mexico)
* "Canto Della Terra" (with Mario Frangoulis)
* "Nessun Dorma"
ACT II
* "Spellbound Concerto" (Di Wu solo)
* "Figlio Perduto"
* "Stranger in Paradise"
* "There for Me" (with Mario Frangoulis)
* "Pie Jesu" (with Narcis Iustin Ianău)
* "Caruso" (Narcis Iustin Ianău solo)
* "The Phantom of The Opera" (with Mario Frangoulis) and (Erkan Aki in Turkey)
* "Time to Say Goodbye"
Encore
* "Warsaw Concerto" (Paul Bateman on piano with Brightman conducting)
* "Running"
* "Ave María" Schubert (Only Mexico)

## Concert style

The concert style is very classical as Frangoulis stated "I particularly like the Gala Tour concept because it brings us both back to our roots in the theatre and classical music" Brightman said in an interview "The concert has a hollywood feel about it, I'm doing beautiful classical pieces and crossover pieces... In all it will be a very rich concert, very glamorous looking and will take us back in time".
She uses different gowns, Park Jin-han from Korea Times wrote: "As the sound of wind meets the audience and the stage gleams with an eerie red light, Sarah Brightman, one of the world's most popular English classical crossover singers, appears on stage in a glittering silver dress and sings the theme song of the musical The Phantom of the Opera.
In Antalya's concert an orchestra of 50 have accompanied her on the stage. Sarah opened her concert with "Harem" which gave its name to her 7th album that hit the shelves in 2003, singing famous arias and crossover hits during the concert but also she invited Erkan Aki to sing with her some duets.

## Tour dates

List of 2016 concerts :
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| 7 July 2016 | Sapporo | Japan | Sapporo Hokkai Kitayell |
| 9 July 2016 | Sendai | Japan | Sendai Xebio Arena |
| 11 July 2016 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| 12 July 2016 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| 14 July 2016 | Tokyo | Japan | Tokyo International Forum |
| 15 July 2016 | Tokyo | Japan | Tokyo International Forum |
| 17 July 2016 | Kanazawa | Japan | Kanazawa Honda No Mori Hall |
| 19 July 2016 | Osaka | Japan | Festival Hall |
| 20 July 2016 | Osaka | Japan | Festival Hall |
| 21 July 2016 | Osaka | Japan | Orix Theater |
| 22 July 2016 | Nagoya | Japan | Nagoya Century Hall |
| 24 July 2016 | Seoul | South Korea | Olympic Hall |
| 26 July 2016 | Daegu | South Korea | EXCO [ko] |
| 27 July 2016 | Gwangju | South Korea | Unversiade Gymnasium [ko] |
| 29 July 2016 | Zhengzhou | China | Zhengzhou International Convention and Exhibition Centre |
| 31 July 2016 | Suzhou | China | Suzhou Sports Centre |
| 3 August 2016 | Harbin | China | Harbin Opera House |
| 5 August 2016 | Tianjin | China | Tianjin Grand Theatre |
| 7 August 2016 | Taipei | Taiwan | Taipei Arena |
| 9 October 2016 | Antalya | Turkey | Expo Congress Center |
| 1 December 2016 | Mexico City | Mexico | Arena Ciudad de México |
| 3 December 2016 | Zapopan | Mexico | Telmex Auditorium |
| 5 December 2016 | Monterrey | Mexico | Arena Monterrey |
List of 2017 concerts :
| Date | City | Country | Venue | Gross revenue |
| 11 March 2017 | Tainan | Taiwan | Tainan City Stadium | |
| 14 August 2017 | Yogyakarta | Indonesia | Prambanan Jazz Festival | |

## Critical reception

The Gala show received positive reviews from critics. Park Jin-han from Korea Times wrote: "Her voice had such power, striking hard and strong at once and yet soft and tender as well.". Antalya Expo's official website wrote: "Singing famous opera and classical music pieces during the concert, British soprano made the audience impressed by her strong voice and style."