Sierra Boggess with Hugh Panaro at "The Phantom Of The Opera Broadway 25th Anniversary. Credit:LAURA CAVANAUGH The role came with all the trappings of Broadway stardom: TV appearances, an enormous Disney publicity machine and hordes of fans lining up at stage door for an autograph. For many, the pressure of tackling such a beloved role in a brand new show - where its success or failure rested squarely on your shoulders - would be immense. For Boggess, her fast-tracked rise to the top and relative greenness meant the opposite was true. "I honestly didn't know what I was getting into," she said.

Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo in Love Never Dies. "I was so wide-eyed and amazed by it all, I didn't know anything about the politics or the business at all. "It became more real as the time goes on and you are doing the show, but I was so completely unaware of it when it first began, so I didn't feel the pressure at all really. Sierra Boggess has appeared on Broadway and on London's West End and is about to perform her first concert tour in Australia. Credit:Simon Schluter "It was my pleasure to do that and carry that show."

Carrying shows would become a trend in Boggess' career. Sierra Boggess will perform her first Australian tour in June. Credit:Simon Schluter After playing Ariel for two years, it was time for her to move on and tackle something new. Her next gig would turn out to be a bigger challenge than she could have expected. Boggess was hand-picked by Andrew Lloyd-Webber to play Christine Daae in the sequel to his acclaimed The Phantom of the Opera.

The original production is one of the most beloved musicals in the world, and while many expected the news he was continuing the story would be greeted warmly , the backlash against the production was swift and fierce. Before the first note had been played, fans of The Phantom rallied against the show, decreeing a sequel wasn't needed and the original story should be left alone. "The reason there was negativity was people feel very attached to [The Phantom of the Opera] and they feel they own it," Boggess said. "They felt it was their story." By the time the show opened, the stories about Love Never Dies were as frequently about the fan backlash as they were about the show itself.

When it played its first shows, the critical moniker became Paint Never Dries. And with social media use proliferating at the same time as the show began, word spread quickly. "It was happening in the time, in 2009, when the internet was really a legit thing where people can write whatever they want," Boggess said. "It was the beginning of Twitter, Facebook was really a thing and people could read negative things if they wanted to," While everyone off the stage knew the show was being haunted by the ghost of its predecessor, Boggess said those in the show's inner circle were protected from it.

"I didn't feel it," she said. "We had an extraordinary director who shielded us from any of that, my experience of that show was truly wonderful. "I worked with one of my favourite directors (Jack O'Brien) I have ever worked with, and of course Andrew (Lloyd-Webber), I made some of my best friends working on Love Never Dies. "And it truly does have one of the most beautiful scores." When Love Never Dies closed on London's West End, she took a break from creating new roles, appearing in Les Miserables in London and returning to Lloyd-Webber's Phantom world as Christine on Broadway.

But it wouldn't be long before she was again asked to turn her talents to a new production. Once again it was Lloyd-Webber, this time for his musical based on the film School of Rock. The show would go on to be nominated for a swag of awards and keep Boggess on Broadway for two years. And now, despite never having performed here, she has been lured to Australia to perform a series of concerts. Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne will host the Broadway star, and she is just as surprised as anyone to discover she has fans here.

"It's weird but it's so cool," she said. "It's unbelievable that we live in this type of world where I can have fans on the other side of the planet, it's really amazing." But the humble singer doesn't take much of the credit for that international notoriety, she puts it down to the projects she has been attached to. "It is because of the popularity of the shows I am associated with," she explained "Disney and Phantom... it's a testament to people like Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Disney and [Little Mermaid songwriter] Alan Menken ." Boggess plays the State Theatre, Sydney, on June 3, The Concert Hall, QPAC, on June 8 and The Arts Centre, Melbourne, on June 10.