Welcome to Nobody Told Me.

I'm Jan Black.

And I'm Laura Owens.

And we are very excited to welcome Sandra Joseph to the show today.

Sandra holds the record for being the

longest running female star on Broadway, having played the role of Christine in Phantom of the Opera

1,300 times, six nights a week for nearly a decade. And Sandra has an inspiring story to share,

and she's the author of the book, Unmasking What Matters, 10 Life Lessons from 10 Years on Broadway.

Sandra, thank you so much for joining us today.

It's an honor to talk with you.

Oh, thank you so much, Jan and Laura.

I'm thrilled to be here.

Thanks for having me.

So you got the role of a lifetime playing Christine in Phantom of the Opera after auditioning

three times for the role, and yet I was so surprised to hear that you have always struggled with

extreme stage fright. So how did that all happen? Yes, I'm the least likely person to end up being

on Broadway, much less being the longest leading lady on Broadway, because I was paralyzed by stage fright for years and years.

I mean, I bailed on doing the first solo I was ever given in the fifth grade moments before the concert started.

I saw the crowd and panicked and got out of it, had someone else do it for me.

It really was a battle from the start between really love and fear.

It's the age-old battle we all face in some way in our lives.

And for me, it happened to be about this thing,

...