Kerry Ellis
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| Kerry Ellis | |
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| Born | May 6, 1979 Suffolk, England |
| Occupation | Stage actress and singer |
| Years active | 2000 - current |
| Official website | |
Kerry Ellis (born May 6, 1979) is a British stage actress who recently starred as Elphaba in the West End production of the musical Wicked before moving to the Broadway production on June 17th 2008. She took over the London role from Idina Menzel, for whom she originally served as standby. Among her previous notable roles are as Fantine in the West End production of Les Miserables and as Meat in the original London production of We Will Rock You.
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[edit] Personal life
Kerry Ellis was born in 1979 in Stowmarket, Suffolk, which is where she grew up with her younger brother. She attended Stowmarket High School and in 1995, Kerry joined the team of Starmakers at the age of 16, with which she was involved until 1997. Following this, Ellis returned to formal stage training at Laine Theatre Arts.
[edit] Theatre career
In 1996 and 1997, as a member of Starmakers, Ellis performed musical numbers such as Memory from Cats and Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon. In 2000, Kerry became a member of the My Fair Lady cast and became second understudy to Martine McCutcheon for the lead role of Eliza Dolittle, which she got to play on five occasions. During 2000 Ellis also understudied Marti Webb in Magic Of The Musicals.
In 2002, Ellis originated the role of Meat in We Will Rock You, and played this role for two years, making appearances for performances such as "Party in the Park", "Party in the Palace" and "Parkinson". Ellis left the cast of We Will Rock You on April 17, 2004 and went on to play Ellen in Cameron Mackintosh's UK tour of Miss Saigon. On June 7, 2005 she joined the cast of Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre, portraying the character Fantine.
In 2006, Ellis joined the cast of West End's new production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, where she was the standby for Idina Menzel, who originated the lead role. Effectively, Ellis is the first British actress to play the role of Elphaba. On January 1, 2007 Ellis took over the role full-time. For this performance, Ellis won "Best Takeover in a Role" at the 2008 Theatregoer's Choice Awards.[1] On February 25, 2008 it was announced that Ellis would transfer to the Broadway production of Wicked, with performances starting from June 17, 2008.[2] Ellis will replace current actress Stephanie J. Block, making her the first Elphaba to transfer from West End to Broadway, mirroring original Broadway cast member Idina Menzel who transferred to London to open the production. Following her run on Broadway which will end on November 20th 2008, Ellis will return to the same role in the West End production from Monday the 1st of December 2008.
On May 12 and 13 2008, Ellis performed alongside Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Josh Groban in a special performance of Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Ellis has also done the workshops for Way Beyond Blue, written by Imogen Stubbs and directed by Trevor Nunn and the title role in Helen of Troy, directed by Gary Griffin.
[edit] Singing career
In 1999 Ellis sung on a recording for Children in Need and did a jingle for Capital Radio. In 2004 Kerry Ellis worked with Queen lead guitarist Brian May to record an orchestral version of the song No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young), originally a Queen song and featured in the musical We Will Rock You[3].
Ellis recently worked with Steve Sidwell to produce new recordings of the Wicked songs "I'm Not That Girl" and "No Good Deed". It is expected that a teaser CD of her forthcoming debut album, produced by Brian May in the time since Ellis left We Will Rock You and featuring drum tracks by Taylor Hawkins, will become available in June before she leaves for Broadway.[4]
[edit] Theatre
| Year | Show | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Wicked | Elphaba | Apollo Victoria Theatre | Return to role. |
| 2008 | Wicked | Elphaba | George Gershwin Theatre | Transfer contract [2] |
| 2008 | Chess | Svetlana | Royal Albert Hall, London | Two-day limited engagement |
| 2006 - 2008 | Wicked | Elphaba | Apollo Victoria Theatre | Took over role from Idina Menzel, previously the standby. |
| 2005 | Les Misérables | Fantine | Queen's Theatre | |
| 2004 | Miss Saigon | Ellen | National UK Tour | |
| 2002 - 2004 | We Will Rock You | Meat | Dominion Theatre | Originated role |
| 2000 | My Fair Lady | Eliza Doolittle u/s | Royal National Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane | Understudied for Martine McCutcheon |
[edit] References
- ^ [1] at What's On Stage
- ^ a b Gans, Andrew. "London's Kerry Ellis Will Join Broadway's Wicked in June", Playbill.com, 2008-02-25. Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
- ^ Kerry Ellis performs No-One But You. [2]
- ^ Walker, Tim. "The Wicked Witch of the West End is off to cast her spell over Broadway", The Independent, 2008-05-25. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
