Laura Michelle Kelly

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Laura Michelle Kelly

Kelly with Nick Winston
Born March 4, 1981
England

Laura Michelle Kelly (born March 4, 1981) is an Olivier Award winning English actress and singer who achieved critical acclaim in the role of Mary Poppins in the musical of the same name.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Personal life

She is a native of the Isle of Wight, near England and is separated from her husband, choreographer Nick Winston, whom she married in 2001. [1]

[edit] Career

Kelly's West End musical credits include Beauty and the Beast, Whistle Down The Wind as Swallow (2000), Les Miserables as Eponine at The Palace Theatre (2001), Mamma Mia! as Sophie at Prince Edward Theatre (2002), My Fair Lady as Eliza at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (2003). She made her Broadway debut in a new production of Fiddler on the Roof as Hodel (2004) with Alfred Molina.

Mary Poppins premiered in December 2004 at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End. This followed extensive previews at Bristol Hippodrome a few months earlier. At the 2005 Olivier Awards, Kelly won the Best Actress in a Musical award for this role. She left Mary Poppins on 29 October 2005 after more than 400 performances. Kelly then went to Singapore to star in a revival of A Twist of Fate produced by the Singapore Repertory Company. It also starred Anthony Drewe (who co-wrote the music with local composer Dick Lee).

Kelly released her debut single, through EMIs Angel label, for download only on 17 April 2006, "There Was A Time" which enjoyed Record of the Week status on BBC Radio 2. This single is from her debut solo album, The Storm Inside which was released on 1 May 2006. The album includes six original songs and six covers, including three songs which Kelly wrote herself.

In 2006 she returned to the stage performing in A Tribute to Dirty Dancing at Kenwood House and Marble Hill in London. Kelly and Michael Ball performed at the Hackney Empire on Thursday 31 August 2006 to celebrate Anthony Newley for BBC Radio Two which was broadcast on September 29, 2006. Kelly was the Special Guest for Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra on tour during December 2006. On 27 August 2007, Kelly made her BBC Proms debut, performing "The Prayer" from the film Quest for Camelot alongside Michael Ball.[2]

A new single, "What's It All For?" (written by singer Judie Tzuke) was released as a digital download on March 5. It will be followed by the release of her album, also titled What's It All For? with the three new tracks and a selection of others from "The Storm Inside" which was released in 2006.

From May 2007 until 4 February 2008, Kelly played the role of Galadriel in the London production of The Lord of the Rings stage production, playing at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[3]

Kelly can be seen on screen as Lucy Barker in the Tim Burton/DreamWorks film Sweeney Todd.[4]

She appeared alongside Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in David Mamet's play Speed-the-Plow at London's Old Vic theatre from 1 February to 26 April 2008 and at the Ruhrfestspiele in Recklinghausen, Germany, in May 2008.

She has also confirmed that she is soon to be seen in the dual role of a nun and former Coronation Street actor Johnny Briggs's trophy wife in an ITV1 production of Agatha Christie's Nemesis.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "News", dailymail.co.uk, 2008-02-09. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  2. ^ Prom 58. BBC Proms 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
  3. ^ Bamigboye, Baz. "Look who's Tolkien", Daily Mail, 2006-12-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. 
  4. ^ "News", AllForLaura.com, 2007-02-28. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. 
  5. ^ "News", www.dailymail.co.uk, 2008-02-09. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 

[edit] External links