THERE are so many talented artists from Wales making waves in the world of performing arts, on stage, in theatres, musicals, live shows, online – even in panto – and Ewegottalove wants to make sure they get the recognition they deserve in their own homeland, away from the bright lights of London.
The likes of Phantom of the Opera legend Peter Karrie and the ‘Clown Prince of Wales’ Wyn Calvin – the archetypal pantomime dame – have filled theatres for decades, but there are a whole new generation of young Welsh musical theatre stars making names for themselves and putting ‘bums on seats’ across the West End of London and beyond.
Instantly recognizable are Sophie Evans, who played Glinda in the West End production of Wicked (2017) and Dorothy in the 2011 musical The Wizard of Oz after bursting onto our television screens on the 2010 BBC talent show Over the Rainbow and Lucie Jones, who rose to prominence on series six of The X Factor UK in 2009 and has gone on to appear in shows like Les Misérables, Waitress and Wicked – alongside fellow Welsh co-star Samantha Thomas – while also representing the UK in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.
And, as if more proof were needed, no fewer than two lead members of the Four Seasons hit revival Jersey Boys at the Trafalgar Theatre came from Wales – Cardiff-born Adam Bailey (playing Bob Gaudio) and Swansea’s Ben Joyce (Frankie Valli), who has gone on to star as Marty McFly in the West End production of Back To The Future The Musical.
In this Performance Wales section of our website, Ewegottalove will bring you these and a whole host of wonderful Welsh performers, including songs, webchats, interviews and online collaborations that show off their undoubted talents.
Jersey Boys, in the West End’s Trafalgar Theatre, stars Welshmen Ben Joyce and Adam Bailey
Welsh of the West End have kept us entertained with their brilliant online collaborations during lockdown
Lucie Jones, from Pentyrch, who has been starring as Jenna in the musical Waitress at the Adelphi Theatre and has been cast in the role of Fantine in the forthcoming West End production of Les Misérables.
Tonypandy’s Sophie Evans, who started out in the Mid-Rhondda Operatic Society as a child, went on to star as Glinda in the West End production of Wicked. Here performing For Good with co-star Alice Fearn
Another online collaboration, this time the Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra, with Burry Port-born John Owen-Jones, Gareth Gates and cast members from the musical Les Misérables, performing One Day More
Longing to return to the stages of Wales, to roam the landscape and share their music, here are the men from Welsh National Opera Chorus performing Hiraeth, a staple of the Welsh male voice choir repertoire, for St David’s Day 2021
Remedial Music, featuring Adam Bailey
More from Welsh of the West End, performing This is Me from the captivating musical The Greatest Showman
A series of interviews in which we get to know more about some of Wales’s talented young performers
Peter Karrie, who hails from the Vale of Glamorgan, built a mighty reputation in the theatre, particularly for his legendary portrayal of The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Karrie, born in 1946, is an honorary fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Comedian Wyn Calvin, MBE, born in Narberth, and known affectionately as ‘The Clown Prince of Wales’, has worked with numerous stars within the entertainment industry including Ken Dodd, Harry Secombe, Bob Hope, Christopher Biggins, Shirley Bassey, Frankie Vaughan, Vic Morrow, Bud Flanagan, Roy Hudd, Max Boyce and Morecambe and Wise
‘This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us.’ This moment brought the full WNO Chorus, WNO Orchestra and the fabulous Hollywood actor and singer Luke Evans together to celebrate Pride with a very special rendition of Queen’s Who Wants to Live Forever
West End Talks interviews Book of Mormon star Adam Bailey about his career in the theatre
Lucie Jones singing Never Give Up On You, the UK entry to the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest
A tribute to Wales’s ‘Queen of Comedy’ Gladys Morgan (November 7, 1898–April 16, 1983), from Swansea
