Cat Simmons | |
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Born | Blackburn, Lancashire, England | 4 May 1980
Occupation | Actress |
Cat Simmons is an English actress, known for her role as DC Kezia Walker in the long-running ITV drama The Bill , [1] and for starring in Family Affairs as Scarlett Anderson. She also played Sista Twista in Life and Lyrics . She also made appearances in No Angels and Casualty .
The daughter of a singer and nurse, her mother is English and her father is Guyanese.
Simmons trained with the Oldham Theatre Workshop and National Youth Music Theatre and studied at Pleckgate High School, Mathematics and Computing College.
Simmons has worked in numerous stage shows. Her work includes Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Oliver! , Mary Magdalene in Gale Edwards' Jesus Christ Superstar , the Young Vic's sell-out production of Langston Hughes' Simply Heavenly as Joyce, and the Princess in Aladdin alongside Ian McKellen.
In 2005, Simmons collaborated with music group Three Levels and released a track called "Rock U 2Nite".
Simmons returned to the Young Vic in summer 2009 to appear in Ché Walker's and Arthur Darvil's musical premiere of Been So Long with nu-classic soul singer Omar Lye-Fook. The production then toured to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to showcase at the Traverse Theatre.
Simmons was cast as Nancy in the 2011-13 UK tour of Oliver! , in the place of Samantha Barks, who was cast as Eponine in the film Les Misérables . Simmons took the role from Birmingham in April 2012, and continued it through to October 2012, finishing in Newcastle.
In 2016 Simmons appeared as Clemmy Staples in the ITV series Midsomer Murders episode 18.4 "A Dying Art".
In 2018, Simmons was announced as part of the cast for the West End production of Come From Away. [2]
In 2024, it was announced Simmons would portray Helene in the London premiere of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse. [3]
Year | Work | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | Doctors | Louise Clark | Episode: "I Spy" |
2003 | The Afternoon Play | Beccy | Episode: "Girls' Weekend" |
2003 | Holby City | Lorna McKay | Episode: "As the Day Is Long" |
2005 | Family Affairs | Scarlett Anderson | TV series |
2005 | Doctors | Tina Fisher | Episode: "Grandmother" |
2006 | No Angels | Temp HCA | Episode: "3.3" |
2006 | Life and Lyrics | Sista Twista | |
2006–2009 | The Bill | Kezia Walker | Regular role (series 22–25) |
2009 | Leipzig Homicide | Kezia Walker | Episode: "Entführung in London" |
2010, 2015 | Casualty | Tania Chester, Lena Marshall | Episodes: "Making Other Plans", "The Road Not Taken" |
2011 | Postcode | Marsha | TV film |
2013 | Holby City | Victoria Conville | Episode: "Make or Break" |
2014 | Macbeth | Witch | Globe Theatre |
2014 | That Day We Sang | Berni Inn Waitress | TV film |
2014 | Doctors | Maya Geraghty | Episode: "A Law Unto Themselves" |
2015 | Vera | Lisa | Episode: "Muddy Waters" |
2015 | Ordinary Lies | Emma | Supporting role (series 1) |
2017 | Silent Hours | DC June Francis | Film |
2016 | Midsomer Murders | Clemmy Staples | Episode: "A Dying Art" |
2016 | A Silent Night | Rosie Blackwell | Short |
2017 | Doctors | Maxine Daniels | Episode: "Tendrils" |
2018 | Moving On | Caroline | Episode: "Invisible" |
2018 | Holby City | Becky Cotter | Episodes: "Not Your Home Now", "No Matter Where You Go, There You Are: Parts 1 & 2" |
2019 | Killing Eve | Carleen | Episode: "I Hope You Like Missionary!" |
2020 | Doctors | DC Georgia Townsend | Episode: "No Exit" [4] |
Oliver! is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
War and Peace is a 1946 230-minute opera in 13 scenes, plus an overture and an epigraph, by Sergei Prokofiev. Based on the 1869 novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, its Russian libretto was prepared by the composer and Mira Mendelson. The first seven scenes are devoted to peace, the latter six, after the epigraph, to war.
Divine Brown, previously known as Divine Earth Essence, is a Canadian Juno Award-winning R&B and soul singer and theatre performer.
Niamh Cusack is an Irish actress. Born to a family with deep roots in the performing arts, she has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal National Theatre, and many others. Her most notable television role was as Dr. Kate Rowan in the UK series Heartbeat (1992–1995). Other TV and film credits include Always and Everyone (1999–2002), The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1992–1995), The Closer You Get (2000), Agatha Christie's Marple, Midsomer Murders (2008), A Touch of Frost (2010), In Love with Alma Cogan (2011), Testament of Youth (2014), Departure (2015), ChickLit, The Ghoul, The Virtues (2019), Death in Paradise (2021), and The Tower (2023). She has been nominated at IFTA for her performance in Too Good to be True (2003).
Declan William Bennett is an English singer-songwriter, actor and playwright. He gained prominence as a member of the band Point Break, before going on to be a solo musician. He is known on screen for his roles as Charlie Cotton in the soap opera EastEnders and Jonathan Roberts in the ITV series The Long Call.
Louise Pitre is a Canadian actress in musical theatre. She performs on Broadway and in Canada. She is best known for her role as Donna Sheridan in the ABBA-themed musical Mamma Mia!, which earned her a 2002 Tony Award nomination.
Samantha Jane Barks is a Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008. She has released three studio albums: Looking in Your Eyes (2007), Samantha Barks (2016), and Into the Unknown (2021), and made her film debut as Éponine in the Tom Hooper-directed Les Misérables in 2012. Her performance in the film won her the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and a shared National Board of Review Award with the film's cast.
Sarah Lark is a Welsh singer and actress who rose to fame when she competed as one of the finalists in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008.
Lauren Ashley Zakrin is an American musical theatre actress. She was a finalist in MTV's Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods, coming in fourth place overall. She has appeared on Broadway, as well as in national tours and regional theatre.
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel War and Peace. The show was written by composer, lyricist, playwright, orchestrator Dave Malloy and originally directed by Rachel Chavkin. It is based on Part 8 of Tolstoy's novel, focusing on Natasha's romance with Anatole and Pierre's search for meaning in his life.
Dave Malloy is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, singer, orchestrator, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. His most well known work is the Tony Award winning Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on War and Peace. His other works include Moby-Dick, an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic novel; Octet, a chamber choir musical about internet addiction; Preludes, a musical fantasia set in the mind of romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff; and Ghost Quartet, a song cycle about "love, death, and whiskey".
Rachel Chavkin is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown, receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for both and winning for Hadestown in 2019.
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Grace McLean is an American actress, playwright, composer and singer. She is known for her roles in various Broadway and off-Broadway productions such as Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Bad Cinderella, Suffs, Bedbugs, Alice by Heart, and In The Green, the latter of which she wrote. She is also known for her work as a music educator and for fronting the band Grace McLean and Them Apples. Her debut full-length album My Lovely Enemy was released on May 10, 2024.
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