Emma Hatton | |
---|---|
Born | Coleford, Gloucestershire, England | 6 April 1983
Nationality | English |
Education | London School of Musical Theatre |
Occupation(s) | Actress, singer |
Years active | West End: 2009 – present |
Emma Hatton (born 6 April 1983) is a British actress and singer, who played the role of Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked . She has also understudied the roles of Meat and Scaramouche in We Will Rock You and has a number of other professional stage and theatre credits, such as Donna in Dreamboats and Petticoats . In 2017 she took on the lead role in the Bill Kenwright touring production of Evita . In 2018 she toured as a featured vocalist with the vintage rotating music collective Postmodern Jukebox during their UK and European tour.
Hatton grew up in Coleford, Gloucestershire, attending St. John's Primary School [1] and Lakers School. [2] She enjoyed performing from an early age, beginning dance lessons at the age of three years, at the Jane Jarrett School of Dancing in Broadwell. Hatton studied for her A levels at Monmouth Sixth Form and her love of theatre grew from playing Sandy in the Lakers School production of Grease and starring in Anything Goes and Daisy Pulls It Off as part of the Forest Theatre Musical Society. She studied English and Sport Science at Loughborough University but enjoyed performing so much, she was inspired to spend a year at London School of Musical Theatre. [3]
As a youngster Hatton was a very talented athlete competing in long and triple jump at county and national level . In 1999 she competed for her home county of Gloucestershire at the English Schools Championships in Bury St Edmunds qualifying for the finals where she finished in 5th place.
After graduating from LSMT, Hatton did a variety of theatre work, her big break coming in 2009 when she made her West End debut and originated the role of Donna in Dreamboats and Petticoats . [4] For a while after this she achieved mainly minor theatre roles but hit the West End once more when cast in the ensemble of We Will Rock You in late 2011, also understudying the role of Scarmouche. She chose to stay for a second year and additionally understudied the character Meat, as well as Scaramouche. [5]
After being cast in Wicked , [6] Hatton gave her final performance in We Will Rock You on 5 October 2013 and joined the cast of Wicked on 2 December 2013, becoming standby to the role of Elphaba. Due to a long term back injury sustained by the lead Willemijn Verkaik, Hatton found herself performing the role very frequently, in April 2014 she performed more times than Verkaik. She temporarily became lead Elphaba on 21 July 2014 but played her final performance on 2 August 2014 and returned to being standby when succeeded by original British Elphaba Kerry Ellis. [7] She performed her 100th show in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on 3 September 2014.
On 3 October 2014 it was announced that Hatton would take over the role of Elphaba permanently following the departure of American Elphaba Jennifer DiNoia on 31 January 2015. On 17 July 2015, it was announced she had extended her contract as lead Elphaba until at least August 2016. [8]
On 19 May 2016 it was announced that Hatton would play her final performance as Elphaba on 3 September 2016. She was replaced by the long running West End Elphaba Rachel Tucker for the 10th Anniversary of the show.
Other stage credits include Twlya in When Midnight Strikes at the Chelsea Theatre and Finborough Theatre, Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Harlequin Theatre, Heaven Sent at the New Wimbledon Theatre, Darling of the Day at the Ondaatje Wing Theatre (part of the National Gallery), Uncle Eric's White Christmas and A Comedy of Eric's at the New Vic and Christmas in New York at the Apollo Theatre. [9]
Recent theatre credits
Start Date | End date | Production | Role(s) | Venue(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
19 February 2009 | 18 July 2009 | Dreamboats and Petticoats | Donna | Various – UK Tour |
22 July 2009 | 31 October 2009 | Savoy Theatre | ||
6 January 2010 | 3 July 2010 | Playhouse Theatre | ||
22 August 2010 | 19 September 2010 | Darling of the Day [10] | Ensemble / Dance Captain | Ondaatje Wing Theatre |
23 March 2011 | 26 March 2011 | Heaven Sent | Vanessa | New Wimbledon Studios |
22 August 2011 | 3 September 2011 | A Comedy of Eric's | Lady Montague | New Vic Theatre |
10 October 2011 | 6 October 2012 | We Will Rock You | Ensemble, Understudy Scaramouche | Dominion Theatre |
8 October 2012 | 5 October 2013 | Ensemble, Understudy Meat / Scaramouche | ||
2 December 2013 | 31 January 2015 | Wicked | Standby Elphaba | Apollo Victoria Theatre |
2 February 2015 | 3 September 2016 | Elphaba | ||
12 January 2017 | 23 July 2017 | Evita | Eva Perón | Various – UK/German Tour |
28 July 2017 | 13 October 2017 | Phoenix Theatre |
Hatton completes a lot of work for charity, and is known for her fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. She has organised and starred in two concerts, both entitled Songbirds in 2013 [11] and 2014, [12] the latter featuring stars such as Sophie Linder-Lee, Jacqueline Hughes and Kerry Enright. She has also presented on the British Heart Foundation radio station.
In 2013 and again in 2014, Hatton ran the London Marathon for the charity, raising £9,266 in 2014, and completing the feat in a time of 5 hours and 39 minutes. [13] She also ran the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon on 12 October 2014 to raise money for Moorfields Eye Charity and performed at Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, in aid of the MAD Trust on 31 May 2015.
In the last two years, Hatton has accrued five award nominations for her West End work.
Year | Nominated work | Award | Awards | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Scaramouche / Meat in We Will Rock You | Understudy of the Year | West End Frame Awards | Nominated |
2014 | Standby Elphaba in Wicked | Understudy of the Year | West End Frame Awards | Nominated |
2014 | Standby Elphaba in Wicked | Understudy of the Year | BroadwayWorld UK Awards | Nominated |
2015 | Elphaba in Wicked | Best Performance in a Musical | The Version Music Honours | Nominated |
2015 | Elphaba in Wicked | Best Performance of a Song | West End Frame Awards | Nominated |
Elphaba Thropp is the protagonist in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, and in its musical theatre adaptation Wicked. The character is identified with the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman. It is a loose adaptation of the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which is in turn based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and its 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation.
"Defying Gravity" is the signature song from the musical Wicked, composed by Stephen Schwartz, originally recorded by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth on November 10, 2003, and released on December 16, 2003. It is mostly a solo sung by the main character of the show, Elphaba, with two small duets at the beginning and in the middle of the song between Elphaba and her friend Glinda, and a chorus part at the end in which the citizens of Oz sing.
Kerry Jane Ellis is an English actress and singer who is best known for her work in musical theatre and subsequent crossover into music. Born and raised in Suffolk, Ellis began performing at an early age before training at Laine Theatre Arts from the age of 16.
"No Good Deed" is a musical number from the hit Broadway musical Wicked. It is sung by Elphaba, the main character of the show. It is widely regarded as the most powerful piece of the musical; and the most emotional.
Ashleigh Gray is a Scottish Actress and Musical Theatre performer best known for playing Elphaba in the London and UK & Ireland touring productions of Wicked.
Rachel Kelly Tucker is a Northern Irish West End and Broadway actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the hit musical Wicked. She also starred in Come from Away on Broadway, having originated the role on the West End. Rachel has starred in various other musicals and plays, including one alongside Sting.
Willemijn Verkaik is a Dutch singer and actress. She is best known for her stage roles in Wicked and Elisabeth, and for providing the singing voice for Elsa in both the German and Dutch versions of Disney's Frozen. She was the longest running Elphaba in the musical Wicked, having played the role over 2,000 times, and is the only person to have played the role in three languages. Her first performance as Elphaba was on 31 October 2007, in Stuttgart, Germany, and her final performance was on 22 July 2017 in the West End of London.
"The Wizard and I" is a musical number from the hit musical Wicked. It is primarily a solo number for the character of Elphaba, though the character Madame Morrible also sings in the introduction to the song.
Katie Rowley Jones is a British musical theatre actress, best known for originating the role of Nessarose in the West End production of Wicked.
Donna Marie Vivino is an American theatre, television, film actress and singer. She is known for playing Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked and as the original Young Cosette in Les Misérables on Broadway. She was seen on Law & Order in January 2023 as guest star Rachel Ford. She will be appearing in the upcoming films "Family Affair" and "Inappropriate Behavior" with Bobby Cannavale.
Jemma Rix is an Australian theatre performer, who has played the role of Elphaba in the Melbourne, Sydney, Australian and Asian touring companies of Wicked. Rix first performed the role in the shortened 30-minute version of the show at Universal Studios Japan. She was an original cast member of the Australian premiere production as the standby for Elphaba.
Louise Dearman is a British actress and singer, perhaps best known for playing Glinda and Elphaba in the West End production of the musical Wicked. Notably, she is the only actress to have played both witches in any production of Wicked full-time. She has a number of other professional stage and television credits, such as Eva Perón in Evita, Sarah Brown and Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, and Daisy Hilton in Side Show. She released her solo albums, You and I, Here Comes the Sun and It's Time, in 2005, 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Jackie Burns is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theatre.
Suzie Mathers is a Scottish-Australian actress and theatre performer best known for her role as Glinda the Good Witch in the Australian, Asian tour, and London productions of Wicked as well Sophie in the 10th Anniversary Australian tour of Mamma Mia! the Musical. Spouse: Laura Francis (7/3/2019)
Savannah Stevenson is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her work in the theatre.
Jennifer "Jenny" DiNoia is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her work in musical theatre, especially Wicked, playing the lead role of Elphaba in various productions around the world.
Caroline Bowman is an American theatre actress who has performed in multiple Broadway musicals, including Fame, Grease, Spamalot, Evita, Wicked, Kinky Boots, and the national tour of Frozen.
Jessica Vosk is an American singer and actress, known for her work in musical theater.
Alison Nicole Luff is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her extensive work in musical theatre, notably for her roles as Elphaba in the First National Tour of Wicked and Jenna in the Broadway production of Waitress. Since 2021, she has appeared in a lead role in the Starz drama series Heels.