Kim Ismay is a British actress and singer and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. [1] She is perhaps best known for playing the role of Tanya in the London production of the stage musical Mamma Mia! , [2] Madame Morrible in the international and UK & Ireland tours of Wicked [3] and as the Baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang . [4]
The daughter of Ellen Ismay (1923–2002), Kim Ismay took a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts at the University of Kent. [5]
Since 1997 Ismay has been a Director and Fellow of the New Era Academy of Drama & Music. [5] [6] She is a patron of Momentum, the children's cancer charity, [7] helping them to raise funds by producing and directing galas featuring West End stars. She is also an Ambassador for the Theatre charity Acting for Others, [8] and an active supporter of Madtrust, the theatrical AIDS charity. [9]
Ismay's theatre appearances include Cabaret (1986) at the Strand Theatre; Stop the World – I Want to Get Off at the Lyric Theatre (1989); the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Kiss Me, Kate (1986–87), The Wizard of Oz (1988–89) and The Comedy of Errors (1992–93); [1] Joanna in the original London production of Sunset Boulevard (1993); Next Door's Baby (2008); Noises Off (2009); How the Other Half Loves (2009); Baroness Bomburst in the 2008 and 2009–10 UK tours of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ; Tanya in Mamma Mia! at the Prince Edward Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre and the Novello Theatre; [10] and Madame Morrible in the national and international tours and West End production of Wicked . [11]
Her television appearances include Never the Twain (1991), London's Burning (1998), Bob Martin (2000), The Bill (1994–2006), was interviewed for the documentary Super Troupers: Thirty Years of ABBA (2004), The Sound of Musicals (2006), EastEnders (2007), and Not Going Out (2012). [12]
A regular and popular radio guest, she also records audiobooks for Calibre. [13]
Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, members of the band. The title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson, who composed the original music for ABBA, were involved in the development of the show from the beginning. Singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and she was also present at many of the premieres around the world.
Louise Gold is an English puppeteer, actress and singer whose career has spanned more than four decades. She is best known for her work as a puppeteer on television and for roles in musical theatre in the West End.
Anita Dobson is an English stage, film and television actress, and singer. She is best known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Singles Chart with "Anyone Can Fall in Love", a song based on the theme music of EastEnders. She is married to Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May.
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, based on the characters and setting of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz.
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.
Judy Kaye is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals The Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime, Mamma Mia!, and Nice Work If You Can Get It.
Harold Owen "Gary" Wilmot, MBE is a British singer, actor, comedian, presenter, writer and director who rose to fame as a contestant on New Faces. As a television presenter, he is best known as the host of You and Me, So You Want To Be Top and Showstoppers. His West End credits include Me and My Girl, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Prince of Egypt.
Louise Plowright was a British actress who trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She first came to prominence playing abrasive hairdresser Julie Cooper in the television soap opera EastEnders from 1989 to 1990. Subsequent major roles on TV include Linda Harvey in Families and Michelle Thorn in Footballers' Wives: Extra Time.
Raúl Eduardo Esparza is an American stage, screen, and voice actor. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated starring role in the 2006 Broadway revival of Company and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a musical with music and lyrics written by Richard and Robert Sherman and a book by Jeremy Sams. It is based on the 1968 film of the same name written by Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes, and Richard Maibaum, which in turn is based on the book of the same name by Ian Fleming. The show premiered at the London Palladium on April 16, 2002, directed by Adrian Noble before opening on Broadway in 2005.
Harriet Amelia Thorpe is an English actress. Thorpe trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She is known for her roles in the British sitcoms, The Brittas Empire (1991–97) and Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012) and has also starred in the West End musicals, Cabaret (2006), Wicked (2008) and Mamma Mia! (2010).
Her Majesty's Theatre is a 1,700 seat theatre in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, Australia. Built in 1886, it is located at 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne. It is classified by the National Trust of Australia and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
Scarlett Aimee Vaigncourt-Strallen is an English stage actress, best known for her work in musical theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway. She has received two Olivier Award nominations, in 2006 for her portrayal of Josephine in HMS Pinafore, performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and in 2012 for her role in Singin' in the Rain. Strallen is also a former voice actress.
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC TV casting show Any Dream Will Do. As well as subsequent West End roles in Wicked, Legally Blonde: The Musical and The West End Men, Mead has pursued a music career, releasing four solo albums and undertaking concert tours in the UK and Japan.
Dianne Lesley Pilkington is an English theatre actress and singer.
Rondi Anne Reed is an American actress of stage and screen. A longtime member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she has appeared in more than 50 productions at that theater. Also active on Broadway, she won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Mattie Fae Aiken in August: Osage County. She is best known for the role of Peggy on the television sitcom Mike & Molly which she played from 2010-2016.
Caroline Sheen is a Welsh actress who has played leading roles on stage in the West End alongside TV and film appearances. She won a Helen Hayes award for playing the role of Mary Poppins on the National Tour of America.
Anthony Ward is a British theatre designer specializing in set and costume design. He studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art.
James William Thomas Cundall is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals and theatrical shows. He is a founder of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions and The Imperial Ice Stars, conceived York's annual Christmas ice-rink The Ice Factor and created York's Shakespeare's Rose 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)