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Martin Smith (26 June 1957 – 5 November 1994, Scotland, UK) was a British actor, singer, and composer. He starred in many shows in London's West End, including Evita , March of the Falsettos , The Phantom of the Opera , Les Misérables , and Children of Eden . He died from complications of AIDS at the age of 37.
He made various appearances on television but Martin Smith was best known as Mickey Doyle (1985–1986) in the long-running British soap Crossroads . His acting debut was made in Scotland in BBC's Play for Today . He subsequently made various appearances in television shows such as Fox, Very Like a Whale, One-Upmanship, Question of Guilt, Henry V, Follow the Star, Jackanory, Playhouse, Secret Army, House on the Hill, and The Kelly Monteith Show .
He later moved south and began to land leading roles in West End musicals including Billy, Something's Afoot, Let The Good Stones Roll, The Great American Backstage Musical and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. He also had regional theatre experience, playing for two seasons at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre with roles in the critically acclaimed Sophocles Trilogy, and he also played Stephen Foster in a show about the composer's life entitled Beautiful Dreamer.
He took over the role of Che in the original London production of Evita .
In 1984, played Jerry Adair in the original London cast of the musical Peg .
He also appeared as Marvin in a production of William Finn's March of the Falsettos at the Library Theatre in Manchester in 1987 and later at the Albery Theatre in London, and that same year he appeared in No Way To Treat A Lady at the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead.
From 1987 to 1988, he played Marius Pontmercy, and understudied Jean Valjean, in Les Misérables . In 1989, he appeared as Bamatabois on Les Misérables: The Complete Symphonic Recording .
In 1988 he starred in a new London production of Noël Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet .
In 1989, Smith became the third principal actor to portray The Phantom in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera .
In 1991, he created the role of Adam in the original London production of Children of Eden .
His final public performance was as Stine in the original London production of the musical City of Angels.
He recorded several concerts with the BBC Concert and Radio Orchestras and, during the 1980s, was a regular vocalist on the BBC Radio 2 shows Songs From the Shows and Friday Night is Music Night .
He was featured in the Cole Porter revue A Swell Party - A Celebration of Cole Porter (1992) at London's Vaudeville Theatre, singing "Love For Sale" as it was originally intended to be sung - by a man. He also played the piano in the revue.
In the 1980s Smith became a member of The Salvation Army at Regent Hall Corps in Oxford Street, London. He gave several concerts for the organisation and recorded the song "I'll Make My Promises" for the soundtrack album for the Gowans/Larsson musical The Blood of the Lamb, released in 1981.
As a composer Smith wrote scores for several musicals, including King, The Rainbow Girl, That Golden Fortune, Mountains of Peru, Mezzaluna and La Tosca. He recorded several songs from those shows on a solo album a year before his death.
In November 1993, Martin Smith was diagnosed as HIV positive, and he died from AIDS-related illnesses a year later on 4 November 1994. The funeral was held at the Actor's Church, Covent Garden.
A year after his death, A Handful of Keys, a gala tribute concert was held in his honour at the Prince Edward Theatre, London. The concert featured Michael Ball, John Barrowman, Tracie Bennett, Dora Bryan, Ruthie Henshall, Sally Ann Howes, Millicent Martin, Jane Rossington, Lily Savage, Marti Webb and many other of his co-stars.
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel, and a book by Schönberg and Boublil, based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks. A film adaptation was released in 2012.
Anthony Warlow is an Australian musical theatre performer, noted for his character acting and considerable vocal range. He is a classically trained lyric baritone and made his debut with the Australian Opera in 1980.
Michael Ashley Ball is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of Les Misérables. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", from the musical Aspects of Love, where he played Alex Dillingham. He played the role in the West End and on Broadway. His album Coming Home To You reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020.
Colm Wilkinson, also known as C. T. Wilkinson, is an Irish singer and actor who is best known for originating the lead role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables and for creating the title role in The Phantom of the Opera (1985) preview at the Sydmonton Festival and the original Canadian production.
Steven Neal Barton was an American actor, singer, dancer, teacher, choreographer, and stage director. He worked internationally in the United States, London, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. He is most well-known for originating the role of Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny in the West End and Broadway productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, and later taking over the title role of The Phantom of the Opera in the Broadway production. He also originated the starring role of Graf von Krolock in Dance of the Vampires.
Philip Mark Quast is an Australian actor and bass-baritone singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category.
Anthony Crivello is an American actor, known for his performances on both stage and screen He appeared in the original cast of several Broadway shows, including playing Grantaire and Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Eddie Fuseli in Golden Boy, Dante Keyes in Marie Christine, and the Killer in The News. He also originated the title role in The Phantom of the Opera: The Las Vegas Spectacular and stayed with the cast through its closing six years later. He played the Mysterious Man in the star-studded production of Into the Woods at the Hollywood Bowl and starred as Che in the closing cast of the original Broadway production of Evita. In 1993, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Graham John Bickley is an English actor and singer. He is best known for playing the role of Joey Boswell in Bread from 1989 until 1991, taking over from Peter Howitt, who played him from 1986 until 1989.
Chuck Wagner is an American actor, director, musical theater historian and teacher. He has had an extensive career in theater, but is perhaps best known for co-starring in the short-lived science fiction TV series Automan (1983–84).
Ramin Karimloo is a Canadian actor, singer and songwriter recognized for his work in London's West End and New York's Broadway theatre.
David Burt (1953) is a British actor, known primarily for his many and wide-ranging West End performances.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
Simon Bowman is a British actor and singer, born in Cardiff and trained at Mountview Theatre School. He is best known for originating the role of Chris, opposite Lea Salonga's Kim, in the original production of Miss Saigon at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End.
Barry James is an English theatre actor and singer.
David Thaxton is a Welsh singer, actor and musical theatre and opera performer. He starred in the Donmar Warehouse's Passion, for which he won the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.
Killian Donnelly is an Irish tenor. He has appeared in musicals and plays, such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, The Commitments, Memphis and Kinky Boots.
Madalena Alberto is a Portuguese actress, singer and composer who has developed her career in the West End. Alberto received rave reviews for her role as Eva Perón in Evita in the West End, where the show arrived after its UK Tour. Alberto played the role of Fantine in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables.
Earl Carpenter is an English musical theatre actor and singer, recognized chiefly for his work in London’s West End. He is known for his performances as Inspector Javert in the stage musical Les Misérables and as the title character in The Phantom of the Opera, both roles he has played on and off for two decades. He is widely known for his rich, deep baritone singing voice.
Glyn Kerslake is a British actor who was born in 1967 in Devon. He trained as an actor at Arts Educational Schools, London. He has had an extensive career spanning more than 30 years playing leading roles in the West End and regional theatres nationwide, and has been a soloist in many orchestral concerts and radio broadcasts.
The WhatsOnStage Awards, founded in 2001 as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are a fan-driven set of awards organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com, based on a popular vote recognising performers and productions of English theatre, with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.
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