Mary Hammond

Last updated

Mary Hammond is an English singer, actress, voice coach and founding Head of Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. She has also published a book titled Thank you that's all we need for today a practical guide to musical theatre auditions for actors.

Contents

Royal Academy of Music

Having trained in both voice and piano at the Royal Academy of Music, Hammond has been teaching and performing in the field of musical theatre for over twenty five years. In 1994, Hammond was invited to establish a postgraduate diploma in Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music, and worked as Head of Musical Theatre until 2012. [1] She was succeeded by Björn Dobbelaere who until 2015 when he announced he was stepping down. [2] Since 2016, the Head of Musical Theatre has been Daniel Bowling. [3] The course has since been revised into a Master of the Arts with many alumni having success on the West End and Broadway.

Television appearances

She appeared in Victoria Wood As Seen On TV , performing in sketches such as "Shopping" and "At the Chippy". She also appeared in 2008 on the ITV2 series The Passions of Girls Aloud , where she coached then Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh as she took on her passion away from the group to audition for a role in Les Misérables in London's West End.

She was one of the members of the United Kingdom jury at the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, and made a rather controversial decision to rank Spain, who eventually ended last, in 2nd place. However, this didn't affect the results as Spain scored 0 jury points altogether.

Related Research Articles

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries. It was ranked first in both the Guardian's 2022 League Table for Music and the Complete University Guide's 2023 Arts, Drama and Music league table. It is also ranked the fifth university in the world for performing arts in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.

The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of Wellington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine Paige</span> English singer and actress (born 1948)

Elaine Jill Paige is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of Hair marked her West End debut.

A music director, musical director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the director of music of a film, the director of music at a radio station, the person in charge of musical activities or the head of the music department in a school, the coordinator of the musical ensembles in a university, college, or institution, the head bandmaster of a military band, the head organist and choirmaster of a church, or an organist and master of the choristers.

<i>The Beautiful Game</i> (musical) Musical

The Beautiful Game is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton about a group of teenagers growing up during The Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberley Walsh</span> English singer, television personality and actress (born 1981)

Kimberley Jane Scott is an English singer, dancer, television personality and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the talent-search series Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The series announced Walsh had won a place as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud. The group achieved large success, nearly managing 20 consecutive top-10 UK singles, interrupted only by 2008 film-promotional single Theme To St Trinian's peaking at No 51; six studio albums all certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), two of which went to number one in the UK; and accumulating a total of five BRIT Award nominations. In 2009, Girls Aloud won Best Single with their song "The Promise".

Maria Friedman is a British actress and director, best known for her work in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Ellis</span> English actress and singer (born 1979)

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.

<i>High School Musical on Stage!</i> Musical

High School Musical on Stage! is a musical based on the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, with music and lyrics by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, Ray and Greg Cham, Drew Seeley, Randy Petersen, Kevin Quinn, Andy Dodd, Adam Watts, Bryan Louiselle, David N. Lawrence, Faye Greenberg and Jamie Houston, and a book by David Simpatico. It quickly became a popular choice for high school musical theater productions.

The Passions of Girls Aloud is a four-part television series starring girl group Girls Aloud. The series premiered on ITV2 on 14 March 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Buckley</span> Irish actress (born 1989)

Jessie Buckley is an Irish actress and singer. The accolades she has received include a Laurence Olivier Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards.

Jean Rigby is an English opera and concert singer. A mezzo-soprano, she is a long-time principal with the English National Opera.

Paul Gemignani is an American musical director with a career on Broadway and West End theatre spanning over forty years.

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.

Bessie Cursons is an English actress from Portsmouth, Hampshire. She reached the final of the first series of the ITV talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2007. Cursons starred in the children's comedy-drama, My Phone Genie.

Meredith Braun began her career as a child actor in her native New Zealand before relocating to the UK and starring in a number of West End musicals and touring productions.

<i>Centre Stage</i> (album) 2013 studio album by Kimberley Walsh

Centre Stage is the debut studio album from British pop singer Kimberley Walsh, released on 4 February 2013 through Decca Records. The album is Walsh's first solo music release outside of British girl group Girls Aloud after working in acting, television presenting, and theatre. It consists of covers of songs from popular musical theatre and musical films, a passion which Walsh has wished to pursue since she was just three years old, as well as two brand new songs. Centre Stage also features duets with fellow performers Louise Dearman and Ronan Keating.

Christiana Hadjiiordanous is a Cypriot-born singer and the winner of the 4th season of The X Factor Bulgaria. Since her 2015 participation at the talent show, she became known as Christiana Loizu.

Mark Warman is a British conductor, musical director, composer, orchestrator, and educator. He has worked in London's West End on musical productions, orchestrated and conducted albums, and TV and film scores.

Callum Scott Howells is a Welsh actor and singer. He is best known for portraying Colin Morris-Jones on the Channel 4 drama It's a Sin (2021).

References

  1. "Musical Theatre Company". Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
  2. Music 2012–15, Björn Dobbelaere Head of Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of. "Staff - Björn Dobbelaere - Royal Academy of Music". www.ram.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. supervisor, Daniel Bowling Head of Musical Theatre Musical Theatre-Head of Musical Theatre Sought-after music; conductor; Author, Music Director as Well as; Disney, vocal coach Worked with; Mackintosh, Cameron; Mis, rew Lloyd Webber Supervised or directed the music for some of the industry’s most iconic shows including Les; Poppins, Mary; Phantom; Saigon, Miss. "Staff - Daniel Bowling - Royal Academy of Music". www.ram.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2019.{{cite web}}: |last3= has generic name (help)

"Royal Academy of Music Brochure". Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.