"},"genre":{"wt":"[[Pop music|Pop]],[[Gospel music|Gospel]],[[Soul music|Soul]],[[Electronic music|Electronic]]"},"occupation":{"wt":"Singer,actor"},"years_active":{"wt":"2002–present"},"associated_acts":{"wt":"[[Leah McFall]],[[Mike Ward (singer)|Mike Ward]]"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBw">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}
Matt Henry | |
---|---|
Born | Birmingham, England [1] |
Genres | Pop, Gospel, Soul, Electronic |
Occupation(s) | Singer, actor |
Years active | 2002–present |
Matt Henry MBE is a Laurence Olivier Award-winning British singer and actor. [2]
His first career highlight was being chosen by the Prince's Trust to perform at the Two Nations Concert at Johannesburg Stadium in 1997 alongside the Spice Girls, Billy Ocean and Omar.
Henry studied at the Roehampton University of Surrey, now known as University of Roehampton, obtaining a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Drama and Sociology, [3] before continuing his theatrical training at the Urdang Academy in London's Covent Garden.
Henry answered an open call to audition as understudy for Simba in The Lion King while he was in his second year at Urdang Academy in London. As a student, he was not supposed to audition for professional roles, but skipped his classes. When he returned, the principal summoned Henry to his office and asked where he had been. He said he was ill and the principal told him that the casting director of The Lion King called and said he had the part. [1]
His early West End credits include Saturday Night Fever and Avenue Q . [4]
In 2013, Henry competed in series two of the BBC's The Voice UK , where he was mentored by both will.i.am and Jessie J. He reached the grand final and ultimately finished in fourth place. His performance of Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble" has received over 12 million hits on YouTube, [5] and LaMontagne’s original recording re-entered the UK Singles Chart following the airing of Henry's performance. [6]
In 2015, he released his debut solo album Red Flare, which was recorded live at the studio owned by The Feeling’s Dan Gillespie and produced by Mr Hudson. He promoted the album with a UK tour supporting pop icon Cyndi Lauper. [7]
Henry was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 New Year Honours, for services to musical theatre. [2] [8]
In 2020, he originated the role of Frankie The Foetus in Jonathan Harvey's play Our Lady of Blundellsands at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool.
In 2020, Henry co-created and starred in the new musical, The Drifters Girl , alongside Beverley Knight. The show delayed its original October 2020 opening at the Garrick Theatre in London, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually opening in November 2021, following previews at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in October 2020.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model | Himself | Runway coach |
2013 | The Voice UK | Himself | Contestant, fourth place |
2019 | Kinky Boots (musical) | Lola | |
2022 | Matilda the Musical | Doctor |
Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 | The Lion King | Simba (understudy) | Lyceum Theatre | West End |
2004 | Miss Saigon | John Thomas (understudy) | — | UK National Tour |
2005 | Saturday Night Fever | Cesar | Apollo Victoria Theatre | West End |
2006-2012 | Avenue Q | Gary Coleman | Noël Coward Theatre | West End |
2008 | Hair | Hud | — | UK National Tour |
2009 | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Mr. Beaver | Royal & Derngate | Northampton |
2009 | The Frontline | Benny | Shakespeare's Globe | London |
2010 | The Rat Pack: Live From Las Vegas | Sammy Davis Jr. | Adelphi Theatre & UK Tour | West End & UK National Tour |
2011 | The Harder They Come | Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin | Stratford East & UK Tour | Stratford & UK National Tour |
2015 | Red Flare | Debut studio album | ||
2015-16 | Kinky Boots | Lola/Simon | Adelphi Theatre | BroadWay |
2018 | The Two Noble Kinsmen | Piritous | Globe Theatre | London |
2019 | One Night in Miami | Sam Cooke | — | UK National Tour |
2020 | Our Lady of Blundellsands | Frankie The Foetus | Everyman Theatre, Liverpool | Liverpool |
2021–present | The Drifters Girl | Multiple Characters | The Garrick Theatre | Newcastle and West End |
2024 | The Devil Wears Prada | Nigel | Theatre Royal, Plymouth | Plymouth |
Year | Title | Note | |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Red Flare | Debut studio album | |
Year | Award | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Laurence Olivier Award | Best Actor in a Musical ( Kinky Boots ) | Won |
2016 | WhatsOnStage Awards | Best Actor in a Musical ( Kinky Boots ) | Won |
2017 | Order of the British Empire | MBE | Awarded |
2017 | Grammy Awards | Best Musical Theater Album ( Kinky Boots West End Cast Recording) | Nominated |
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her album She's So Unusual (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achieve four top-five hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time", "She Bop", and "All Through the Night"—and earned Lauper the Best New Artist award at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985. Her success continued with the soundtrack for the motion picture The Goonies (1985) and her second record True Colors (1986). This album included the number-one single "True Colors" and "Change of Heart", which peaked at number three. Her cover of the Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On" was a moderate hit in 1987. In 1989, Lauper saw success with "I Drove All Night" and in 1993, had her first dance club hit with "That's What I Think".
"She Bop" is a song by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released as the third single from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). It reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in September 1984. Worldwide, the song is her third most commercially successful single after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time", and also reached number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and number six on the ARIA Singles Chart. "She Bop" was Lauper's third consecutive top 5 on the Hot 100. She recorded a quieter version of the song for her 2005 album The Body Acoustic.
She's So Unusual is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released on October 14, 1983, by Portrait Records. It stands out for its commercial success, achieving four top-five singles—a pioneering achievement for a debut album by a female artist. The album was re-released in 2014 to commemorate its 30th anniversary, and was called She's So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration. The re-release contains demos and remixes of previously released material, as well as new artwork.
"Girls Just Want to Have Fun" is a single by the American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, written by Robert Hazard. It was released by Portrait Records as Lauper's first major single as a solo artist and the lead single from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). Lauper's version gained recognition as a feminist anthem and was promoted by a Grammy-winning music video. It has been covered by more than 30 other artists.
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notoriety for his theater work in Torch Song Trilogy, winning both the Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play. He went on to win the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for La Cage aux Folles, then Best Actor in a Musical for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, a role he reprised for the Hairspray Live! television special.
"Time After Time" is a song by American singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut studio album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the 1979 film Time After Time.
Kinky Boots is a 2005 British comedy-drama film directed by Julian Jarrold and written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth. Nominated for Best Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards, it is based on a true story. The film tells of struggling shoe factory owner Charlie, who forms an unlikely partnership with Lola, a drag queen, to save the business. Charlie develops a plan to produce custom footwear for drag queens, rather than the men's dress shoes that his firm is known for, alienating many in the process.
"True Colors" is a song written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. It was both the title track and the first single released from American singer Cyndi Lauper's second studio album of the same name (1986). Released in mid-1986, the song spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, being Lauper's second and last single to occupy the top of the chart. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
American singer Cyndi Lauper has released eleven studio albums, six compilation albums, five video albums and fifty-three singles. Worldwide, Lauper has sold approximately 50 million albums, singles and DVDs. According to RIAA, She has sold 9.5 million certified albums in the United States with She's so Unusual being her biggest seller.
Eric Anderson is an American actor. On Broadway, he has originated roles in Waitress, Kinky Boots, The Last Ship, Rocky, and Soul Doctor, and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He portrayed Mr. O'Malley in The Greatest Showman (2017). In 2022, he took over the role of Harold Zidler in the jukebox musical Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.
William Ellis Porter II is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
The New Wolsey Theatre is a producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, with a seating capacity of 400.
Killian Donnelly is an Irish tenor singer and stage actor. He has appeared in musicals such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Kinky Boots.
Marcus Collins is an English singer who was a finalist on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011. He was mentored by Take That frontman Gary Barlow, who continued to work with him on his debut album.
Kinky Boots is a musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein.
The 67th Annual Tony Awards were held June 9, 2013, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2012–13 season. The ceremony returned to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, after two years at Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television. Neil Patrick Harris hosted for the third consecutive year, his fourth time as host. Awards in four of the eight acting categories, were given to African-American performers. Furthermore, it is the second time in Tony history that both directing prizes went to women. Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor had previously won in 1998. Kinky Boots had a season best 13 nominations and 6 awards. Cyndi Lauper, composer of the score for Kinky Boots, is the first solo female winner for Best Original Score.
The She's So Unusual: 30th Anniversary Tour was the twelfth concert tour by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. Launched to mark the anniversary of her debut solo album, the tour visited North America, Asia and Australia.
Kinky Boots is a Broadway original cast album for the homonym musical Kinky Boots. It was released on May 28, 2013, less than two months after the show opened on Broadway. It was produced by Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the songs, Stephen Oremus, the orchestrator and conductor, and William Wittman. On release it premiered at number one on the Billboard Cast Albums Chart and number fifty-one on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the highest charting Broadway cast recording since The Book of Mormon's album was released two years earlier. Vocalists on the album include Stark Sands, Billy Porter and Annaleigh Ashford.
Detour is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper, containing cover versions of country and western songs. It was released on May 6, 2016, and is the artist's first for Sire Records. The album was recorded in Nashville and produced by Tony Brown. In the United States, the album debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and number four on the Billboard Top Country Albums and sold 36,800 copies as of September 2016.
Natalie McQueen is an English actress known for her performances in a number of UK West End productions including Bonnie & Clyde, 9 to 5, Kinky Boots and Wicked.