Michael Burgess (singer)

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Michael Burgess
Michael Burgess.jpg
Michael Burgess, February 2005
Background information
Birth nameWalter Roy Burgess
Born(1945-07-22)July 22, 1945
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
DiedSeptember 28, 2015(2015-09-28) (aged 70)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor, singer

Michael Burgess, (July 22, 1945 – September 28, 2015) was a Canadian actor and tenor singer, best known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in the Toronto production of Les Misérables and was the former anthem singer of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Contents

Early life and career

Burgess was born in Regina, Saskatchewan; his early musical training included education at Toronto's St. Michael's Choir School. [1] He studied at the University of Ottawa. [2]

Burgess appeared as one of the 17 Jean Valjeans at the end of the Les Miserables 10th Anniversary Concert . His other major performances include Man of La Mancha , Blood Brothers , and starring roles throughout Canada and the United States. [2]

He is also known in Canada for his frequent vocal performances of national anthems; he was the first individual to sing "O Canada" at the baseball World Series, in Atlanta in 1992. [2] In 2013, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario. [3]

Burgess performing at a Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey game in 2009 Mcorb-1040696.JPG
Burgess performing at a Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey game in 2009

Personal life and death

He married fellow Les Misérables performer Susan Gilmour on October 8, 1994. [4] He also has a son Jesse Burgess from a previous relationship.

Burgess died in a hospice in Toronto on September 28, 2015, from skin cancer. He was 70. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Les Misérables</i> 1862 novel by Victor Hugo

Les Misérables is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. Les Misérables has been popularized through numerous adaptations for film, television and the stage, including a musical.

<i>Les Misérables</i> (musical) Musical based on Victor Hugos novel of the same name

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.

Warren James Kinsella is a Canadian lawyer, author, musician, political consultant, and commentator. Kinsella has written commentary in most of Canada's major newspapers and several magazines, including The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Sun, Ottawa Citizen, the National Post,The Walrus, and Postmedia newspapers. He appeared regularly on the Sun News Network. Kinsella is the founder of the Daisy Consulting Group, a Toronto-based firm that engages in paid political campaign strategy work, lobbying and communications crisis management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colm Wilkinson</span> Irish singer and actor (born 1944)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Owen-Jones</span> Welsh musical theatre actor and singer

John Owen-Jones is a Welsh musical theatre actor and singer, best known for his portrayals of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables and The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Panaro</span> American actor (born 1964)

Hugh Panaro is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work in Broadway stage musicals, most well known for his role in The Phantom of the Opera being in over 2,000 performances in the Broadway production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Michael's Choir School</span> School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

St. Michael's Choir School is a semi-private Catholic choir school for boys from grades 3-12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Overseen by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, the school provides a private music education in joint operation with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, which administers all other academic subjects, athletics programs, and extracurricular activities. The school is affiliated with the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music and is a member of the International Boys' Schools Coalition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Gimby</span> Canadian musician

Robert Stead Gimby, OC was a Canadian orchestra leader, trumpeter, and singer-songwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Walpole</span> Musical artist

Aaron John Walpole is a Canadian actor and singer, who placed third on the third season of Canadian Idol. He is best known for playing the role of Lonnie in the 2010 Toronto run of Rock of Ages and Annas in the 2012 Broadway run of Jesus Christ Superstar. He appeared in the 2014 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, as a part of the ensemble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramin Karimloo</span> Canadian actor, singer, songwriter (born 1978)

Ramin Karimloo is a Canadian actor, singer and songwriter recognized for his work in London's West End and New York's Broadway theatre.

CHML is a radio station, broadcasting at 900 AM in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. CHML's transmitter power is 50,000 watts using an eight-tower directional antenna array with a signal oriented largely west-northwest to east-southeast, covering the Niagara Peninsula and Western New York, USA strongest; the array is located between Peter's Corners and Cambridge. Its studios are located on West Main Street in Hamilton. The station airs a news–talk format branded as Global News Radio 900 CHML. CHML is owned by Corus Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Marien</span> Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter (born 1955)

Robert Marien is a Canadian (Québécois) actor, singer, and songwriter who has performed in the musical Les Misérables in Montreal, Paris, New York City and London, as well as Notre Dame de Paris in both Korea and Japan. He has played the role of Jean Valjean in both English and in French, and has also appeared in numerous films and television shows such as Lance et Compte (1986-2010), and, most recently, Mensonges (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfie Boe</span> English actor and singer (born 1973)

Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe is an English actor and singer who performs primarily in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luminato</span> Annual arts festival in Toronto, Canada

The Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists from over 40 countries and has commissioned over 80 new works of art.

Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert (1995), also titled Les Misérables in Concert, is a concert version of the 1980 musical Les Misérables, which was based on Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, produced to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the West End production. It was filmed in October 1995 at the Royal Albert Hall and was shortly afterwards released on VHS in the United Kingdom in November by Video Collection International. The concert was released on DVD, VHS and LD in North America by Columbia TriStar Home Video in 1998, and re-released on DVD in North America in 2008. The latest DVD presents the concert in its original 16x9 ratio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Diges</span> Musical artist

Daniel Diges García is a Spanish singer, pianist, composer and actor. Although born in Madrid proper, he has spent all his youth in the neighbouring city of Alcalá de Henares.

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.

<i>Les Misérables</i> (2012 film) Epic period musical film

Les Misérables is a 2012 epic period musical film directed by Tom Hooper from a screenplay by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, and Herbert Kretzmer, based on the stage musical of the same name by Schönberg, Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel, which in turn is based on the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen, with Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, and Daniel Huttlestone in supporting roles.

Adaptations of<i> Les Misérables</i>

Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables has been the subject of many adaptations in various media since its original publication in 1862.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Jean-Baptiste</span> American actor (1993–2015)

Kyle Jean-Baptiste was an American actor. He was the youngest, as well as the first Black actor, to play the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables on Broadway.

References

  1. Volume Communications. "A Gift of Music Gala in support of St. Michael's Choir School". Newswire. Volume Communications. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Michael Burgess". Historica-Dominion. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  3. "25 Appointees Named to Ontario's Highest Honour". Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
  4. Zekas, Ritas (October 9, 1994). "Mr & Mrs Miz", Toronto Star, p. C2.
  5. "Canadian tenor Michael Burgess dies at 70". The Globe and Mail. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  6. Morrow, Martin (2 October 2015). "Gifted Les Mis star Michael Burgess made hearts swell". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 October 2015.