Ryan Molloy | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ryan Molloy |
Born | North Shields, England, United Kingdom | 21 November 1970
Genres | Musical theatre, rock and roll |
Website | ryanmolloy |
Ryan Molloy (born 21 November 1972) is a British actor, singer and songwriter. He has been successful in stage and musical theatre at West End and Broadway, appearing in a number of hit musicals, like Taboo , Jerry Springer: The Opera , Tonight's the Night , Godspell and six years in Jersey Boys playing as Frankie Valli made him the longest-running star in a West End musical. [1] [2] In 2004, he replaced Holly Johnson as the lead singer in Frankie Goes to Hollywood for a charity concert at Wembley Arena being a band member until 2007, and since 2012 is often active with the Trevor Horn Band with whom recorded the album Made in Basing Street . He is known for his countertenor voice and falsetto. [3] [4]
Molloy was born on 21 November 1972 in North Shields in Tyneside, to Bob and Winnie/Minnie Molloy. [2] [5] He recalls it was "tough living there". [6] He attended Marden Bridge Middle School and Monkseaton High School. [7] [8] He left high school at the age of 16, [7] but was enrolled in Delaval Studios part of Tyne Metropolitan College. [8] Molloy then moved to London to train as an actor. He attended The Poor School, [5] and later at the age of 19 also trained at the University of California, Los Angeles and New York City. [2] [5] He had hard time in the US, where also lived his sister Michelle, as was mostly making money by winning in karaoke competitions. [2]
After returning from the United States, in 1994 he was signed by RCA Records. [9] In 1997 was planned for release a five track self-titled debut album by RCA Records, but the release was cancelled. [10] In 1998, Molloy sang the song "Black and White Army (Bringing The Pride Back Home)" written by Sting for the Newcastle's 1998 FA Cup final. [5] However, after four years, his music career "just didn't work out". [7]
On 31 October 2004, Molloy was chosen from 200 candidates as the new lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, appearing on 11 November in a special charity show for The Prince’s Trust at Wembley Arena celebrating Trevor Horn's 25 years as a record producer, [5] [11] performing live "Welcome to the Pleasuredome", "Two Tribes", and "Relax". [12] [13] Horn considered he "was a hell of a good frontman". [14] He performed with them also in subsequent 2005 tour, and wrote some new songs for the band, but they weren't released as they disbanded in 2007. [5] [15] [16]
He spent some time in 2005 also working with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics on the spoof documentary Platinum Weird , which involved Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani and Carmen Electra. They would collaborate again in 2019, when Molloy performed live "Thorn in My Side" and "Love is a Stranger" at Eurythmics Songbook concert at Royal Festival Hall. [17] He also appeared at Jools Hollands' Jam House Club for the Edinburgh Festival in August 2006, together with his band Suntan. [5]
Molloy stayed in touch with Trevor Horn and on several occasions was part of his live The Trevor Horn Band and contributing lead vocals for "Freeway", "Man on the Moon", and "Stay Elaine" on studio album Made in Basing Street (2012), [18] including lately in 2018 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, [19] in 2019 at Cornbury Music Festival, [20] 2021 at Rewind Festival, [21] and 2022 at Cropredy Music Festival performing live FGTH's "Two Tribes", "Relax", "Power of Love" and Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart" among others. [22] [23]
On 1 and 3 June 2013 performed "Make Our Garden Grow" with Barbra Streisand at two The O2 Arena concerts of her Barbra Live tour. As was found out that the duet partners Il Volo cancelled on the day of the concert itself, Molloy was immediately called up with little time for rehearsal. [7] [24]
In 2009 released two albums Sing's Frankie and Human, [25] [26] on 23 September 2013 single "Turn on the Night", [27] [28] and in 2016 pop rock album Turn on the Night "mainly made up of old songs I wrote". [29] [18] In January 2017, held a concert at The Stage Door in Southampton. [30] In April 2017, held a concert "Big in Japan" (pun on his size [18] ) in Tokyo, collaborating with producer Andy Wright and guitarist Kenji Suzuki from Simply Red. [18] Molloy held solo concerts at Hippodrome, London in 2014, [31] 2016, [32] 2020, [33] and 2021. [34]
Molloy began his acting career in theatre appearing in a number of dramatic roles, including Los Angeles production of The Picked Cerebrum, and London productions of Betrayal and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth . [35] In 2003 starred in the West End hit Taboo, playing Steve Strange alongside Boy George and Lyn Paul. [35] [18] In 2004, he gained a chorus role in the controversial production of Jerry Springer – The Opera , where Molloy was a member of the original cast at the National Theatre, and went on to play the parts of the transvestite Tremont and the Angel Gabriel. [5]
In early 2006 had to do appendix operation, [5] but managed get the role of Stuart in the touring production of Ben Elton's Rod Stewart musical, Tonight's The Night . [5] In April-May 2007 played as Ozzie in the On the Town at the London Coliseum. [36] In June played Joilet Jake Blues in The Blues Brothers tribute musical Blues Brothers Unlimited at Centrepoint Theatre, Dubai. [37] In August played in Eurobeat at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [38] In September-October played as John the Baptist and Judas in Godspell , [39] with theatre critics Mark Shenton and Sam Marlower praising his projection of charisma, [40] being one of "few bright spots". [41]
"The important thing is to keep developing the character, to keep it fresh, and, my goodness, a long run takes a lot of self-discipline."
—Molloy on his long lasting acting as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys , West End, London. [27]
In October 2007, Molloy was cast as Frankie Valli in the West End premiere of Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theatre, and played his first preview performance on 28 February 2008, and official opening on 18 March 2008. [42] [43] His performance was received with critical acclaim, [44] [45] with Lyn Gardner writing in her critical review that "if it works at all, it is because Ryan Molloy carries all before him as the pint-sized Italian-American with the extraordinary falsetto", [4] while Shenton praised it and that "the energetic evening's anchor, Ryan Molloy displays amazing emotional and vocal range". [46] For his performance he received a Olivier Award nomination at 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards, [35] and was voted by the public as the Best Actor in a Musical at the 2009 WhatsOnStage Awards. [47] He remained with Jersey Boys for six years, with 2,500 shows as the lead by February 2014, [48] leaving with the last show on 9 March 2014, making him the "longest-running star in a West End musical" and "longest-serving Frankie Valli". [27] [49] Molloy also provided vocals in the 2014 soundtrack (particularly "Beggin'") of the film version of the musical directed by Clint Eastwood, for which also auditioned but was chosen John Lloyd Young instead. [50] He reprised the role in the Broadway production for a limited engagement lasting from July to October 2014 at the August Wilson Theatre, New York City. [35] [51] In March 2017 were held two sold-out shows Frankie's Farewell Weekend of Jersey Boys London at Hippodrome, London. [52]
In 2014, he played in musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be at Theatre Royal Stratford East. [35] [53] [54] [55] In the first part of 2016 toured Ireland with a musical Che Guevara's Night Off he wrote and starred in. [56] In September-October 2016 at Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, played Hades/Devil in a rock musical 27 choreographed and co-directed by Arlene Phillips, [57] [58] partly based on Greek mythology, telling "the story of a musician following a path of self-destruction at the age of 27". [18] Molloy finds inspiring helping new small-scale projects using his profile, working with young people on new ideas and writing. [56] Shenton said that Molloy "set free at last from his Jersey Boys high notes – has matured nicely into the role of the Mephistopheles-like Hades", [59] while Sam Marlowe that "Ryan Molloy is charismatic as Hades, a sinister music exec like a diabolical cross between Iggy Pop and Simon Cowell". [60]
In last several years, Molloy founded Frankie and the Dreamers, a Frankie Valli-The Four Seasons tribute band, being a headliner for Royal Caribbean International and elsewhere. [61] Molloy continued small-scale theatre performances acting in dramas The Tempest (2018), [62] I Love My Wife (2018), [63] Time Biter (2021-2023), [64] [65] [66] and Julius Caesar (2023). [67]
Molloy is Irish. [68] He lives in east London. [2] His sister Michelle Molloy is a photo editor at Time magazine in New York. [2]
He "was obsessed with John Hughes movies as a kid", [68] Barbra Streisand's Hello Dolly soundtrack was his childhood introduction to performance, while Donny Hathaway's Collection inspired his voice and style. [69]
Molloy supports Children in Need, Graham Wylie Foundation, Donkey Sanctuary and Cedarwood Trust charities. [2] In September 2017, Molloy took part in the Great North Run. [70]
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford, Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). They were among the first openly gay pop acts and made gay rights and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.
Lionel Bart was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical Oliver! (1960). With Oliver! and his work alongside theatre director Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the West End.
The Four Seasons is an American vocal quartet formed in 1960 in Newark, New Jersey. Since 1970, they have also been known at times as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
Francesco Stephen Castelluccio, better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer, best known as the frontman of the Four Seasons. He is known for his unusually powerful lead falsetto voice.
Godspell is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ appearing briefly near the end.
Robert John Gaudio is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote and produced the vast majority of the band's music, including hits like "Sherry" and "December, 1963 ", as well as "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for Valli. Though he no longer performs with the group, Gaudio and lead singer Frankie Valli remain co-owners of the Four Seasons brand.
Jonathan Lee is an English singer and actor. Lee is the youngest member of pop group S Club, who disbanded in April 2003, before reuniting in March 2023. With a long career in musical theatre, he has taken on roles in more than 17 productions, including the West End shows Les Misérables and Jersey Boys.
Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be is a 1960 West End musical comedy about Cockney low-life characters in the 1950s, including spivs, prostitutes, teddy-boys and corrupt policemen. The work is more of a play with music than a conventional musical. The original play, by Frank Norman, who though born in Bristol lived his adult life in London, was intended to be a straight theatrical piece, but was supplemented with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, who also grew up in London's East End.
Jersey Boys is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as four "seasons", each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "December, 1963 ", "My Eyes Adored You", "Stay", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Walk Like A Man", "Who Loves You", "Working My Way Back to You" and "Rag Doll".
John Lloyd Mills Young is an American actor. In 2006, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Frankie Valli in Broadway's Jersey Boys. He is the only American actor to date to have received a Lead Actor in a Musical Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Award for a Broadway debut. Young sang lead vocals on the Grammy Award-winning Jersey Boys cast album, certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Young reprised his role as Frankie Valli in Warner Brothers' film adaptation of Jersey Boys, directed by Clint Eastwood and released June 20, 2014.
Gerry Polci is an American singer and musician who was a member of the American rock and pop band The Four Seasons.
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.
David Noroña, usually simplified as David Norona, is a Cuban American actor and director who has appeared in films including Though None Go with Me, TV series including The Mentalist and Jack Ryan, and various theatre works. He is co-creator and co-lyricist for Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings and has directed two short films.
The WhatsOnStage Awards, formerly known as the Theatregoers' Choice Awards, are organised by the theatre website WhatsOnStage.com. The awards recognise performers and productions of British theatre with an emphasis on London's West End theatre.
Christopher Gattelli is an American choreographer, performer and theatre director.
Joshua Anthony Charlton Henry is a Canadian-American actor and singer of stage and screen.
Soho Cinders is a musical with music by George Stiles, lyrics and a book by Anthony Drewe with Elliot Davis as co-author. A modern adaptation of the Cinderella story, it transfers the action to the heart of London's Soho, and replaces the eponymous heroine with Robbie, a young rent boy who gets wrapped up in an illicit affair with an aspiring politician. The plot intertwines elements of the classic fairy tale with contemporary urban political scandal.
Jason Paige is an American singer, writer, record producer and actor best known for singing the first theme song for the English version of the Pokémon television series.
Jersey Boys is a 2014 American musical drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, based on the 2004 Tony Award-winning jukebox musical of the same name. The film tells the story of the musical group The Four Seasons. Original band members Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio serve as executive producers.
Dan Burton is a British actor best known for his work in musical theatre. He trained at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, Surrey, England, and received an MA degree from Middlesex University, London.
We needn't have worried because Ryan gave a terrific performance and looked ever inch the rock star in his black eye make-up and spangly top that bared his chest. It wasn't Holly but I could live with it because this was a moment I thought I'd never see again.
The auditions made national headlines. Through them we recruited a singer called Ryan Malloy, who was a hell of a good frontman.
Molloy, the longest-serving actor in the role of Frankie Valli, says: "The important thing is to keep developing the character, to keep it fresh, and, my goodness, a long run takes a lot of self-discipline," he says. Off stage, Molloy is pre-occupied with the release of a new single on iTunes called Turn on The Night.
Indeed, there were times last night when I felt the performers were making even the Beatles sound somewhat lacking in musical texture. Since when did John, Paul or George have the soaring falsetto that Ryan Molloy's Valli effortlessly produces? ... Molloy's excellent Valli...
Ryan Molloy, as Frankie, has a voice that sweeps up from reedy whisper to hard-edged, auditorium-filling falsetto with magnificent ease.