Abi Finley

Abigail "Abi" Finley (born 10 September 1982) is an actress and Musical Theatre performer from Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England, the daughter of a prominent local Jewish performer.

Finley has notably played Fiona in Blondel at the Pleasance Theatre, Islington London and Serena in Fame on a UK national tour. Since landing these leading roles, Finley has been highly praised for her singing voice and acting skills. Finley first came to national attention for her appearance on the BBC Reality TV programme How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in 2006, where she was known as Tomboy Maria. This was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Ian to find someone to play Maria von Trapp in The Sound Of Music. She appeared on the show with her best friend from college, Aoife Mulholland, and reached the semi-final of the BBC competition; but in a twist of fate she lost out to Mulholland in the sing-off, singing "Any Dream Will Do".

Shortly after How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? finished in late 2006, Finley was cast by the Oscar-winning lyricist Sir Tim Rice in his revival of Blondel. On casting Finley, Rice said in an interview with Hello Magazine, "Fiona has to be funny, feisty, and sexy. Plenty of candidates have two of the necessary attributes. Only Abi had all three... when you see Abi on stage, you actually want to look at her. I'd be amazed if Abi is not a big star pretty soon." Geoff Ambler, reviewing Blondel, said of Finley's performance, "Abi Finley, the beautiful and talented one from A Problem like Maria, proves that she can act with confident poise among the best, as well as sing, in what is her professional stage debut. This tight, witty show with its tremendous cast is one of the best to open in London this year."

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