Laura Michelle Kelly
| Laura Michelle Kelly | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
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| Born |
4 March 1981 Totton, Hampshire, England, UK |
| Occupation | Actress/singer/dancer |
Laura Michelle Kelly (born 4 March 1981) is an English actress and singer who achieved critical acclaim in the role of Mary Poppins in the musical of the same name.
Kelly was born in Totton near Southampton, Hampshire, and moved to a farm on the Isle of Wight with her family, her mother's birthplace and where her father and mother first met. She attended Newchurch Primary, Solent Middle and Sandown High.
Her first musical appearance was in Bugsy Malone in middle school. She studied with a local singing teacher, Barbara Walters, who cast Kelly in amateur productions at local theatres, including Shanklin Stagecoach of Performing Arts School.
Kelly's West End musical credits include Beauty and the Beast, Whistle Down The Wind as Swallow (2000)(with a ten year old Jessie J), Les Misérables as Eponine at the Palace Theatre (2001), Mamma Mia! as Sophie at the Prince Edward Theatre (2002), and My Fair Lady as Eliza at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (2003). She made her Broadway debut in a revival of Fiddler on the Roof as Hodel (2004).
Mary Poppins premiered in September 2004 at the Bristol Hippodrome, followed in December by its opening in the West End at the Prince Edward Theatre. For her role as Mary Poppins, Kelly earned rave reviews as well as the 2005 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She left Mary Poppins on 29 October 2005 after more than 400 performances and was succeeded by Scarlett Strallen. Kelly then went to Singapore to star in a revival of A Twist of Fate in November 2005, produced by the Singapore Repertory Company. It also starred Anthony Drewe (who co-wrote the music with Singaporean composer Dick Lee).
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