DAVE WILLETTS Jean Valjean

TOURED: Sydney

BIOGRAPHY:

In 1985, Dave played the leading role of Jean Valjean in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Les Miserables, directed by Trevor Nunn, at the Palace Theatre, in London's West End.
He then went on to play the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Hal Prince, at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, and also at the Opera House, Manchester, for which he won the 'Evening News Theatre Award' for best performance, becoming the first person in the world to play the leading roles in both these coveted musicals. He then moved to the Strand Theatre, in London, to create the role of Major Lee, opposite Petula Clark in Someone Like You. He performed the role of Zero Janvier in the British premiere of Tim Rice's Tycoon, at the Sydmonton Festival.
Dave created the role of Tom, in Trish Ward's Lonely Hearts, directed by Stephen Rayne. He received great critical acclaim when he sang the role of Jesus in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican Centre in London, and then went on to perform the same role in the 1993 European tour, directed by Hugh Wooldridge.
Dave has many international concert appearances to his name, including such venues as the Ahoy Stadium - Rotterdam, the concert halls of Monterey and Mexico City and the Royal Albert Hall - London, as well as numerous sell out concert tours of the UK. In 1992, he was invited to be the only British performer in a concert in Los Angeles on behalf of the American Cinema Awards Foundation, to honour James Stewart and Lauren Bacall. In 1995 he starred in a gala concert in Munich, to honour the achievements of director Hal Prince. As well as his own concerts, Dave has starred in numerous highly successful staged concert tours, including: The Magical World of the Musicals, Something Wonderful, a celebration of the music of Rogers and Hammerstein, and more recently, A Lot of Living, celebrating the work of American composer Charles Strouse. Dave has just finished working with another great American composer, John Kander, for a special concert, broadcast by the BBC.
He is also connected closely with the work of Stephen Sondheim, after playing Ben, in the Irish premiere of Follies in Dublin, and more recently, Sweeney, in another Sondheim classic, Sweeney Todd, at the Haymarket Theatre, for which the critics expressed as the 'definitive performance'.
His varied musical abilities were shown to great effect when he appeared for a season at London's famous Pizza On The Park, receiving great critical acclaim for his ‘Jazz 'n' Chat' style of dinner shows.
He has presented his own radio show on National BBC radio, and has guested on most TV shows and was also delighted when he was surprised by Michael Aspel, to be the subject of This Is Your Life.
Dave has a very successful recording career, with three solo albums, and numerous show albums to his name.
In 1996, Dave created the role of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the World premiere of Jekyll at the Churchill Theatre - Bromley, and is now preparing for it's West End opening in 1998.

RECENT PROJECTS:

Dave is currently touring the UK in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

LINKS:

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