BREAK-A-LEG met musical theatre royalty as Ian Cheeseman came face-to-face with singing star Kerry Ellis during her current tour. And as he found out, ‘Queen of the West End’ is a fitting tag.
AT FIRST glance, it might be easy to read the title of Kerry Ellis’s current tour, Queen of the West End, and question the legitimacy of that label.
But as a huge fan of her work and after seeing her show up close, I think it’s spot on.
If you’re not familiar with her extensive portfolio, I can tell you she most certainly is a superstar of the West End and Broadway, having played Elphaba in Wicked in the biggest theatre stages on the planet.
And the list of other productions she’s appeared in is impressive to say the least.
She played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on her West End debut and it was during her performances as Meat in We Will Rock You that she caught the eye of Queen’s legendary guitarist Brian May, who was since recorded with her and they’ve toured together.
Personally, I loved her performance in the staged performance of the Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus show Chess as Svetlana at the Royal Albert Hall, though I’d have preferred her crystal clear voice as Florence, which was sung by Idina Menzel.
Most recently she was Reno Sweeney in the UK tour of Anything Goes.
Her list of stage shows and performances, which includes duetting with Barry Manilow at the Olivier Awards, is frankly mind blowing.
Queen of the West End is a fully deserved moniker.
Last Christmas I received a ‘meet and greet’ for her show at the Storyhouse Theatre in Chester as a present from my wife.
My son has taken me to many Comic Cons down the years and I’ve even met a few stars of our favourite sci-fi shows myself.
But they feel a bit like you’re on a production line. Usually, the celebrity doesn’t even have time to say hello as you get to be photographed alongside them.
Kerry Ellis had time for everyone. I was particularly impressed by the empathy she showed to a young woman who’d travelled down from Glasgow to see her having recently lost her mum, who’d been due to see the concert with her. Her humanity shone through.
The show itself was perfectly pitched, opening with Kings and Queens, the title track of her latest album.
There were anecdotes from her amazing career, an on-screen appearance by Brian May, which allowed her to sing a song accompanied by him on guitar.
She sang from Wicked, My Fair Lady, We Will Rock You and Les Miserables, among others and her joy at performing was infectious and of course she never missed a note.
I would have loved her to sing Someone Elses Story from Chess, a personal favourite. Maybe next time.
I’d never visited Storyhouse in Chester before and I have to say it is a stunning venue. They have a rich variety of shows and I’d recommend you check out their website and give it a try, if you can.
As for Kerry Ellis? All I can say is WOW. She truly is musical theatre royalty, but with humility and a career built on pure talent.
She’s just announced further dates that stretch into 2025 so checkout her website, www.kerryellis.com.
I couldn’t recommend her show more highly.
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