Rebecca Storm is a British singer and musical theatre actress. Her 1985 hit single "The Show" was the theme to the ITV television series ''

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''.

Early career

Rebecca Storm found her passion for singing when she was 11, although she began singing nine years earlier. After studying Music and Drama at

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, Storm toured the United Kingdom and mainland Europe with her own band singing folk and rock songs. At 24, she auditioned for and landed a role in '' Blood Brothers'', her first musical show. Although a little young to play the character of Mrs. Johnstone, the Catholic Liverpudian mother of seven, author

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are ''Educating Rita'', ''Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and ''Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lancash ...

was captivated by her voice and gave her the role, aided by wardrobe and make-up. An album of songs from the show, ''Rebecca Storm Sings Blood Brothers'', was released by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Ireland. She went on to play the role for several years.

Musical theatre

Her role as Mrs. Johnstone gained rave reviews which catapulted her into the world of Musical theatre. Throughout her career she has played some of the most demanding roles for a leading lady including

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in '' Evita'', Fantine in ''

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'', Florence in ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'', Rose in ''

Aspects of Love ''Aspects of Love'' is a musical with music and book by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart. It is based on the 1955 novella of the same name by David Garnett. The piece focuses on the romantic entanglements of actr ...

'',

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in '' Piaf'', and

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in ''Jeanne'' amongst others. In 2003, she returned to the role of Mrs. Johnstone for a short run at the Cork Opera House, Belfast and Gaiety Theatre Dublin. In 2011 she again returned to the role of Mrs. Johnstone in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin.

Other work

In 1992 Storm starred in Hollywood Ladies, her tribute to influences from the silver screen including

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, Julie Andrews and Gracie Fields which was awarded "Best Musical Review '92". On television, she has appeared on several shows including ''

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'', ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'', '' The Late Late Show'' and her own hour-long specials, ''An Evening with Rebecca Storm'' and ''Rebecca Storm at the Cork Opera House''. She sang for the King of Norway at his coronation in 1991 and performed numerous times for the British Royal Family. With an orchestra and backing singers, she performed ''"You Don't Bring Me Flowers – The Streisand Songbook"'' at the Cork Opera House and the National Concert Hall in Dublin. In 2008 she acted as a mentor for the RTÉ TV show ''JAM – The Musical''. Storm was scheduled to perform in '' Annie The Musical'' for a short run in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, in July 2009 and at the Cork Opera House in August 2009.Clarke, Denise (2009)
'ANNIE' DREAM WILL DO
, '' Irish Independent'', 6 April 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2011 Storm is a past President of Hospital Radio Bedside, a radio station that broadcasts to hospitals in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch & Wimborne, UK.

Recording career

In 1985, Storm released the single with "The Show", the theme to the ITV drama series ''

'', which peaked at number 15 in the UK.Rebecca Storm
, Chart Stats. Retrieved 17 February 2011 The song was written by Willy Russell and Ron Hutchinson (who created the series itself). This was followed by a second single "Mr. Love" in July 1986 which was from the film of the same name, though this did not chart. A third single "The Wrong Girl", B-side "Swansong", in August 1986 was followed by a 1988 single of two tracks from Evita. Storm has received awards for her albums ''Ovation'', ''Broadway by Storm'' and ''Ireland by Storm''. In 2000 she released ''I Want to Know What Love Is'' and in 2003 she released ''Celtic n'Broadway'' ( Sony BMG). To celebrate her 25 years in the entertainment industry, Storm was set to release an album of old and new material in 2009.

Discography

Albums * ''Broadway By Storm'' – CBS – 1988 * ''We Never Said Goodbye'' – No Label – 1996 * ''Celtic 'N' Broadway'' – Sony BMG – 2003 * ''The Essential Rebecca Storm'' – Beaumex – 2011 Singles * ''The Show (vocal) / The Show (Instrumental)'' heme From 'Connie'– Towerbell Records – 1985 * ''Mr. Love / Mr. King'' – Columbia – 1986 * ''The Wrong Girl / Swansong'' – Spirit Records Ltd. – 1986

Personal life

Storm lives with her partner Kenny Shearer, a musician, arranger & producer, in County Kildare, Ireland. She has a daughter Becky from a previous relationship, who is a teacher & singer-songwriter, having starred in the musical "Once".

References

External links

*http://www.garyparkes.com/singers/rebeca_storm.html *http://www.nch.ie/Box-Office/Performances/Rebecca-Storm--You-Don-t-Bring-Me-Flowers---The-St.aspx {{DEFAULTSORT:Storm, Rebecca British musical theatre actresses English musical theatre actresses Living people People from Shipley, West Yorkshire 1958 births Alumni of the University of Leeds Actresses from Yorkshire