Tim Driesen is a Belgian actor, notable for roles in both musicals, plays, and television serials. He has composed a full-scale musical as well as a number of pop-songs. In 2007, he created the role of Adrian Banks (a character based on pop-star

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

) in the

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

musical, '' Never Forget''.

member

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

, who wrote the majority of the production's musical numbers, said jokingly of the cast: "I'm just worried that they're better than us". When the musical opened, Driesen appeared with fellow cast members Dean Chisnall, Craig Els, Stephane Anelli, Eaton James and Nancy Sullivan on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

performing the show's title song, " Never Forget". He also appeared in the UK tour of ''

Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...

''. Driesen appeared in the television series, ''The Bubbles''. He is also noted for his voice-over work in televised commercials. Driesen appeared as

Phoebus Apollo is one of the Olympian deities in ancient Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, ...

Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

in Belgium (Antwerp & Ghent). He played a role for which he won 'Best Supporting Actor in a Musical' at the VMPs (

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

Musical Awards). His musical 'My Super Girlfriend' (previously known as 'Super Alice Smith') has been workshopped and showcased in conjunction with 'Perfect Pitch' at Trafalgar Studios in London Tim has played Joey Primo in

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages is an epithet that is used in some translations of Isaiah 26, Isaiah 26:4 and may refer to: Films * Rock of Ages (1918 film), ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * Rock of Ages (2012 film), ''Roc ...

in London's West End. He was alternate for lead character Drew, as well as understudying and regularly performing as Stacee Jaxx. Tim then did

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

in the Netherlands in which he plays the lead character

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

. The cast performed at Musical Sing-A-Long on Dutch TV in September 2013. For the past couple of years he has been performing in Disney's The Lion King, first in The Netherlands and currently on the UK tour.

Background

Originally from

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Driesen is based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the UK. He trained at

Laine Theatre Arts Laine Theatre Arts, sometimes referred to as Laines, is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974 by former professional dancer and dance teacher Betty Laine OBE, an ...

in Epsom.

Credits

Theatre

* Joey Primo U/S Stacee Jaxx, Drew* Rock of Ages (Garrick theatre) * Young Ken Barlow in '' Street of Dreams (musical)'' UK & Ireland * Alternate Phoebus/Gringoire in ''

Notre-Dame de Paris (musical) ''Notre-Dame de Paris'' is a sung-through French musical which debuted on 16 September 1998 in Paris. It is based upon the novel ''Notre-Dame de Paris'' (known in English as ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'') by the French novelist Victor Hugo. T ...

'' Asian Tour * Galileo in ''

We Will Rock You (musical) ''We Will Rock You'' (often abbreviated as ''WWRY'') is a jukebox musical based on the songs of British rock band Queen with a book by Ben Elton. The musical tells the story of a renegade group known as the Bohemians who struggle to restore the ...

'' (Antwerp, Belgium) *Phoebus in ''

'' Antwerp & Ghent, Belgium * Adrian Banks/

in '' Never Forget''Article on Never Forget the Musical with details on the original cast
/ref> (2007 UK tour and original West End run.) ::Taking solos in "

Pray File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto festivalgoer praying in front ...

", "Take That & Party" and " Never Forget", and also performing in numbers such as "

It Only Takes a Minute "It Only Takes a Minute" is a 1975 song by American soul/ R&B group Tavares, released as the first single from their third album, '' In the City'' (1975). The song was the group's only top-10 pop hit in the United States, peaking at number 10, ...

", "

Babe Babe may refer to: * Babe, a term of endearment * A newborn baby * An attractive (especially female) person People * Babe (nickname), a list of people * Jerome Babe (1837–1893), American inventor and miner * Thomas Babe (1941–2000), Ame ...

", Back for Good, "

I Found Heaven "I Found Heaven" is a song by English boy band Take That from their debut studio album, '' Take That & Party''. It was released as the album's fifth single on 3 August 1992. Background Written and produced by American singer Billy Griffin and ...

" and "

Relight My Fire "Relight My Fire" is a disco song written and released by American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer Dan Hartman as the title track from his 1979 album of the same name. It was also performed by Costa Anadiotis' band Café Soci ...

". * Joseph in ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'' * Mark in ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' *

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

,Starlight Express 2006 Cast at the Really Useful Group official website
/ref> and understudy to Rusty the Steam Engine (played by actor Oliver Thornton),

Caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...

and Flat-Top the Brick Truck in ''

'' (2006 UK tour.) ::''Tim Driesen performed in numbers such as

, Starlight Sequence, Only He and Light at the End of the Tunnel during his run in

.'' * Father Alexander and understudy to Eddy in ''

Mamma Mia! Mamma mia (; an Italian interjection, literally "mommy mine"), Mammamia, Mamamia or Mumma Mia may refer to: Music Works associated with ABBA * "Mamma Mia" (ABBA song), a 1975 ABBA song * ''Mamma Mia!'' (musical), a stage play based on ABBA s ...

'' ( West End.) * Mephistopheles Smith in ''Mephistopheles Smith'' *

Donny Osmond Donald Clark Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host and former teen idol. He gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gold albums. In the ...

and

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge in the 1970s musical-sitcom ''The Partridge Family''. After completing high school, Cassidy purs ...

in ''Thank You for the Music'' * Riff Raff and Rocky in ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to various B movies associated with the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror genres from the 193 ...

'' * '' Bat Boy: The Musical'' (frequently playing the title role) * Narrator in ''Glory Hallelujah 2000'' ( Belgian Production.) * Demetrius in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' * Robot Three Six in ''The Lost Christmas'' a musical by

Laurence Mark Wythe Laurence Mark Wythe is an English composer, lyricist and writer for West End, international and Off-Broadway musicals. He is principally known for the off-Broadway musical '' Tomorrow Morning'' (2011), ''Through the Door'' and ''Midnight''. ''T ...

* Jim in ''Jet Set Go!'' a musical by

Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary are a London-based musical theatre writing partnership. They met at Bristol University, where they were studying Drama and Music respectively. Musicals Their first musical ''Jet Set Go!'' ran at the 2008 Edinburgh F ...

* Jack in ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...

'' (

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England, 2009) ::''In which Driesen sang

Go the Distance "Go the Distance" is a song from Disney's 1997 animated feature film ''Hercules''. It was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, and originally recorded by American actor Roger Bart in his film role as the singing voice of He ...

From Disney's

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

.'' *

in the Dutch version of "

Television

* ''Behind the Musical: The Making of Never Forget'' * ''The Bubbles'' (1991 TV series) * ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * ''CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succes ...

'' * ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about aspects of ...

'' * ''Idols 2004'' (performed 'Breathe Easy')

Film/DVD

* '' Never Forget'' as Adrian Banks/

(

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

)Never Forget DVD and box cover, featuring Driesen (centre) and other cast members
/ref> ::Filmed at the opening night at

Manchester Opera House The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring Theatre (structure), theatre that plays host to touring Musical theatre, musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed buil ...

. Driesen also appears in an interview on the

's bonus material.

Recordings

Albums

* '' In My Corner '' * '' Never Forget'' original cast CD, singing the role of Adrian Banks/

* ''Mephistophles Smith EP'' * ''Belgian Soldier'', Castle Video's * ''Glory Hallelujah 2000'' revival cast CD * ''The Bubbles''

Songs

* "Small Town Girl" (from My Super Girlfriend) * '"It's All Cliché" (from My Super Girlfriend) * "My Super Girlfriend" (from My Super Girlfriend) * "Evil Has Many Faces" (from My Super Girlfriend)– Evil Has Many Faces – Soundclip
/ref>

External links

Tim Driesen's official website
*
Official 'My Super Girlfriend' website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driesen, Tim 1978 births Living people Belgian male actors Belgian composers Belgian male composers English-language singers from Belgium People from Herentals 21st-century Belgian male singers 21st-century Belgian singers