Alex Gaumond (born ) is a Canadian actor, singer, songwriter and

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

best known for his involvement in West End theatre. He plays series regular gendarme Caron, the chief of police in Sainte Victoire, in the Channel 5 television series '' The Madame Blanc Mysteries'', starring

Sally Lindsay Sally Jane Lindsay (born 8 July 1973) is an English actress and television presenter known for her roles as Shelley Unwin in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', Lisa Johnson in the Sky One comedy series '' Mount Pleasant'' a ...

. On stage, Gaumond is best known for playing the leading roles of Galileo in the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

musical ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at num ...

'', Emmett in the original London production of ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

'' and Miss Trunchbull in the RSC's '' Matilda''.

Early life

Gaumond was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, Canada to French speaking parents. He moved to the UK in 1997 to study at Guildford School of Acting where he graduated with a 1st class BA (Hons) in 2000.

Stage career

2000–01 (''Miss Saigon'')

After completing his degree at GSA in 2000, Gaumond made his professional debut that very same year in the ensemble of '' Miss Saigon'' in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Gaumond also understudied the leading role of Chris in that production and went on to perform in the same musical in Hong Kong and Singapore in 2001.

2002–04 (''The Full Monty'')

2002 saw Gaumond make his professional West End debut at the

Prince Of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

where he understudied the roles of Malcolm, Jerry and Ethan in ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film ...

''. He then played the role of Malcolm in the 2004 UK touring production.

2002–09

Between 2002 and 2009 Gaumond made a number of appearances in a variety of UK national tours and London shows, including ''

Guys And Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' (

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

production), ''

Desperately Seeking Susan ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housew ...

'' and '' Sunday in the Park With George'' (5 times

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

winning production). He also played the role of Tom Jenkins in '' Scrooge'' at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

. During this show he recorded a cast album with the show's star, British icon Tommy Steele.

2009 (''We Will Rock You'')

In 2009 Gaumond was cast by

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

and Roger Taylor to play the lead role of Galileo Figaro in the first UK tour of their co-written musical ''

'' based on hit songs by the rock band

. During the 7-month tour Gaumond played at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, the Sunderland Empire, the

Birmingham Hippodrome The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England. Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including vi ...

and the

Bristol Hippodrome The Bristol Hippodrome () is a theatre located in The Centre, Bristol, England, United Kingdom with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951. It frequently features shows from London's West End when they tour the UK, as well as re ...

2010–11 (''Legally Blonde'')

In 2009, Gaumond was cast to play the male lead (Emmett) in the original UK production of ''

'' alongside

Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...

as Elle Woods at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

in London in January 2010. He starred in the multi-award winning production for 20 months and his portrayal of the role earned him nominations for 'Best Actor in a Musical' in both the WhatsOnStage Awards 2011 and the Olivier Awards 2011. An album of the Original London Cast featuring Gaumond,

and

Duncan James Duncan James (born Duncan Inglis, 7 April 1978) is an English singer and actor. He became widely known in 2001 as a member of the boy band Blue and later for playing Ryan Knight in the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. Early life James grew u ...

was recorded live during performances on 12, 13 and 14 June 2010. It was released on 16 August 2010 under the theatre label First Night Records.

2011–13

In August 2011, Gaumond reprised his role as Galileo Figaro in ''

'', but this time in the

Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...

production. He performed in this role until 18 February 2012 and his performance earned him a nomination for 'Best Takeover in a Role' in the WhatsOnStage Awards 2012. In the summer of 2012, Gaumond made a small appearance on TV during Andrew Lloyd Webber's auditions for the role of 'Jesus' in his upcoming UK arena tour of the show '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. The audition process for 'Jesus' was televised in the UK in a short series called ''

Superstar A superstar is someone who has great popular appeal and is widely known, prominent, or successful in their field. Celebrities referred to as "superstars" may include individuals who work as actors, musicians, athletes, and other media-based profe ...

''. Gaumond reached the top 20 through the initial audition process but was sent home by Lloyd Webber just before reaching the live shows. Shortly after this, Gaumond was then cast as Jesus by UK-based Bronowski Productions in their new production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' for Ljubljana Festival in Slovenia. In early 2013 it was announced that Gaumond would return to the West End starring as Alberto Beddini in ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditional ...

'' at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

, alongside Broadway actors Gavin Lee and Kristen Beth Williams. Gaumond performed in the show from February to August 2013. While in the show, Gaumond and his fellow cast members attended the Olivier awards 2013 which saw ''

'' win 3 major awards including Best New Musical. The show was also heavily featured in a four-part documentary on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

following West End musicals, entitled ''The Sound of Musicals'', which aired in November and December 2013.

2013–14 (''Matilda'')

In June 2013, it was announced that Gaumond would be joining the cast of the Royal Shakespeare Company's multi-award winning production of '' Matilda'' at the Cambridge Theatre, playing the iconic role of headmistress Miss Trunchbull. His first show was on 3 September 2013. During his time on the show Gaumond made many TV appearances including

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Minerva Theatre, Chichester The Minerva Theatre is a studio theatre seating, at full capacity, 310. It is run as part of the adjacent Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, and was opened in 1989.CFT's history and received high critical acclaim. In September 2017, it was announced that Gaumond's next stage appearance would be as Father/ Marley in

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...

's new adaptation of '' A Christmas Carol'' by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. Playing at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

from 20 November 2017 to 20 January 2018, the world premiere production was directed by Matthew Warchus and starred

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

as Ebenezer Scrooge. The production officially opened on 29 November 2017 to very positive reviews. The adaptation was published by

Nick Hern Books Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nicholas Hern in 1988. History Nick Hern Books was founded in June 1988,Sara ...

on 30 November 2017. On 12 July 2018, it was announced that Gaumond had been cast in Marianne Elliott's highly anticipated new production of

George Furth George Furth (born George Schweinfurth; December 14, 1932 – August 11, 2008) was an American librettist, playwright, and actor. Life and career Furth was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Evelyn (née Tuerk) Schweinfurth. He was ...

and Stephen Sondheim's ''Company'', which played at the Gielgud Theatre from 26 September 2018. The character of Bobby was changed to Bobbie, a female role, and was played by

Rosalie Craig Rosalie Mae Craig (born 30 May 1981) is an English actress, noted for her performances in musical theatre. In 2013 she received her first major award, a London Evening Standard Award for Best Performance in a Musical. Life and career Craig g ...

. As a result of this, the roles of April, Marta and Kathy (who sing "You Could Drive a Person Crazy") would be re-written as Andy, PJ and Theo. In a final twist, the casting of Gaumond came with the announcement that the production would now also feature a same-sex couple for the first time, with

Jonathan Bailey Jonathan Stuart Bailey (born 25 April 1988) is an English actor. Known for his comedic, dramatic, and musical roles on stage and screen, he is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award and a nomination for a Evening Standard Theatre Award. Ba ...

as cold-footed groom Jamie (originally written as the female character Amy) and Gaumond as his devoted fiancé Paul. Sondheim also approved this change and worked on the script with director Marianne Elliott to re-imagine these two characters as a gay couple. The production opened to critical acclaim, a Cast Recording of the new version was produced by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

, and the new script was published by

. The production was nominated for 9 Olivier Awards, including Best Musical Revival and Best Director. On 22 July 2019 it was announced that Gaumond would be starring as Carl in the first UK Tour of '' What's in a Name?''. Alongside Gaumond, the production also starred Joe Thomas, Laura Patch,

Summer Strallen Summer Peta Vaigncourt-Strallen (born 21 December 1985) is an English actress who has performed various roles on stage and screen. Her most notable theatre credits include Meg Giry in the West End production of '' Love Never Dies'' and Maria ...

and Bo Poraj (who replaced the previously announced

James Lance James Frederick Grenville Lance (born 29 September 1974) is an English actor, best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series and the British-American comedy series '' Ted Lasso'' for which he was nominated for a Primetime ...

before rehearsals started). Adapted and directed by

Jeremy Sams Jeremy Sams (born 12 January 1957) is a British theatre director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist. Early life and education Sams is the son of the late Shakespearean scholar and musicologist Eri ...

, the production toured the UK from September to November 2019. Due to popular demand, further touring dates for 2020 were announced on 26 November 2019, with Gaumond reprising his role. The second leg of the tour began but was halted in March 2020 because the UK went into lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Filmography

Music career

Gaumond headlined his first solo show on 22 May 2011 at the Leicester Square Theatre, where he performed a mix of covers and original material, as well as some duets with special guests including

Ramin Karimloo Ramin Karimloo ( fa, رامین کریملو; ; born September 19, 1978) is a Canadian actor, singer and composer recognized for his work in London's West End and Broadway theatre. He has played the leading male roles in both of the West End's ...

. On 24 June 2012, Gaumond released his first single "'Here I Am", a new version of the song co-written and originally performed by

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

. He launched the release of his single with a performance at West End Live in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

in front of 20,000 people, as one of three recording artists invited to perform their solo material amongst all the West End shows featured in the programme.

Filmmaking

Gaumond produced his first short film in 2021, titled
Two and a Half Minutes
'. Co-written by Gaumond and director

Ako Mitchell Ako Mitchell is a British-American actor and filmmaker. Ako directed and co-wrote the short film "I'm in the corner with the bluebells" part of the international shorts competition at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Ako recently p ...

, the film is currently doing the film festival circuit. It received its world premiere screening at th
Paris Short Film Festival
on 19 September 2021, where it won an Audience Award. So far it has also won an Outstanding Achievement Award at th
Berlin Flash Film Festival
and a Special Mention Award at the international short film competition Global Shorts, based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It was also nominated for the San Francisco Indie Short Festival. Gaumond plays the role of Lucas in the film, and wrote and sings the main song from its soundtrack, titled "Les Amoureux".

Major professional theatre credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaumond, Alex 1978 births 21st-century Canadian male actors Living people Male actors from Montreal Canadian male musical theatre actors Canadian male singers Singers from Montreal