Killian Donnelly (born 25 June 1984) is an Irish

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

. He has appeared in musicals and plays, such as ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'', '' The Phantom of the Opera'', '' The Commitments'', '' Memphis'' and '' Kinky Boots''.

Background

Donnelly is from Kilmessan, in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

, Ireland, where he was a member of the St Mary's Musical Society. He has one sister, Eimear, and one brother, Ciaran, who still live in Ireland. Donnelly is a tenor and plays piano and guitar. Donnelly was scouted by a theatre agency while performing in a production in Ireland. He then made the move to London to pursue a career in musical theatre, securing a role in the West End production of ''

''.

Career

Donnelly has appeared in many different roles around Ireland and has also directed and written shows. His first theatre role was in 2005 where he featured in the chorus of ''The Wireman'' at the

Gaiety Theatre, Dublin The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows. History In April 1871, the broth ...

. He then continued to play Rod in ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd C ...

'' 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 is ...

'', both at the Olympia Theatre, Tony in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'' at the Solstice Theatre, Aladdin in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' and Collins in ''Michael Collins: A Musical Drama'', both at the

Cork Opera House Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the Nort ...

, Prince Charming in ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' at the

and Chorus in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochlai ...

. In 2008, he joined the West End production of ''

'' as a swing and, as a member of the cast, was part of the ''Les Misérables'' concert with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

. He became second cover Javert and Enjolras in the following season of 2009/10, during which time he also performed the lead role of

Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...

as an emergency cover multiple times. With the following cast change he was promoted to principal Enjolras and was officially listed (and performed) as third cover Valjean. He eventually finished in ''Les Misérables'' on 18 June 2011. Donnelly's next role was Raoul in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musical ...

's '' The Phantom of the Opera'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established t ...

. During this time, he also featured in commercials for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

and Jameson Whiskey, and appeared on such television shows as ''

The Tudors ''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...

'', ''The Open House'', '' The Late Late Show'' and ''

Showbands The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...

''. He later performed in '' You Should Be Dancing'' at the National Concert Hall. On 3 October 2010, Donnelly played the role of Courfeyrac in the 25th Anniversary Concert of ''Les Misérables'' at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the ...

in London. He also played the role of Combeferre in the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

of the show, released in 2012. On 12 November 2012, Donnelly took over the role of Tony in '' Billy Elliot The Musical'' at the

Victoria Palace Theatre The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station. The structure is categorised as a Grade II* listed building. History Origins The theatre began life as a small conc ...

. On 20 August 2013, it was confirmed that Donnelly would originate the role of Deco in the West End Musical '' The Commitments'' from 21 September. The following year Donnelly began playing the role of Huey in '' Memphis'' from 9 October 2014 for which he was nominated as Best Actor in a Musical in the 2015 Olivier Awards On 23 April 2015, it was announced that Donnelly would play Charlie in the West End production of the musical '' Kinky Boots'', at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receivin ...

. The first preview was on 21 August 2015. On 29 February 2016 Donnelly was nominated as Best Actor in a Musical at the 2016 Olivier Awards. He left the show on 13 August 2016 and moved back to Ireland to play Jackie Day in ''Donegal'', a new play by Frank McGuinness. On 6 December 2016, he made his Broadway debut, reprising the role of Charlie Price in '' Kinky Boots''. On 12 June 2017, Donnelly returned to the West End production of ''Les Misérables'' to play the lead role, Jean Valjean, subsequently reprising the role in the 2018 tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland. On 29 February 2020, he returned to ''The Phantom of the Opera'', this time playing The Phantom on the 2020 UK Tour. Due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was closed just a few weeks into its run at Curve, Leicester, ending Donnelly's run as The Phantom on tour. On 4 December 2020, it was announced that Donnelly will reprise the role of The Phantom in the West End production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' when it is scheduled to reopen in June 2021. After two and a half years in the role, Donnelly will perform his last show as

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

on 3rd February 2023.

Filmography & Television

Theatre Credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Killian 1984 births Living people People from County Meath Irish male musical theatre actors