Simon Gleeson (born 13 January 1977) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

actor and singer who is best known for playing Jean Valjean in the 2014 Australian revival and in the 2016/17 cast of the West End production of ''

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 ...

''. He performed in

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

's Hayfever for the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

, and returned to the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2018 to play Sir Robert Chiltern in

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

An Ideal Husband ''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...

. In the United Kingdom he has performed in plays at The

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

and in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government build ...

. He has appeared in the popular BBC soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'', playing

SJ Fletcher The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 2006, by order of first appearance. 2006 was a year when many families joined ''EastEnders''. First, Deano Wicks, his sister Carly Wicks and fath ...

's boyfriend Sid Clarke. In 2007 Gleeson appeared in '

Kombat Opera Presents ''Kombat Opera Presents'' is a BBC2 comedy show. The comedy parodies British television programmes by transforming them into operas. The music for the series was written by Richard Thomas, with the series having its origins in the ''Kombat Opera ...

' for BBC television. He appeared with Richard Dreyfuss and Nia Vardalos in 2009's ''

My Life in Ruins ''My Life in Ruins'' (released as ''Driving Aphrodite'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2009 romantic comedy film directed by Donald Petrie and starring Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss, Alexis Georgoulis, Rachel Dratch, Harland Williams and Alista ...

''.

Early life

Gleeson grew up in The Rock, a small country town in New South Wales with his parents and sister, Sara Gleeson (who is an actress). He completed his secondary education at

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. ...

where he was named School Vice Captain and House President. Gleeson trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Career

Gleeson has performed in many musicals and plays in Australia and in London's West End including ''

Mamma Mia! Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent *Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlemen ...

'', ''

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

'', ''The Far Pavilions'' and ''

Imagine This ''Imagine This'' is a musical with music by Shuki Levy, lyrics by David Goldsmith and a book by Glenn Berenbeim. Set in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, it focuses on a family of actors trying to stage a play about the siege at ancient Masa ...

''. He has performed in plays for

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

and

in the UK. In 2013/2014 he was in the original company of ''

Rupert Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada * Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert ...

'' for

and toured the play to the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. He portrayed Raoul in the Australian production of

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 musical '' Love Never Dies'', the sequel to Lloyd Webber's highly successful ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

''. Gleeson has appeared in numerous television series in Australia and the UK, most notably as ''SJ'' in ''

'' and as a principal cast member of '

' for BBC television. From 2014 Gleeson played Jean Valjean in the Australian tour of Cameron Macintosh's '' Les Miserables''. He would remain with the cast throughout 2015 and has been cast in the role for its

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

run. He was nominated for (and won) a

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical th ...

for the role. From 5 December 2016, he has played Jean Valjean in the West End production of ''Les Misérables''. In 2018, Gleeson joined "The Production Company" for their production of ''Oklahoma!'' as Curly McLain alongside Anna O’Byrne. Gleeson released his debut album, titled ''Elements'' in 2015. The track list consists of: * "A Bit of Earth" * "

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...

" * "She’s Got A Way" / "Something" * "End of The World" * "

Being Alive "Being Alive" is a song from the musical ''Company'' by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The song appears at the end of act two and is sung by the main character, Robert, a 35-year-old bachelor who at the show's end "...rea ...

" * " Bring Him Home" * "And the Rain Keeps Falling Down" * "Stay With Me" * "

Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the '' Blue Moves'' album. It was John's sec ...

" – featuring Natalie O’Donnell * " If I Loved You" * "

The Day You Went Away "The Day You Went Away" is a song originally recorded by the project Soul Family Sensation in 1991. Australian singer-songwriter Wendy Matthews' cover was released in 1992 as the lead single from her second solo studio album, ''Lily'' (1992). Th ...

Nominations and awards

In 2014, Gleeson was awarded a

for his role as Jean Valjean in the Australian tour of ''Les Miserables''. He has been nominated for a Helpmann Award twice before for Sky in ''

'', and Raoul in '' Love Never Dies'' and has been nominated several times for a

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

. In London he was nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award for ''The Far Pavilions''. Gleeson has also been nominated for a Glug Award.

References

External links

*
Simon Gleeson on TwitterSimon Gleeson on FacebookSimon Gleeson: The Dark Side of Raoul
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Simon 1977 births Australian male television actors Australian male musical theatre actors Living people Helpmann Award winners Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts alumni