Ben Lewis (born 28 September 1979) is an Australian actor and baritenor. His most well-known role is

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

in the original 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 theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's '' Love Never Dies''. In 2017 and 2018, he reprised the role in Lloyd Webber’s ''

'' in the original West End production. Other notable roles include Chad and Frank Farmer in the UK tours of '' Love Me Tender'' and '' The Bodyguard'', as well as Larry in the 2018 West End revival of ''Company''.

Childhood

Lewis was born in London to a theatrical family. His father, Michael Lewis, is an opera singer and his mother, Patricia Price, was also an opera singer and has retired as Head of Vocal Studies and Opera at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. His brother, Alexander Lewis, is an opera singer and actor who completed three years as a young artist at New York’s

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

. During his childhood, his family went back and forth between England and the North Shore of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia.

Education

After starting at a British secondary school, the family moved back to Australia and Lewis graduated from

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

in Sydney and then undertook an Arts Degree at Sydney University. He performed with the

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is the flagship youth theatre company located in the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1963 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1963 and ...

and was awarded a

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),

scholarship to further his studies overseas, where he studied voice at the Royal College of Music. Upon returning to Australia, Lewis applied to study at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) with his brother and both were successful. It was during his time at WAAPA that Lewis met his wife, actress Melle Stewart. The leading Australian performer Tony Sheldon was a visiting Director during Lewis’s time at WAAPA and Lewis credits Sheldon for helping him through his student years.

Personal life

Lewis is married to Australian actress Melle Stewart.

Career

Theatre credits

Film and television credits

Awards and nominations

In 2012, Ben Lewis received a nomination for Helpmann Award and won a Judith Johnson Award for Best Actor in Leading Role in a Musical at the 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards for his role of the Phantom in Love Never Dies.

References

External links

*
Ben Lewis on StageFaves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ben 1979 births Male actors from London English male stage actors Living people People educated at Newington College