Laura Pitt-Pulford is a British actress, best known for her work in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

and for playing Carol Butler in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''.

Early life

Pitt-Pulford grew up in Rugby, joined a local youth operatic group at age 12, and trained in drama at the

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. Mountview Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicians ...

Career

In 2015, she played Milly in

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London, established in 1932. Originally known for its Shakespearean productions, the theatre now features a wide variety of performances, including musicals, ope ...

production of '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''. She received great acclaim for her performance, with a review from Claire Allfree in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' commenting "In a marvellous performance, Laura Pitt-Pulford's sparky, indomitable Milly holds all the power here". Mark Shenton of ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'' stated that "Pitt-Pulford, too, is a radiant, ravishing Milly, combining brassy toughness with vulnerability". She was nominated for the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre A ...

for her performance. In 2016, she appeared in the musical '' Flowers for Mrs. Harris'' at the Crucible Theatre,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

She also starred as Violet in the UK premiere of '' Side Show'' at the Southwark Playhouse. In 2017, she played the title role in a UK touring production of '' Nell Gwynn''. Pitt-Pulford most recently appeared in the role of Chairy Barnum in the 2017 revival of the Cy Coleman musical '' Barnum'' at the Menier Chocolate Factory alongside comedian Marcus Brigstocke. In 2019, she played the role of Sheryl Hoover in the Off West End European premiere of ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road movie, road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (in their directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of G ...

'' at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalston, houses two studio ...

. In 2020, she sang the song "One Small Step" from the anime Dr. Stone. Pitt-Pulford appeared in ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' in 2014 as Maria Von Trapp with Michael French at the Curve Theatre in Leicester and earned a UK Theatre Award nomination for her performance of Maria. Pitt-Pulford starred in Craig Revel Horwood’s production of ''

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

'' in 2008 in the role of Betty alongside Ben Goddard and Kathryn Evans who played Norma Desmond at the Watermill Theatre and the Comedy Theatre. Pitt-Pulford also played Irene Molloy in 2012’s Leicester Curve production of '' Hello Dolly!'' with Michael Xavier and Janie Dee. She starred as Trina in ''

Falsettos ''Falsettos'' is a sung-through musical theatre, musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The musical consists of ''March of the Falsettos'' (1981) and ''Falsettoland'' (1990), the last two installment ...

'' at The Other Palace from August 2019. Pitt-Pulford has also had guest roles in TV dramas ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and ...

'' (where she played Scarlett Dreyfuss) and ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' (Tina Hempsey), and as the Deputy Head in second series of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

legal drama Legal drama, also called courtroom drama, is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in wh ...

'' The Split'' in 2020. In December 2021 and April 2022, she appeared in ''

'' as Carol Butler. Laura played Rose Vibert in the revival of Aspects of Love at the Lyric Theatre alongside Michael Ball from Saturday 13 May 2023 – Saturday 19 August 2023. Laura played Poppy in the musical Standing at the Sky's Edge at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from February 8, 2024 to August 3, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt-Pulford, Laura Living people Actresses from Warwickshire British musical theatre actresses Actors from Rugby, Warwickshire Year of birth missing (living people)