Liz Robertson (born 4 May 1954) is an English actress and singer and the widow of playwright and lyricist

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

. She is especially well known for her performances as Madame Giry, having played the role in the original cast of '' Love Never Dies'' 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 receiv ...

, in ''

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 ...

'' at

Her Majesty's Theatre His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who ...

and in ''

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall ''The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall'' is a 2011 British concert film adaptation of the 1986 stage musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' by Andrew Lloyd Webber, itself based on the novel by Gaston Leroux. To celebrate the 25th ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, Essex, Robertson began training at the Finch Stage School at the age of three.

Career

Robertson's first professional employment was as a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

dancer at London's

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...

at the age of 16. Shortly afterward, she joined a dance group called The Go-Jo's, and a year later she became the lead singer and dancer of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's ''The Young Generation''. Robertson's West End career began with '' A Little Night Music'', directed by

Hal Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theatr ...

, and the

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

'' Side By Side By Sondheim'', which she subsequently took to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

with Georgia Brown. Other London theatre credits include '' I Love My Wife'', ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'', ''Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood'', '' Song and Dance'', ''

'', ''Love Never Dies'', and ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

''. Robertson made her Broadway debut in '' Dance a Little Closer'', the disastrous 1983 musical adaptation of '' Idiot's Delight'' by

Charles Strouse Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''. Backgrou ...

and her husband,

, that closed on opening night. In 1986 she returned to Broadway with the Kern revue, which ran for 24 performances and proved to be her last Broadway appearance to date. She starred in an extensive US tour of ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the childr ...

'' and performed at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

before

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and his wife, Nancy. She presented her one-woman show, ''Just Liz'', at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

and the

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by ...

in London. It later was taped and broadcast by

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, init ...

. She is also a regular performer and part of the original cast of the touring play '' Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Sinners''. She starred in the musical ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

'' at the Shaftesbury Theatre, performing the role of 'Velma Von Tussle'. She played the Wicked Queen in the Bristol Hippodrome

Pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

, Snow White from 11 December 2009, and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the same for the Christmas 2013 run. She appeared as ‘Miss Smythe/Miss Andrew’ in the second London revival of ''Mary Poppins'' at the Prince Edward Theatre. The production reopened on the 7th of August 2021 after being closed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, until its final show on 8 January 2023.

Charity work

She is a trustee of The Theatrical Guild, the charity supporting backstage and front of house, and was chairperson from 2005 to 2009.

Personal life

She married

in August 1981 in Billingshurst, England. The couple met when he directed her in a revival of ''My Fair Lady''.

Notes

References

* Jablonski, Edward (1996). ''Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography''. Henry Holt & Co. * Citron, David (1995). ''The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. * Lees, Gene (2005). ''The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe''.

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press (UNP) was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the University of Ne ...

External links

* *
Really Useful bio

Preview of The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Concert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Liz 1954 births Living people English women singers English stage actresses