Niamh Perry is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

singer who is best known for playing Fleck in the

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 ...

musical '' Love Never Dies''. She came to prominence when she competed as one of the finalists in 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 ...

talent show-themed television series '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008.

Early life

Born in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

, Perry attended Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock. In 2007, she achieved a Distinction in her Grade eight classical singing examination, for which she won the

South Eastern Education and Library Board The education system in Northern Ireland differs from elsewhere in the United Kingdom (although it is relatively similar to Wales), but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the '' national school'' system and ...

(SEELB) Outstanding Achievement Award for Contribution to the Arts She was a member of Music Theatre for Youth (MT4UTH) from when the company was founded in 2005 and she was also a member of the MT4UTH Showcase group, Footlighters. She performed with MT4UTH in productions of ''

Sweet Charity ''Sweet Charity'' is a musical with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon, based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film '' Nights of Cabiria''. It was directed and choreographed for Broadway by Bob Fosse sta ...

'', in which she played the lead role of Charity, ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

'', ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'', ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' and ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

''. She also sang a solo at the re-opening of the Grand Opera House in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. In February 2008, Perry took part in an

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

campaign encouraging adults to call the NSPCC Child Protection Helpline if they had concerns about a child's welfare.

Singing career

In March 2008, Perry was announced as one of the final 12 contestants in the BBC1 programme ''I'd Do Anything'', which premiered on 15 March 2008 and aimed to find a performer to play Nancy in a West End revival of the musical ''

''. Perry was eliminated from the show in week eight but has since gone on to have a successful career in musical theatre. Perry played the lead role of Belle in the musical ''Only the Brave'', which had its world premiere at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

on 31 July 2008 at the George Square theatre and ran until 25 August. On 13 September 2008 she performed alongside fellow ''I'd Do Anything'' finalist

Rachel Tucker Rachel Kelly Tucker (born 29 May 1981) is a Northern Irish stage actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the musical '' Wicked''. She also starred in '' Come from Away'' on Broadway, having originated the role in the West End. Rachel ...

at the ''Proms in the Park'', held at

Belfast City Hall Belfast City Hall (; Ulster-Scots: ) is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. It is a Grad ...

as part of the nationwide celebration of the

Last Night of the Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

. Perry was a featured vocalist with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

on the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

programme '' Friday Night is Music Night'' in October 2008. On 16 November 2008, Perry sang at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

at a fundraising and awareness raising event for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

. She was the joint lead vocalist with opera singer Mark Stone as they sang the

premiere performance A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

of "The Cry, a requiem for a lost child". She appeared in

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 ...

at the

Devonshire Park Theatre The Devonshire Park Theatre is a Victorian theatre located in the town of Eastbourne, in the coastal region of East Sussex. The theatre was designed by Henry Currey and was built in 1884. In 1903, it was further improved by the theatre architec ...

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, East Sussex from 12 December 2008 to 11 January 2009 in '' Show White and the Seven Dwarfs'' playing the lead role of

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

alongside

Stefan Booth Stefan Booth (born 4 October 1979) is an English actor and singer, best known for playing Greg Jessop in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1 October 2010 to 21 October 2011. Career Booth played Jamie Nash in ''Hollyoaks'' from 2001 unti ...

. In May 2009, Andrew Lloyd Webber revealed on an episode of '

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme featured Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show ...

' that Perry would be singing one of the roles on the Original Cast Recording for '' Love Never Dies'', the sequel to

Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title character of the novel and its adaptations Theatre * ''Phantom of t ...

, describing her as "wonderful". On Monday 15 June 2009, Niamh began playing the lead role of Sophie Sheridan in ''

Mamma Mia! Mamma mia (; an Italian interjection, literally "mommy mine"), Mammamia, Mamamia or Mumma Mia may refer to: Music Works associated with ABBA * "Mamma Mia" (ABBA song), a 1975 ABBA song * ''Mamma Mia!'' (musical), a stage play based on ABBA s ...

'' The Musical at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, with

Sally Ann Triplett Sally Ann Triplett (born 15 April 1962, London, England) is a British singer and actress. She participated in two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest and West End productions. Career Triplett first represented the United Kingdom in the Eu ...

as Donna. On 19 March 2011 she was the wedding singer for the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

live musical drama

Frankenstein's Wedding ''Frankenstein's Wedding'' (also known as ''Frankenstein's Wedding… Live in Leeds'') is a live musical drama based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. The show was broadcast live on BBC Three on 19 March 20 ...

. In 2012, Perry gained positive reviews for her portrayal of Kim in the

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

musical ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

''. Perry went on to impress as

Johanna Barker Johanna is a fictional character appearing in the story of Sweeney Todd. In the original version of the tale, the penny dreadful ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–7), her name is Johanna Oakley and she has no relation to Todd. In the popular Sween ...

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

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 ...

and then at

Royal Exchange, Manchester The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Ex ...

. In February 2014, it was announced that Perry had been selected to lead the cast of the revival of

musical '' The Beautiful Game'' when it returned to London. She went on to receive much critical acclaim for her portrayal of Mary.

Thomas & Friends

Perry was confirmed as the voice of Dash by Joel Beckford. She performed a festive Wombles classic "

Wombling Merry Christmas "Wombling Merry Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Mike Batt, and recorded by British band the Wombles. Released in November 1974, the song rose to a peak of No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in December that year, spending 8 weeks in the chart ...

" together with Joel Beckford,

Jessie Buckley Jessie Buckley (born December 28, 1989) is an Irish actress and singer. The accolades she has received include a Laurence Olivier Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and three BAFTA Awards. Buckley began her career in 2008 as a contes ...

, Jon Moses and the new series narrator

Laura Whitmore Laura Whitmore (born 4 May 1985) is an Irish media personality, model and actress based in London. She was a video jockey for MTV in 2008, and has since presented television shows, such as ''This Morning'' (2014), ''Survival of the Fittest'' ...

, who did the narrating interlude.

Filmography

Television

Theatre Credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Niamh Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People educated at Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, Knock 21st-century women singers from Northern Ireland People from Bangor, County Down Musicians from County Down