Rhiannon Sarah Margaret Drake (born 13 July 1989) is a British musician, composer, producer and actress. She is best known for playing Sabrina in the original West End cast of ''

Grim GRIM (Groupe de recherche et d'improvisation musicales, roughly translated Group of Research and Musical Innovation), was a non-profit organization for improvised and experimental music. The GRIM was based at the Montévidéo, a cultural centre in ...

'', and her role in the musical film '' And You Were Wonderful, On Stage''.

Early life

Rhiannon was born in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

to a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

mother and an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

father. She attended

Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls Haberdashers' Girls' School is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Elstree, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as "Habs" (or "Habs Girls" to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Boys' School). The sch ...

from the age of 4 to 18, after which she attended the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

(St Peter's College). Whilst there, she was a John Bain choral scholar and a member of the award-winning

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group, The Oxford Gargoyles. Following a Geography degree, she went on to study acting at

Arts Educational Schools, London Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school in Chiswick, West London, England. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in musical theatre and ...

, having been awarded the

Peter Glenville Peter Glenville (born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne; 28 October 19133 June 1996) was an English theatre and film director, and actor. He was a prominent director of stage plays on the West End and Broadway in the 1950s. He was nominated fo ...

Award from the University of Oxford.

Career

Early career (2012-2015)

In June 2012, Drake took a lead role in '' The Last Witch'' as Anne Thorne at The Hertford Theatre. In August of that year, she performed in a revival performance of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's musical ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

, directed by Ian Marshall-Fisher as part of his

Lost Musicals Lost Musicals is a British musical theatre project established in 1989 by Ian Marshall Fisher. It is dedicated to presenting lost or forgotten musicals by famous American writers, and has been responsible for the first revivals of the lesser-known ...

project. In 2013, Rhiannon started performing internationally in Cally Spooner's performance art work '' And You Were Wonderful, On Stage'', beginning at the

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In late 2013, Rhiannon appeared as the lead role, Holly Streetter, in ''The Girl That Lived'', a short film made in association with the mental health charity

MIND The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

. She also appeared in a number of concerts including ''West End Voices at Christmas'' and performances of ''Let's Do It - A Celebration of Cole Porter and his Contemporaries'' at

Leicester Square Theatre The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in Leicester Place, immediately north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It was previously known as Notre Dame Hall, Cavern in the Town and The Venue. The theatre hosts st ...

The Bridewell The Bridewell was a prison in Edinburgh, Scotland, built by Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), Wi ...

and the

Jermyn Street Theatre Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an Off West End studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghet ...

. At the beginning of 2014, Rhiannon was part of the revival of ''Dick Backard: Private Eye'' at

The Bedford The Bedford, originally named The Bedford Hotel, is a Grade II listed public house at 77 Bedford Hill, Balham, London SW12 9HD. History The original building (then named The Bedford Hotel) was built in the 1870s. In 1876, the pub building ho ...

, which opened to excellent reviews; the show had a further run at

Hoxton Hall Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a music hall in 1863, as MacDon ...

. '' And You Were Wonderful, On Stage'', returned to the UK to the

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

. Soon after, Drake landed her first major West End role as Sabrina in ''

'', performing first at The

Rose Theatre, Kingston The Rose Theatre Kingston is a theatre on Kingston High Street in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in London, England. The theatre seats 822 around a wide, thrust stage. It officially opened on 16 January, 2008 with the play ''Uncle V ...

and then a month's run at

Charing Cross Theatre The Charing Cross Theatre is an Off West End theatre under The Arches off Villiers Street below Charing Cross station. Founded in 1936, the venue occupied several premises in the West End of London before locating to its present site. The cur ...

; she is featured on the Original London Cast Recording. In addition, Rhiannon featured in the short film ''Off Camera Dialogue'', written and directed by Cally Spooner. The film premiered at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the BFI estimated that around 240 fe ...

. In 2015, Rhiannon completed further filming work on Cally Spooner's '' And You Were Wonderful, On Stage'' for exhibition at

Spike Island, Bristol Spike Island is an inner city and harbour area of the English port city of Bristol, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, ...

, before being released as a feature film in 2016. 2015 also saw many concert performances from Rhiannon, most notably ''Boom Bang-a-Bang'' at

The Pheasantry The Pheasantry, 152 King's Road, Chelsea, London, is a Grade II listed building that was home to a number of important figures in 1960s London and a small music venue in the 1970s where a number of bands were able to play their first gigs. Earl ...

, which celebrated the life and works of

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

award-winning composer

Michael Julien Michael Julien (1 August 1927 – 29 December 2020), also known as Peter Warne, was a British songwriter, who was the co-writer of a number of hit songs around the world. He wrote the lyrics of " Let's Live for Today", and co-wrote both " ...

, featuring the man himself.

Focus on producing and composing (2016-present)

In 2012, Rhiannon set up Test Of Time Productions, "with the aim of bringing both theatre and music that has stood the test of time to contemporary audiences." On 16 December 2015, Rhiannon announced via her

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

page that in 2016 she would be relaunching this as ''Test Of Time Entertainment'', a bespoke London-based entertainment agency and production company, signifying a shift in career focus. In 2018, Rhiannon finished writing her musical, ''The Year Without A Summer''. After being workshopped in January, the musical was launched on 9 February at the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It opened on April 20, 1927. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre cen ...

in London. As part of the show ''Herstoric'', the musical had a limited run at the Drayton Arms Theatre in April 2019. The show received good reviews, with Chris Omaweng of LondonTheatre1.com writing that it followed "in the footsteps of Six and, dare I say it, Hamilton." A month later Rhiannon returned to the Drayton Arms Theatre to produce ''Immortality'', a new musical produced by Biondi Music Theatre in association with Test of Time Entertainment. Also in 2019, as one third of jazz trio Viva La Vamp, Rhiannon was a grand finalist at

Open Mic UK Open Mic UK is a live music competition for singers, vocalists and solo artists run by Future Music Management in the United Kingdom, UK. Competitors compete at regional auditions to qualify to perform live at live music showcases and reach an ...

, placing third. Alongside her brother Will, Rhiannon was a winner of the inaugural ''Ceiling Project'', a platform aimed at supporting women-led writing teams in producing pieces of musical theatre focussed on women. Their short musical, ''Gwen'', was first performed at

Bishopsgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural institute in the Bishopsgate area east of the City of London. The institute was established in 1895. It offers a cultural events programme, courses for adults, historic library and archive collections, and a ...

in November 2019. Rhiannon was also musical director and co-composer of a revival of '' The Wind of Heaven'' by

Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintshi ...

at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, London in December 2019.

Personal life

Rhiannon married in July 2016. She lives in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

with her husband. She is related to the actress

Angharad Rees Angharad Mary Rees, The Hon. Mrs David McAlpine, CBE (16 July 1944 – 21 July 2012) was a British actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume d ...

on her mother's side.

Stage

Filmography

References

External links

Rhiannon Drake's Twitter account

Rhiannon Drake's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Rhiannon 1989 births Living people English stage actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Watford Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford English people of Welsh descent Musicians from Watford Actors educated at the Arts Educational Schools People educated at Haberdashers' Girls' School