Sarah Earnshaw (born 26 December 1983) is a British actress 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, ...
.
Early life
Born in Leeds in 1983, Earnshaw moved to London in 2000 to train at Mountview Academy of Arts in London, graduating in 2003 with a first class BA in Musical Theatre.
Theatre credits and career
Earnshaw made her West End debut in the Original
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Cast of ''
Wicked'', at the
Apollo Victoria Theatre, as a Glinda / Nessarose understudy. The show officially opened on 27 September 2006, after previews from 7 September. She later became the Glinda standby in 2007. She left the company on 8 January 2011, with
Rachel Tucker as Elphaba and
Louise Dearman as Glinda.
In 2013, Earnshaw played Lady of the Lake in ''
Spamalot
''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot: A Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is a musical theatre, stage musical with score by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, with lyrics and book ...
'' at The Playhouse Theatre in the West End and Audrey in
''Little Shop of Horrors'' at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.
She created the role of Sam in ''Payback'' (at the Riverside Studios) in June 2013, opposite Matthew White, and Christmas 2013 saw Earnshaw appear as Fairy in ''
Jack and the Beanstalk
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale with ancient origins. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition :File:Round about our Coal Fire, or, Christmas Entertainments, 4th edn, 1734.pdf, On C ...
'' at
Sheffield Lyceum.
In 2011, she took the role of Emma Carew in ''
Jekyll & Hyde'' on the 2nd U.K. Tour opposite
Marti Pellow
Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan; 23 March 1965) is a Scottish singer. He was the lead singer of the pop group Wet Wet Wet for 28 years: from their formation in 1982 until their split in 1997, and again from their reformation in 2004 to his d ...
as Jekyll/Hyde.
In 2012, she played 'The Ghost of Christmas Past' in
''Scrooge'' at the
London Palladium
The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...
, reprising the role she had previously played on the UK Tour of the musical opposite Tommy Steele.
Other notable credits
Other works she has appeared in include; ''
Alice In Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'' (West Yorkshire Playhouse), ''After The Turn'' (Courtyard Theatre) and ''The Royal Variety Performance'' (London Coliseum).
She has appeared in workshops for ''
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'' written by
Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, ''Dusty'' as young
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...
at
the Duchess Theatre, London and ''Only The Brave'' at the Arts Theatre, London, Travels With My Aunt for Chichester and as Bella Spellgrove in Sherlock Holmes.
In 2014 Sarah appeared in the original cast of ''
The A-Z of Mrs P'' at
Southwark Playhouse produced by Michael Peavoy and The Booking Office and directed by
Sam Buntrock. She then followed this with a guest lead in
Casualty playing the role of Maggie. and appeared in an advert for
Go Compare
In 2015 she appears again as ''Lady of the Lake' in
Spamalot
''Spamalot'' (also known as ''Monty Python's Spamalot: A Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off from the Motion Picture ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is a musical theatre, stage musical with score by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, with lyrics and book ...
on UK Tour, the tour opened in Manchester on 19 January 2015.
She appeared in ''Travels With My Aunt'' (Minerva, Chichester) and as Kate in the one woman show ''Heart Of Winter''.
In May 2017. she was cast as Jennifer Lore (main lead) in ''
Nativity! The Musical'' at
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...
.
She played Betty Spencer in the 2018 stage adaptation of ''
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em'' on UK Tour,
followed by playing Connie in ''The Nightingales'' for Theatre Royal Bath and on UK tour, Jane in ''The Argument'' again at Theatre Royal Bath and Claire Sutton in ''Yes Prime Minister'' at
Theatre Clwyd.
Later, she played the role of Tanya in the 2023 UK and International tour of
Mamma Mia! Earnshaw has extended her contract at Mamma Mia! multiple times and is currently due to play until 4 January 2026.
Recordings
Sarah is featured on the following musical theatre albums: Unwritten Songs (Spekulation Entertainment), Acoustic Overtures (Sim G Records) The Music Box (Escape Records) and The
Nativity! The Musical Original Cast Recording (Jamie Wilson Productions / Nativity! Theatre Ltd)
Concert work
Earnshaw has appeared in concerts for The Mercury Music 20th Anniversary Gala at the Novello Theatre where she sang "Portrait of a Princess" written by
Michael Bruce.
She sang "Again" in the Divas Sing Scott Alan concert at the Arts Theatre, A Little Less Ordinary (Apollo), 80th Birthday Gala (Apollo Victoria) and West End Stars In Concert (Ireland).
In November 2013 she appeared in concert with
John Owen-Jones in Stars on Parade at Glasgow Concert Hall
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earnshaw, Sarah
1983 births
Living people
Actresses from Leeds
English musical theatre actresses