Simon Gleeson (born 13 January 1977) is an Australian actor and singer who is best known for playing Jean Valjean in the 2014 Australian revival and in the 2016/17 cast of the West End production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

''. He performed in

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...

's Hayfever for the

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

, and returned to the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2018 to play Sir Robert Chiltern in

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

An Ideal Husband ''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...

. In the United Kingdom he has performed in plays at The

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

and in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. He has appeared in the popular BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', playing SJ Fletcher's boyfriend Sid Clarke. In 2007 Gleeson appeared in '

Kombat Opera Presents ''Kombat Opera Presents'' is a BBC2 comedy show. The comedy parodies British television programmes by transforming them into operas. The music for the series was written by Richard Thomas, with the series having its origins in the ''Kombat Opera' ...

' for BBC television. He appeared with Richard Dreyfuss and Nia Vardalos in 2009's '' My Life in Ruins''.

Early life

Gleeson grew up in The Rock, a small country town in New South Wales with his parents and sister, Sara Gleeson (who is an actress). He completed his secondary education at Xavier College where he was named School Vice Captain and House President. Gleeson trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Career

Gleeson has performed in many musicals and plays in Australia and in London's West End including ''

Mamma Mia! Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent *Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlemen ...

'', '' Eureka'', ''The Far Pavilions'' and '' Imagine This''. He has performed in plays for Sydney Theatre Company and

in the UK. In 2013/2014 he was in the original company of ''

Rupert Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada *Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert' ...

'' for

and toured the play to the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. He portrayed Raoul in the Australian production of

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 and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musica ...

's musical '' Love Never Dies'', the sequel to Lloyd Webber's highly successful '' The Phantom of the Opera''. Gleeson has appeared in numerous television series in Australia and the UK, most notably as ''SJ'' in '' EastEnders'' and as a principal cast member of '

' for BBC television. From 2014 Gleeson played Jean Valjean in the Australian tour of Cameron Macintosh's '' Les Miserables''. He would remain with the cast throughout 2015 and has been cast in the role for its

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

run. He was nominated for (and won) a Helpmann Award for the role. From 5 December 2016, he has played Jean Valjean in the West End production of ''Les Misérables''. In 2018, Gleeson joined "The Production Company" for their production of ''Oklahoma!'' as Curly McLain alongside Anna O’Byrne. Gleeson released his debut album, titled ''Elements'' in 2015. The track list consists of: * "A Bit of Earth" * "

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

" * "She’s Got A Way" / "Something" * "End of The World" * "

Being Alive "Being Alive" is a song from the musical ''Company'' by George Furth with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The song appears at the end of act two and is sung by the main character, Robert, a 35-year-old bachelor who at the show's end "...re ...

" * " Bring Him Home" * "And the Rain Keeps Falling Down" * "Stay With Me" * " Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word" – featuring Natalie O’Donnell * "

If I Loved You "If I Loved You" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Carousel''. Background In the show, the characters of Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan sing this song as they hesitantly declare their love for one another, yet are ...

" * " The Day You Went Away"

Nominations and awards

In 2014, Gleeson was awarded a Helpmann Award for his role as Jean Valjean in the Australian tour of ''Les Miserables''. He has been nominated for a Helpmann Award twice before for Sky in ''

'', and Raoul in '' Love Never Dies'' and has been nominated several times for a Green Room Award. In London he was nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award for ''The Far Pavilions''. Gleeson has also been nominated for a Glug Award.

References

External links

*
Simon Gleeson on TwitterSimon Gleeson on FacebookSimon Gleeson: The Dark Side of Raoul
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Simon 1977 births Australian male television actors Australian male musical theatre actors Living people Helpmann Award winners Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts alumni