Dave Willetts
actor and
singer - has been critically acclaimed
both Nationally and Internationally
from Europe to Australia for numerous leading roles in some of the
most renowned musicals of our time.
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Dave in "Aspects of Love"
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The Musicals Unplugged
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Biography
Dave Willetts
has been critically acclaimed both nationally and internationally
from Europe to Australia for numerous leading roles in some of the
most renowned musicals of our time.
In 1985
Dave played the leading role of Jean Val Jean in the Royal
Shakespeare Company’s production of "Les Miserables"
at the Palace Theatre, London under the direction of Trevor Nunn.
In 1997 he re-created the role for the 10th anniversary production of "Les Misereables" at the Theatre Royal in Sydney - Australia.
He played the Phantom
in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Phantom of the Opera",
directed by Hal Prince at Her Majesty’s Theatre, thus becoming
the first person in the world to play the leading roles in both these
coveted musicals.
He also played
the same role at the Opera House, Manchester, for which he won the
Evening News award for Best Performance.
Dave created the roles of Major Lee, opposite Petula Clark in "Someone Like You" at the Strand Theatre, Zero Janvier in the premier of Tim Rice’s "Tycoon", at the Sydmonton festival and Tom in Trish Ward’s "Lonely Hearts", directed by Stephen Rayne.
He received
huge critical acclaim when he sang the role of Jesus in
"Jesus Christ Superstar" at the Barbican Centre, London
prior to performing the same role for the European tour.
Dave has many
international concert appearances to his name including the concert
halls of Monterey, Mexico City, LosAngeles, Rotterdam and Munich, as
well as the Royal Albert Hall, London.
As well as
numerous sell out tours of his own concerts he has starred in a
number of highly successful stage concerts including "The Magic
of the Musicals", "Something Wonderful", (a
celebration of the music of Rogers and Hammerstein), "A Lot of
Living", (celebrating the work of the American composer Charles
Strouse) and "Hollywood and Broadway".
Dave has
worked closely with the great American composer, John Kander for a
special concert broadcast by the BBC, and subsequently released on CD.
He
is also closely connected with the work of Stephen Sondheim, having
played the role of Ben, in the Irish premier of
"Follies" in Dublin, George in the regional premiere
of "Sunday in the Park With George" and his portrayal of Sweeny
in "Sweeny Todd" was described by the critics as
".....The definitive performance.....".
Dave created the role of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in the world premier of "Jekyll" at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
Dave’s varied musical abilities were shown to great effect when he appeared at London’s famous "Pizza on the Park", receiving great critical acclaim for he "Jazz n’Chat" style of dinner shows.
He has
presented his own radio shows on National BBC radio and has made
guest appearances on most radio and TV shows and was delighted to be
surprised by Michael Aspel as the subject of
"This is
Your Life"
Dave
has a successful recording career, having four solo albums and
numerous show albums to his name.
In 1999 he ventured into the world of pantomime, playing Captain Hook opposite Toyah Wilcox, in J.M.Barrie’s "Peter Pan".
In 2001 Dave appeared as Old Deuteronomy in the 20th Anniversary production of Andrew Lloyd Webbers "Cats" at the New London Theatre, London.
In 2002, Dave
starred as Adam Pontipee in a National Tour of "Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers".
He created the
role of Vladimir in the world premier of "Let Us
Fly",a new musical based on the life of Russian poet and
songwriter, Vladimir Vysotsky.
He also created the role of Father in the European premier of "Ragtime" at the International Festival of Musical Theatre which was subsequently shown on BBC TV and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Then in 2003 "Ragtime" transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End, where he once again re-created the role of Father.
In 2004, he filmed "A Christmas Carol" for the Hallmark Network in America.
Spring 2005
brought a hugely successful run of "Go and Play up Your Own
End" at the Alexandra Theatre - Birmingham, starring alongside
Jasper Carrott. This was follwed by a national tour of "Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers", which transferred for a season to
The Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London's West End.
2007 saw Dave starring as Julian Marsh in "42nd Street" before going on to star as Emile De Becque in the hugely successful national tour of Rogers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific".
He has just finished starring as Max von Mayerling in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard" at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, for which he was nominated for a prestigeous Olivier Award.
LINKS
The
Priory Theatre site of which Dave is the patron
www.priorytheatre.co.uk
Theatre
related sites
www.musicalstages.co.uk
www.whatsonstage.com
www.tmaw.co.uk