Profiles

Helena Blackman first started performing at a local dance school when she was just 18 months old.

Aged 16, Helena won an award from the Hampshire Police Choir and a Hampshire County scholarship with prestigious singing teacher, Lisa Grey. She joined the Hampshire County Youth Choir and got top marks in her Grade 8 singing exam.

Helena in 'Maria'

Helena first came to public attention when she appeared on the BBC's "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" TV show, where Andrew Lloyd Webber searched for a Maria for his new production of The Sound of Music.

Although she came second to Connie Fisher, Helena has gone on to build her own career in musical theatre. 

The Southampton girl has also performed in several concerts for Andrew Lloyd Webber and appeared as a soloist on Friday Night Is Music Night for BBC Radio 2.

Helena says: "I think it was better that I came second.  Connie had to go on and be Maria for nearly two years, and I think I would've got bored with just one part all that time.  It's important to me that I keep moving on and gaining new and varied experiences."

Helena with David Willets on stage

Back Home

She's came back to Southampton in April  to perform in Rodgers & Hammerstein's most celebrated musical masterpiece, South Pacific, at the Mayflower Theatre.

The brand new show, which is still on tour, features a host of classic songs including Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, There is Nothing Like a Dame, and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair.

Helena plays Nellie Forbush, a naļve Navy nurse from Arkansas, who falls in love with middle-aged French plantation owner during her wartime posting to a Pacific island. However, she soon discovers secrets in his past that she finds difficult to come to terms with.

Helena popped into the BBC Radio Solent studios to tell Charlie what life's been like since becoming a household name through BBC TV.

Off Stage

When off the stage, Helena stays away from late nights and alcohol, and sometimes spends whole days without speaking so that she's on top form for when she needs to sing. 

She says she does this to be fair to her audiences: "When people come to see you they want to be entertained and get their moneys worth.  There is nothing worse than standing on stage thinking 'I can't hit that note' all because you were out late the night before, so I simply don't chance it."

Two parts that Helena hopes to get her hands on in the future are Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Maria in West Side Story.