Final
six line up to be BBC Radio 2 Voice of Musical Theatre 2002
Six
finalists will be taking the stage tomorrow (Saturday 2 November
2002) in a sensational singing spectacular to find the BBC Radio
2 Voice of Musical Theatre 2002.
Radio
2 presenter Ken Bruce is host for the evening, introducing the six
which includes two Britons, two Americans, a New Zealander and a
Greek/Briton who once competed in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The
competitors, who have already won through preliminary rounds and
semi-finals in front of a live audience, as part of the first International
Festival of Musical Theatre in Cardiff, will be competing for a
£10,000 prize when they line up at Cardiff's New Theatre in
front of a distinguished panel of judges.
Choosing
the winner of the contest, organised and produced by BBC Wales,
will be star of stage and screen Julia McKenzie, Lewis Carnie, an
executive producer at Radio 2, internationally renowned vocal coach
Mary Hammond, record producer Nicky Graham, conductor David Charles
Abell and Peter Polycarpou, whose face is well known as the husband
of Sharon (Pauline Quirke) in BBC ONE's Birds of a Feather but who
has also appeared in musicals including Oklahoma and Miss Saigon.
Already
there have been surprises. Rachel Grimshaw from Yorkshire
finds herself in the final after slipping into semi-finalist's shoes
at the last minute when Jenna Lee James was forced to pull out.
Rachel,
who recently graduated from the Liverpool Institute for the Performing
Arts, has just completed a run in Six Women With Brain Death in
Edinburgh.
She
will be singing You Can Always Count On Me from City Of Angels,
Call From The Vatican from Nine and Spark of Creation from Children
of Eden.
Other
competitors
Stephanie
Block is an American based in Los Angeles who has chalked up
an impressive list of stage, film and television roles from Fanny
Brice in Funny Girl to Rizzo in Grease.
Her
latest role is as the singing voice of Barbie for TV commercials
in America.
Stephanie's
final repertoire includes Don't Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl,
Waiting For Life from Once On This Island and Meadowlark from The
Baker's Wife.
Tim
Beveridge, a New Zealander who reached the final in the inaugural
Radio 2 Voice of Musical Theatre two years ago, is a law graduate
who has established himself as one of New Zealand's leading entertainers
with numerous principal roles in Jesus Christ Superstar, Sunset
Boulevard, Evita and Carousel.
He
will be performing I Am What I Am from La Cage Aux Folles, All I
Care About Is Love from Chicago and Unsettled Scores from Whistle
Down The Wind.
Marlain
Angelides, who competed for Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest
in Israel, was the winner of the first semi-final, held on Tuesday.
Recently
seen portraying Ella Fitzgerald in the UK national tour of Legends
of Swing, her final songs will be Girls of Summer from Marry Me
A Little, Now That I've Seen Her from Miss Saigon and Out Tonight
from Rent.
Loren
Geeting is the second American contestant and trained at the
Royal College of Music.
His
singing roles have seen him cross the boundaries of both musical
theatre and opera and he has played Gaston in Beauty and the Beast
and Boone in Whistle Down the Wind on London's West End stage.
His
repertoire will be Piece of the Action from The Life, A Bit of Good
from Chicago and Proud Lady from The Baker's Wife.
The
final contestant is Briton Chris Holland, who took the second
semi-final title.
From
Aldershot in Hampshire, Chris has appeared in the West End in Miss
Saigon and on the national tours of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour
Dreamcoat and Grease.
Chris
will be singing I Want To Break Free from the Queen epic We Will
Rock You, A Bit of Earth from The Secret Garden and hopes to recreate
his show-stopping number from the semi-final, Gethsemane from Jesus
Christ Superstar.
Transmission
details
Listeners
can catch all the action from the final on Sunday 3 November at
7.00pm on Radio 2 and watch highlights on BBC TWO Wales
in Showtime Wales in an hour-long special looking back at the International
Festival on Monday 4 November at 7.30pm. Rhodri Williams and musicals
star Ruthie Henshall present.
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