Biography
Laura Michelle Kelly, already established through multiple leading parts on the West End stage, achieved an uncommon crossover into pop music when her debut album appeared in 2006. Born in Totton near Southampton in 1981, she relocated with her family to a farm on the Isle of Wight at the age of nine. After staging informal performances for friends, she made her first proper stage appearance in a middle-school production of Bugsy Malone. Following studies at the Shanklin Stagecoach of Performing Arts School, the sixteen-year-old Kelly traveled to London with her mother to attend professional open auditions. She began by serving as understudy for Belle in Beauty and the Beast, then progressed to leading roles in several West End productions, among them Mamma Mia! and My Fair Lady, before making her Broadway debut in Fiddler on the Roof. The greatest recognition came from her title role in Mary Poppins, which she performed more than four hundred times and which earned her the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2005.
One year later she joined the roster of Angel Records, an EMI imprint, and issued The Storm Inside, an album containing both original material and reinterpretations of songs associated with the Cardigans, Nick Drake, and Paul Weller. Marius de Vries produced the record, which included contributions from Jamie Cullum, Guy Chambers, and the Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon; three new tracks were later added for a reissue titled What’s It All For. Kelly has since returned to theater as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, appeared with Michael Ball at the BBC Proms, and served as special guest on the nationwide tour of Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. In 2007 she portrayed Lucy Barker in Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
One year later she joined the roster of Angel Records, an EMI imprint, and issued The Storm Inside, an album containing both original material and reinterpretations of songs associated with the Cardigans, Nick Drake, and Paul Weller. Marius de Vries produced the record, which included contributions from Jamie Cullum, Guy Chambers, and the Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon; three new tracks were later added for a reissue titled What’s It All For. Kelly has since returned to theater as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings, appeared with Michael Ball at the BBC Proms, and served as special guest on the nationwide tour of Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. In 2007 she portrayed Lucy Barker in Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
Albums
Singles
