Jessie Buckley - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jessie Buckley is an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

singer and actress who came second place in the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

talent show

Talent show

A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...

-themed television series I'd Do Anything
I'd Do Anything (BBC TV series)
I'd Do Anything is a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast on BBC One. It premièred on 15 March 2008...

, and subsequently played Anne Egermann in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

revival of Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...

's A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

.

Background

The eldest of five children, Buckley comes from a musical family. Buckley's mother, Marina Cassidy, encouraged her to sing and coached her. She has a brother and three sisters. Buckley went to Ursuline Secondary School, an all-girls convent school in Thurles

Thurles

Thurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...

, County Tipperary

County Tipperary

County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

where her mother, works as a vocal coach, where she performed in school productions. She played a number of male roles at school including the male lead role of Jets gang founder, Tony in the musical West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...

and Freddie Trumper in Chess
Chess (musical)
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...

.

She has achieved Grade eight in piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

, clarinet

Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...

and harp with the Royal Irish Academy of Music

Royal Irish Academy of Music

The Royal Irish Academy of Music is a linked college of Dublin City University located in Dublin, Ireland.It was founded in 1848 by a group of music enthusiasts and moved to its present address in Westland Row in 1871. The following year it was granted the right to use the title "Royal"...

. She is also a member of the Tipperary Millennium Orchestra. Buckley also attended The Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) workshops during the summer, to help improve her singing and acting; it was where she was then recognised as a talented actress and was encouraged to apply for Drama School in London. Just before she auditioned for I'd Do Anything she was turned down by two drama schools, including one the day before her first audition for the show. In 2008, Buckley won the AIMS Best Actress award for her portrayal of Julie Jordan in Killarney Musical Society's production of Carousel (musical)
Carousel (musical)
Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...

.

I'd Do Anything

Buckley competed in I'd Do Anything, a search for a new, unknown lead to play Nancy in a London West End

West End theatre

stage revival of the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....

.

Buckley reached the final on 31 May 2008, finishing in second place behind Jodie Prenger

Jodie Prenger

Jodie Prenger is an English actress and singer. She was the winner of BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything on 31 May 2008. She was also the winner of the second series of The Biggest Loser on Living in 2006...

. Before the final vote was announced in Show two of the final, Graham Norton

Graham Norton

Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...

asked the panel who they each thought was Nancy. Three of the panel said Buckley and two Prenger. John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

and Denise van Outen

Denise van Outen

Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...

said "Jodie", while Barry Humphries

Barry Humphries

John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...

, Cameron Mackintosh

Cameron Mackintosh

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York...

and Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

said "Jessie". However, the public voted for Jodie.

Performances on I'd Do Anything

Show	Song
Week one	"River Deep - Mountain High River Deep - Mountain High "River Deep – Mountain High" is a 1966 single by Ike & Tina Turner. Considered by producer Phil Spector to be his best work, the single was successful in Europe, peaking at #3 in the United Kingdom, though it flopped on its original release in the United States... "
Week two	"Killing Me Softly Killing Me Softly with His Song "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack whose version topped the U.S... "
Week three	"One Night Only One Night Only (song) "One Night Only" is a song from the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "One Night Only" is performed twice in succession, as differing versions of the song - a soul ballad by the character Effie White and a disco... " from the musical Dreamgirls
Week four	"Why Do Fools Fall in Love Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song) "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a song that was originally a hit for early New York City-based rock and roll group Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers in 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboards Pop Singles chart, and number one on the UK Singles Chart... "
Week five	"Stop! Stop! (Sam Brown song) "Stop!" is a song by English singer Sam Brown.The single was originally released in 1988, missing the UK top forty and peaking at number fifty-two. It was not until 1989, however, that the single became a hit, when it peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. "Stop!" became her biggest hit to... "
Week six	"The Man that Got Away The Man that Got Away "The Man that Got Away" is a popular song, published in 1953 and was written for the 1954 version of the movie A Star Is Born. The music was written by Harold Arlen, and the lyrics by Ira Gershwin... " from A Star Is Born A Star Is Born (1954 film) A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell...
Week seven	"Fighter Fighter (song) "Fighter" is a song recorded by American recording artist Christina Aguilera. The song was written by Aguilera and Scott Storch, and produced by Storch for Aguilera's fourth studio album, Stripped. The song was released on June 3, 2003 as the third single. The song peaked at number twenty on the... "
Week eight	"How Do I Live How Do I Live "How Do I Live" is the title of a song written by Diane Warren. It was originally recorded by LeAnn Rimes in 1997 and shortly afterward by Trisha Yearwood... "
Week nine	"What I Did for Love" from the musical A Chorus Line A Chorus Line A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
Week ten (Final)	"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife. At the time the couple were lovers, although MacColl was married to someone else. MacColl and Seeger included the song in their... " "The Man That Got Away The Man that Got Away "The Man that Got Away" is a popular song, published in 1953 and was written for the 1954 version of the movie A Star Is Born. The music was written by Harold Arlen, and the lyrics by Ira Gershwin... " "As Long as He Needs Me As Long as He Needs Me As Long as He Needs Me is a torch song sung by the character of Nancy in the musical film Oliver!, introduced in the 1960 musical. It is a love ballad about her criminal boyfriend Bill Sikes... "

After I'd Do Anything

Buckley performed at the Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday In The Park show in Hyde Park

Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

, London on 14 September 2008, singing "I Don't Know How To Love Him" as a solo and "Light At The End Of The Tunnel" from Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

with fellow I'd Do Anything finalists Keisha Amponsa-Banson, Niamh Perry

Niamh Perry

Niamh Perry is an Irish singer and actress who competed as one of the finalists in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008 and is currently portraying Fleck in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Love Never Dies.-Background:Born in Bangor, County Down, Perry attended Our...

, Rachel Tucker

Rachel Tucker

Rachel Tucker is a Northern Irish singer and actress who competed as one of the finalists in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008...

as well as Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...

finalists Daniel Boys

Daniel Boys

Daniel Boys is a British musical theatre actor, best known as a contestant on the BBC talent series Any Dream Will Do in 2007.-Acting Career:...

, Lewis Bradley

Lewis Bradley

Lewis Bradley is a British musical theatre actor, who came third place in the BBC reality talent show Any Dream Will Do. He was later chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber to understudy the winning role of Joseph....

, Ben James-Ellis

Ben James-Ellis

Benjamin James Ellis is an English stage actor who starred in the role of Link Larkin in the West End production of the musical Hairspray from its opening in October 2007 until July 2009...

and Keith Jack

Keith Jack

Keith Jack was the runner-up on the BBC reality talent show Any Dream Will Do, which offered the chance to be the next West End Joseph for the hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice...

. On 18 September she and Aoife Mulholland

Aoife Mulholland

Aoife Mulholland is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End...

performed with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra

RTÉ Concert Orchestra

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of the two full time professional orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to...

at an Andrew Lloyd Webber evening at the National Concert Hall

National Concert Hall

The National Concert Hall is a concert hall located on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Ireland, close to St. Stephen's Green, and is the principal national venue for classical music concerts in Ireland....

in Dublin. On 26 August 2008 Buckley performed on Denny Street in Tralee, Co. Kerry where the first ever Millionaire raffle was broadcasted live on RTE Radio 1

RTÉ Radio 1

RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...

. After this, Jessie performed at a charity concert in Tipperary

Tipperary

Tipperary is a town and a civil parish in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 4,415 at the 2006 census. It is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly, and is in the historical barony of Clanwilliam....

, where she announced that she would be starting rehearals for A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

the following Monday.

Despite being offered to understudy Nancy, she turned it down in favour of another production: on 10 October 2008 it was announced that Buckley would be appearing in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Sondheim

musical

Musical theatre

A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

, in the role of Anne Egerman, at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory is an award-winning 180 seat fringe studio theatre, restaurant and gallery. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate Company factory in Southwark Street, a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, central south London, England. The theatre stages plays...

, a fringe

Fringe theatre

Fringe theatre is theatre that is not of the mainstream. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which name comes from Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival as a ‘fringe’, writing: ‘Round the fringe...

studio theatre

Studio Theatre

A studio theatre is a 20th-century term that describes a small theatre space. Studio theatres often have a flexible auditorium whose stage and seating may be re-arranged to suit the specific requirements of a production...

, in London from 22 November 2008 to 8 March 2009. She appeared alongside Maureen Lipman

Maureen Lipman

Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...

and Hannah Waddingham in the production, which was directed by Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...

.
A Little Night Music transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Garrick Theatre

Garrick Theatre

The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...

in London's West End

West End theatre

on 7 April 2009 (previews from 28 March – 6 April). A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...

was Buckley's West End debut. The show closed on 25 July 2009. Since then, she has appeared in a number of concerts nationally, including a Christmas concert alongside Maria Friedman

Maria Friedman

Maria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...

and Tim Rice

Tim Rice

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

, and in February 2010 appeared alongside Daniel Boys

Daniel Boys

Daniel Boys is a British musical theatre actor, best known as a contestant on the BBC talent series Any Dream Will Do in 2007.-Acting Career:...

(and Night Music co-star Kelly Price) in a series of Valentine musical concerts.

External links

Jessie Buckley at UNITED AGENTS

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