Lewis Bradley
Encyclopedia
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.
He starred in the ensemble of Wicked
in the West End
of London
. He is also the understudy for the male lead role of Fiyero.
He is currently part of the Headliners Theatre Company, on P&O Cruises
, MS Azura
.
and lived there with his mother and his sister until he was 13. He then travelled to London to attend the Italia Conti Academy
of Performing Arts, with future fellow contestant on Any Dream Will Do, Ben Ellis
.
He performed in the UK tour of Chicago and Beyond as the male lead; in Snow White
at the Billingham Forum, Hear and Now
, Young, Gifted and Back at Wimbledon Theatre and in Dance Excellence in California
.
Lewis' sister Amelia is also a singer, and successfully auditioned on the eighth series
of The X Factor
in 2011.
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
. He was the 10th contestant to leave the series, being knocked out in the final on 9 June 2007.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
said that Lewis had "the best journey of anyone on the show".
Despite not winning the contest, it was later announced that Bradley would play the part of Joseph as understudy to winner Lee Mead
while Mead is on holiday on the dates of 14–26 January, 10–15 March and 5–10 May 2008.
in Joseph, Lewis also performs on fellow Any Dream Will Do
contestant Craig Chalmers' debut album Dream On, which was released on 11 February 2008.
Lewis also appeared on the television show This Morning
, and on Blue Peter
with his fellow Joseph finalists, Lee Mead
and Keith Jack
.
In an interview, when asked about his future career, Lewis said,
He was in the Royal Bath House production of Jack and the Beanstalk in December 2008-January 2009, along with Colin Baker
and Susan Penhaligon
.
In 2009 he starred in the BBC television short film, 'The Love of Narcissus', as the title character of Narcissus.
Lewis appeared in the Christmas Pantomime Sleeping Beauty held in Swansea Grand Theatre
between December 2009 and January 2010.
Bradley recently starred in the West End production of Wicked
. He replaced long-running cast member Oliver Tompsett
in the role of Fiyero for a limited contract running 29 March 2010 until 8 May, when Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead
stepped into the role. Bradley then became Mead's understudy, as well as a member of the show's ensemble. He left the show on 5 February 2011.
Bradley's sister Amelia entered The X Factor (UK series 8)
and made it to the live shows before being eliminated after a week 1 twist but then was voted back in after Frankie Cocozza was kicked out of the show after boasting about taking cocaine. Frankie Cocozza and Amelia was also romanticaly involved but stopped speaking after Amelia took Frankie's place on the X-Factor.
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...
reality
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
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...
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...
. He was later chosen by 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...
to understudy the winning role of Joseph.
He starred in the ensemble of Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
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...
of 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...
. He is also the understudy for the male lead role of Fiyero.
He is currently part of the Headliners Theatre Company, on P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises is a British-American owned cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, and operated by Carnival UK. Originally a constituent of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, P&O Cruises is the oldest cruise line in the world, having operated the world's first...
, MS Azura
MS Azura
MS Azura is a cruise ship of the P&O Cruises fleet. The ship was built by Fincantieri at their shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. At 115,055 tonnes, Azura is the second largest of seven ships currently in service with P&O Cruises. She is also the sister ship of MS Ventura...
.
Early life
Lewis was born in MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
and lived there with his mother and his sister until he was 13. He then travelled to London to attend the Italia Conti Academy
Italia Conti Academy
The Italia Conti Academy is a theatre arts training school based in London. It was founded in 1911 by actress Italia Conti...
of Performing Arts, with future fellow contestant on Any Dream Will Do, Ben 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...
.
He performed in the UK tour of Chicago and Beyond as the male lead; in Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
at the Billingham Forum, Hear and Now
Hear and Now
Hear and Now is a 2007 documentary film by Irene Taylor Brodsky, winning awards in 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival and the Heartland Film Festival; and garnering a Peabody Award in 2008.-Synopsis:...
, Young, Gifted and Back at Wimbledon Theatre and in Dance Excellence in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Lewis' sister Amelia is also a singer, and successfully auditioned on the eighth series
The X Factor (UK series 8)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series began airing on ITV on 20 August 2011. Louis Walsh is the only judge from the previous series to return, as the other three, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole, all left to join other...
of The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
in 2011.
Any Dream Will Do
Lewis Bradley was a contestant on the BBC realityReality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
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...
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...
, which offered the chance to be the next 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...
Joseph for the hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
by 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...
. He was the 10th contestant to leave the series, being knocked out in the final on 9 June 2007.
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 that Lewis had "the best journey of anyone on the show".
Songs performed by Lewis Bradley on Any Dream Will Do
- "FaithFaith (George Michael song)"Faith" is a #1 song, written and performed by George Michael, released as a single on Columbia Records, from his 1987 Faith album. According to Billboard magazine, it was the top-selling single of the year in the United States in 1988....
" (George MichaelGeorge MichaelGeorge Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
) - "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest WordSorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the Blue Moves album. It was his second single on Rocket Records. The song is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship...
" (Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
) - "I Saw Her Standing ThereI Saw Her Standing There"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....
" (The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
) - "Dancing in the MoonlightDancing in the Moonlight"Dancing In The Moonlight" is the title song on the 1973 King Harvest album. The track was released as a single in 1972 and it reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. They released other singles but these were never able to match the success of "Dancing in the Moonlight"...
" (King HarvestKing HarvestKing Harvest was a 1970s American rock band, best known for their 1973 hit single, "Dancing in the Moonlight".-Background:Formed by a group of four American expatriates in Paris in 1970, King Harvest was best known for its one US hit single, "Dancing In The Moonlight," which was released in 1972...
) - "I'm a BelieverI'm a Believer"I'm a Believer" is a song composed by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees in 1966 with the lead vocals by Micky Dolenz. The single, produced by Jeff Barry, hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending December 31, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks,...
" (The MonkeesThe MonkeesThe Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
) - "The RoseThe Rose (song)"The Rose" is a pop song written by Amanda McBroom and made famous by Bette Midler, who performed it in the 1979 movie, The Rose. Since then it has been covered by a variety of artists.-Bette Midler version:...
" (WestlifeWestlifeWestlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
) - "HeroHero (Enrique Iglesias song)"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception...
" (Enrique IglesiasEnrique IglesiasEnrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
) - "Sweet CarolineSweet Caroline"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond's Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song...
" (Neil DiamondNeil DiamondNeil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
) - "KissKiss (song)In 1988 Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country...
" (Prince)
-
- Big Band: "Beyond the SeaBeyond the Sea (song)"Beyond the Sea" is a 1946 contemporary pop song with music taken from the song "La Mer" by Charles Trenet and lyrics by Jack Lawrence.Trenet had composed "La Mer" with French lyrics totally different and unrelated to the English language version that Lawrence composed...
" (Bobby DarinBobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
)
- Big Band: "Beyond the Sea
Despite not winning the contest, it was later announced that Bradley would play the part of Joseph as understudy to winner Lee Mead
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre actor, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC reality TV casting show Any Dream Will Do...
while Mead is on holiday on the dates of 14–26 January, 10–15 March and 5–10 May 2008.
After Any Dream Will Do
As well as understudying for Lee MeadLee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre actor, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC reality TV casting show Any Dream Will Do...
in Joseph, Lewis also performs on fellow Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do may refer to:*"Any Dream Will Do" , from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice...
contestant Craig Chalmers' debut album Dream On, which was released on 11 February 2008.
Lewis also appeared on the television show This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
, and on Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
with his fellow Joseph finalists, Lee Mead
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre actor, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC reality TV casting show Any Dream Will Do...
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...
.
In an interview, when asked about his future career, Lewis said,
He was in the Royal Bath House production of Jack and the Beanstalk in December 2008-January 2009, along with Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
and Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon
Susan Penhaligon is a British actress and writer, she is probably best known for her appearances in the controversial 1976 drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and several ongoing roles in UK television series.-Early days:...
.
In 2009 he starred in the BBC television short film, 'The Love of Narcissus', as the title character of Narcissus.
Lewis appeared in the Christmas Pantomime Sleeping Beauty held in Swansea Grand Theatre
Swansea Grand Theatre
The Grand Theatre is a performing arts venue in the centre of Swansea, Wales. The theatre stages plays, pantomimes and touring theatrical acts visiting Swansea. The Grand Theatre is the base for the UK's only Russian ballet company, the Swansea Ballet Russe....
between December 2009 and January 2010.
Bradley recently starred in the West End production of Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
. He replaced long-running cast member Oliver Tompsett
Oliver Tompsett
Oliver Tompsett is a British stage actor and singer best known for his portrayal of Fiyero in the West End production of the musical Wicked.- Biography :...
in the role of Fiyero for a limited contract running 29 March 2010 until 8 May, when Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre actor, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC reality TV casting show Any Dream Will Do...
stepped into the role. Bradley then became Mead's understudy, as well as a member of the show's ensemble. He left the show on 5 February 2011.
Bradley's sister Amelia entered The X Factor (UK series 8)
The X Factor (UK series 8)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series began airing on ITV on 20 August 2011. Louis Walsh is the only judge from the previous series to return, as the other three, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole, all left to join other...
and made it to the live shows before being eliminated after a week 1 twist but then was voted back in after Frankie Cocozza was kicked out of the show after boasting about taking cocaine. Frankie Cocozza and Amelia was also romanticaly involved but stopped speaking after Amelia took Frankie's place on the X-Factor.