Lauren Alvarado (born 26 March 1988) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
singer/actress who performs under the stage name "Lauren Samuels". She became well known to the British public as a contestant on the 2010
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
UK TV series ''
Over the Rainbow''. Since appearing on the show, she has gone on to appear in
West End theatre, including playing the lead role of Sandy in ''
Grease''.
Background
Samuels was born Lauren Bonner but adopted the
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Lauren Samuels for her elder brother, Samuel. She was born with a condition that seriously affected her hearing, causing her to wear two hearing aids. However, her hearing completely returned to normal at age 18.
She started ballet lessons at age two, began private tutorials at th
Hinckley Speech and Drama Studioat seven and started singing lessons at thirteen.
She studied BTEC National Diploma Performing Arts at
Stratford-upon-Avon College, was a member of
Youth Music Theatre UK
British Youth Music Theatre (BYMT), formerly Youth Music Theatre UK, is a UK-based national performing arts organisation founded in December 2003. BYMT provides music theatre training to young people aged 11–21 and a stepping stone to drama ...
in 2005 and also studied at the
Guildford School of Acting
Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools
The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...
, graduating in 2009.
''Over the Rainbow''
Samuels was a contestant on the 2010 BBC show ''Over the Rainbow'': a talent contest to find an actress to play
Dorothy
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
in a
West End revival of ''
The Wizard of Oz''. Samuels made it through to the final eleven girls who would compete for the public vote through individual performances. Despite coming in the bottom two for votes on three occasions, Samuels made it through to the final, where she ultimately came third to runner-up
Sophie Evans and winner
Danielle Hope
Danielle Hope (born 26 April 1992) is an English actress and singer. She was the winner of the BBC talent contest '' Over The Rainbow'' and as a result played the part of Dorothy in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of '' The Wizard of Oz'', w ...
.
Solo performances
Discography
Samuels, along with the other two finalists of ''Over the Rainbow'', recorded a version of "
Over the Rainbow" with the intention of the eventual winner's song being made available for purchase shortly after the finale. Hope's recording was originally the only version released, but both Evans' and Samuels' versions of the song were ultimately made available for download on 6 June 2010. She also appeared with the other contestants in a ''Wizard of Oz'' medley featured as a b-side on the CD single of Hope's "Over the Rainbow."
Samuels also recorded "Someone You'd Be Proud Of" for the concept album of "The In-Between". The album was released in early 2012.
In 2017 she recorded two songs for the album ''Wit & Whimsy - Songs by Alexander S. Bermange'' (one solo and one featuring all of the album's 23 artists), which reached No. 1 in the iTunes comedy album chart.
In 2021, Samuels, alongside former ''Over the Rainbow'' finalist
Sophie Evans, recorded and released a joint album entitled 'Chasing Rainbows, Finding Judy', which is dedicated to celebrating the life of
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
.
In 2022, Samuels began hosting her own podcast entitled 'A Brit in LA', which sees her interviewing successful people throughout the Hollywood entertainment industry.
Stage
Samuels' first major stage role was playing
Wendy
Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...
in a 2009-2010 production of ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
'' at the
Curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...
,
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
.
On 26 July 2010, she made her
West End debut as Sandy in the London production of ''
Grease'', replacing
Siobhan Dillon
Siobhan Patricia Dillon (born 1 September 1984) is an English actress and singer, who rose to fame when she performed in the British talent show-themed television series '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' on BBC One in 2006. Since then ...
. She played Cathy in a production of the two-character musical ''
The Last Five Years
''The Last Five Years'' is a musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and ...
'', which ran at the
Tabard Theatre
The Tabard Theatre is a small 96-seat theatre in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Close to Turnham Green Underground station, it is situated above the Tabard public house on Bath Road. The Tabard Theatre was licensed and opened for t ...
,
Chiswick
Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...
from 9 February to 5 March 2011.
Samuels played the role of Scaramouche in ''
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...
'' at the
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...
in London from late 2011. Following this she starred as the title character in ''Vampirette the Musical'' at the
Manchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the mai ...
in May 2012. She reprised her role in ''
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...
'' for its 10th anniversary tour, which commenced on 25 February 2012
In June 2015, Samuels began playing the role of Jules, in the new
West End musical
Bend It Like Beckham
''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightle ...
.
Stage Credits
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuels, Lauren
Living people
1988 births
Alumni of British Youth Music Theatre