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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 A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...
-themed television series '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in 2006. Since then, Dillon has performed in the West End, playing the roles of Sandy in '' Grease'' at the
Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
, Vivienne Kensington in ''
Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...
'' at the
Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...
,
Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Press ...
in ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...
'', Molly in ''
Ghost the Musical ''Ghost'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. Based on the hit 1990 romantic fantasy thriller film of the same name, the musical had its world premiere at the Manche ...
'' at the
Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
, Ellen in ''
Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed roma ...
'', and Betty Schaefer in ''
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
'' with the
English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...
. Siobhan reprised this role at the Palace Theatre in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.


Background

Dillon's mother owned her own business in advertising after being a drama teacher. Her father is Irish from
Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...
. For her ninth birthday Dillon asked her parents for singing lessons, and had vocal training with singing teacher Richard Paul up to the age of 16. Siobhan attended The Friary School in Lichfield where she performed in shows, but as she did not think she would become a singer, she turned to the fashion world. She was a member of Lichfield Operatic Society and in October 2001 performed the title song from the musical '' Whistle Down the Wind'' as part of the society's show, ''Whistle Down the West End'' at The Friary School Theatre in Lichfield. After
Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
heard a tape of her singing, he asked her to sing at his charity cricket ball in 2003, where she got a standing ovation. Prior to appearing on ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' Dillon was in the middle of a BA Hons degree in Product Design and Development for the Fashion Industry, Accessories pathway at Cordwainers College, University of the Arts London.


Career


''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?''

Dillon was 21 years old when she appeared on the
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 exam. ...
...
television show, ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?''. She reached the final of the show and finished in third place behind Helena Blackman and winner
Connie Fisher Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is a British actress, singer and TV presenter, who won the BBC One talent contest, '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp ...
. Despite being one of the favourites during the first round of auditions, Dillon initially did not make the final ten after an illness had affected her vocals during the final stages. However, after finalist Emilie Alford dropped out of the competition, Dillon, being the last person eliminated during the selection process returned to the show and was given the nickname, "Second Chance Maria". In week one of the live shows Dillon sang the
Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...
hit, "
Man! I Feel Like a Woman! "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain from her third studio album, '' Come On Over'' (1997). Written by Twain and her longtime collaborator and then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who also produced t ...
". In week two she sang the
Tina Arena Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena (born 1 November 1967) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, musical theatre actress and record producer. She is one of Australia's highest-selling artists and has sold over 10 million records worldwid ...
song, "
Chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...
". In the lead up to the third week's show, David Ian talked to the girls about fitness and stamina and sent them on a fitness test mission with Olympic
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athlete
Iwan Thomas Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European, Commonwealth Games and Wo ...
, requiring the Marias to complete an
assault course An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
. Dillon completed the course in the fastest time of under two minutes. On the show she sang the Pointer Sisters hit, " Jump!". Zoe Tyler then asked her to sing the final lines from her audition piece, "
I Could Have Danced All Night "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical ''My Fair Lady'', with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner,Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 ...
" by
Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...
, which resulted in her being named the unofficial "Maria of the night". Andrew Lloyd Webber chose her to perform " Truly Scrumptious" with the children from the musical '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. In the fifth week, when there were two live shows, she sang " All That Jazz" from the musical ''
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
'' accompanied by six male dancers. Dillon successfully got through to the second live show of the evening but faced the second sing off with
Aoife Mulholland Aoife Mulholland ( , ; born 29 May 1978) is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End. She has starred as Roxie Hart (twice) in ''Chicago'', at the Cambridge ...
. They sang " Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from the musical '' Evita''. Lloyd Webber saved Dillon because he believed she "had the strongest voice which could carry eight shows a week". In the run-up to the final in week six, the three finalists and Lloyd Webber went to
Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
in Austria and visited some of the locations made famous by ''The Sound of Music'', including Leopoldskron Palace and
Nonnberg Abbey Nonnberg Abbey (german: Stift Nonnberg) is a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, Austria. Founded by Saint Rupert of Salzburg, it is the oldest continuously existing nunnery in the German-speaking world. The monastery complex is today a protected ...
, to give the finalists a chance to understand the real
Maria von Trapp Baroness Maria Augusta von Trapp DHS (; 26 January 1905 – 28 March 1987) was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. She wrote ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers'', which was published in 1949 and was the inspiratio ...
. On the final night she performed two songs, " Anyone Who Had a Heart" and " My Favorite Things" from ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
''. She was eliminated during the night's first public vote, which meant she came third overall.


Performances on ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?''

* Please note this is a list of her individual performances only


''Grease''

Dillon made her
West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
debut in 2007 playing Patty Simcox in the musical '' Grease''. Her first appearance in the show was on 25 July 2007 at the
Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
in London. Show producer, David Ian said of Dillon, "I knew that Siobhan was something special when I first saw her for The Sound of Music, and I am very pleased that she will be joining the cast of Grease." On 16 November she performed on the BBC's Children in Need 2007 live broadcast as part of the cast of ''Grease''. Dillon was also the understudy for the characters of Sandy and Marty and played both roles several times during her run in the show. She finished the role on 14 June 2008. Dillon returned to the production on 25 January 2010 this time taking over the lead role of Sandy from Emma Stevens. She played her final performance on 24 July 2010 and was succeeded by '' Over the Rainbow'' contestant
Lauren Samuels Lauren Alvarado (born 26 March 1988) is an English 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 UK TV series '' Over the Rainbow''. Since appearing ...
.


''Can't Smile Without You''

In July 2008 she was cast in the tour of ''Can't Smile Without You'', a new musical based on an original idea by Bill Kenwright and featuring the hit songs of Barry Manilow, alongside
Chesney Hawkes Chesney Lee Hawkes (born 22 September 1971) is an English pop singer and occasional actor. He started his career at the age of 19 when he appeared in the film '' Buddy's Song'', which featured his best-known single " The One and Only", which to ...
and ''I'd Do Anything'' contestant Francesca Jackson. It opened at the Churchill Theatre, in the
London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is the southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,3 ...
on 28 August 2008 and toured in England and Scotland until 29 November.


Other work

Dillon won a record deal with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company the
Really Useful Group The Really Useful Group Ltd. (RUG) is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is involved in theatre, film, television, video and concert productions, merchandising, magazine publishing, records and music publishing. ...
(RUG) after ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?''. She is said to be writing and recording her first album, although on her Myspace page she is quoted saying, that after Andrew Lloyd Webber announced during one of the live ''How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' shows that "a major record label" were interested in working with her, she started writing songs for her album and worked with producers and writers but that "due to unfortunate circumstances the album was never released..." On Christmas Eve 2007 she performed along with
Lee Mead Lee Stephen Mead (born 14 July 1981) is an English musical theatre, television actor and occasional singer, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' through the BBC T ...
the winner of '' Any Dream Will Do'' and Connie Fisher together with other 'Maria' and 'Joseph' finalists in the BBC special festive reunion show " When Joseph Met Maria" celebrating both the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber BBC shows. From late 2009 Dillon took over the role of Sally Bowles in the UK tour of ''Cabaret'' from former ''I'd Do Anything'' contestant
Samantha Barks Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008. She has released three studio albums: ''Looking in Your ...
. Dillon took over the part of Vivienne Kensington from Caroline Keiff in the West End production of ''
Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...
'' on 25 October 2010. She therefore became the second ''How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'' finalist to star in the musical, as fellow ex-contestant
Aoife Mulholland Aoife Mulholland ( , ; born 29 May 1978) is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End. She has starred as Roxie Hart (twice) in ''Chicago'', at the Cambridge ...
was playing Brooke Wyndham at the time she took the role. Beginning performance 13 January 2012, Dillon replaced
Caissie Levy Caissie Levy (born April 15, 1981) is a Canadian-American actress and singer, mainly known for her work in musical theatre on Broadway and in the West End. Her early Broadway credits included Penny Pingleton in '' Hairspray'' and Sheila in ''Hai ...
in the lead role of Molly Jensen in ''
Ghost the Musical ''Ghost'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. Based on the hit 1990 romantic fantasy thriller film of the same name, the musical had its world premiere at the Manche ...
'' at the
Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
in London's West End. She commented about her new role in a London theatre interview. The official press night for the new cast took place 28 February. Dillon and co-star Mark Evans (who plays Sam Wheat) appeared on ''Live With Gabby'' on 7 March 2012. In June 2012, it was announced that ''Ghost'' was to give its final curtain on 6 October 2012. It shuttered that day, with Dillon closing out the show as Molly. In 2013, she reprised her role as Sally Bowles in the revised UK tour of ''Cabaret'', starring alongside
Matt Rawle Matt Rawle is a British actor. He was born in Birmingham on 10 March 1974. He has appeared in many high-profile theatre productions which include ''Martin Guerre'', '' Evita'' and ''Zorro''. His performances in the theatre have seen him nominated ...
and
Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...
. On 11 May 2015, Dillon took over the role of Ellen in the West End revival of ''
Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed roma ...
''. Dillon played the role of Betty Schaefer in ''
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...
'' at the
London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
, which opened on 4 April 2016. She made her Broadway debut in the musical's Broadway revival on 9 February 2017 at the Palace Theatre. Dillon's debut solo album, One Voice, was released in April 2020. One of the tracks on the album, She Used To Be Mine, was released on her website several years prior following her breast cancer in 2015.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Siobhan 1984 births Living people English musical theatre actresses English people of Irish descent People from Lichfield English women singers