annalene beechey

Actress/Soprano

Annalene is an actress, singer, wife and mother, with over 20 years experience in theatre. She spent her early years growing up in Ireland, and trained at The Bull Alley Theatre Company in Dublin where she played Feste in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Adele in Lorca’s The House of Barnarda Alba.

Annalene started her professional career at the age of 18 understudying the role of Cosette in the first national touring company of Les Misérables in Dublin/Edinburgh, and later went on to play Cosette at the Palace Theatre in London for two years. She was subsequently invited to perform Cosette in the concert version on three occasions, at Hylands Park Chelmsford opposite Ruthie Henshall and Frances Ruffelle, Cardiff Castle opposite Ria Jones and Peter Karrie, and The New Odyssey Arena in Belfast opposite Jeff Leyton and Joanna Ampil.

Her West End and regional theatre credits include Anna in the acclaimed Broadway production of The King & I (UK/International Tour), Annette opposite Ruthie Henshall in the world premiere of Marguerite by Boublil, Schonberg & Legrand (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Miss Chasum in the premiere of Alan Ayckbourn/Dennis King’s Awaking Beauty (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), Pat Collins in the premiere of Moon Landing and Cinderella in Into the Woods (both at Derby Playhouse), standby Glinda in the original London company of Wicked (Apollo Victoria), Alice in Carl Davis’ version of Alice in Wonderland (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Molly Cassidy in the premiere of The Ha’penny Bridge (The Point, Dublin), Belle in the first national tour of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and previously at the Dominion Theatre London opposite John Barrowman and Gemma Craven. She has played Anne Egerman in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and Dorothy Gale in the RSC version of The Wizard Of Oz (both at Leicester Haymarket), Belle in A Christmas Carol (Theatre Royal, Nottingham) opposite the late Anton Rogers, the alternate Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre) and Sadie Sears/understudy Julie Jordan in Royal National Theatre’s Carousel (Shaftesbury Theatre).

Annalene made her BBC Radio 2 Friday Night Is Music Night debut back in 2007 opposite Maria Friedman and Matt Rawle with Sarah Brightman as guest compere. This special evening celebrated the shared Birthday's of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. She has subsequently appeared in numerous Friday Night Is Music Night broadcasts ever since.

Annalene has become a sort after concert singer of musical theatre, and has sung as a soloist with some of the most celebrated orchestras in the UK and Ireland including Northern Sinfonia, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra and the London Philharmonia Orchestra, and has been conducted by some the UK's leading conductors. She has also toured extensively with the highly acclaimed conductor John Wilson and his own hand-picked John Wilson Orchestra, singing work by some of the greatest musical theatre writers including Rodgers & Hart, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerry Herman, and Lerner & Lowe.

In 2011 she starred in her first BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, singing as a soloist in Hooray for Hollywood conducted by John Wilson, which was broadcast live on BBC 2. In 2012 Annalene was invited to return to the Royal Albert Hall to star as Eliza Doolittle in the My Fair Lady BBC Prom opposite Anthony Andrews, Alun Armstrong and Sian Phillips, the BBC Proms first ever fully staged production of a musical.

Other notable concert appearances include Johanna in the anniversary concert of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall opposite Len Cariou, Davis Gaines, Judy Kaye and Pia Douwes, Kathy Selden in Singin In The Rain at the Royal Festival Hall in London and later in Dublin, Susie Dean in the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of the Andre Previn musical The Good Companions, twice as a soloist in the RTE Bank of Ireland Proms in Songs From The Oscars and Music & Songs Of Andrew Lloyd Webber, as a soloist with The Royal Air Force Massed Bands across Britain and at the Royal Albert Hall, and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in Taiwan.

Television credits include Roisin O’Brien in The Bill (Thames TV), the Euro ’96 Closing Ceremony at Wembley Stadium, and Annalene was part of the Opera Chorus in the Phantom Of The Opera movie directed by Joel Schumacher.

Original Cast Recordings include Marguerite by Boublil/Schonberg/Legrand, Moon Landing by Stephen Edwards, and The Ha’penny Bridge by Alastair McGuckian. Other recordings include Stephanie in Jerome Kern’s Roberta and Betsy in Rodgers/Hart’s Dearest Enemy (both New World Records), Ballerina in The Attic by Mark Carroll, Greta in The Ratcatcher by Phil Henderson and Michael Ward, Lucy in Bernard J Taylor’s Nosferatu and Narrator/Girlfriend in Inconnu by Andrew Cox. Annalene has also recorded demo tracks for The Lord Of The Rings Musical by A.R.Rahman, Hooker by Ryan & Readman, early work on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman In White, and she has been a guests vocalist on Acoustic Overtures - The Songs of Dougal Irvine, Love Lies & Lyrics - The Words of Lesley Ross, and All Things in Time from Stuart Matthew Price (all SimG Records).

Workshops include leading roles in The Likes Of Us (Dir. Christopher Luscombe), Rebecca (Dir. Francesca Zambello), The Ratcatcher (London Welsh Centre), Casanova (Criterion Theatre), Charlotte: Life or Theatre? (Drill Hall), The Third Person (King’s Head), Going Once (The Venue), Green Violin and Seagulls Dance (Soho Laundry), and Sacred Flame (Palladium & Royal Opera House Studio).

Annalene’s long awaited debut album Close Your Eyes is available now (from SimG Records), and features an enchanting selection of songs by leading British and American songwriters, including Stiles & Drewe, Grant Olding, Richard Taylor, Maltby & Shire, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Scott Alan and William Finn, and BroadwayWorld says Annalene's "angelic voice is a pleasure to listen to".