West End queen packs her running shoes for Llangollen Eisteddfod return!

A performer known for her dazzling runs in the West End and on Broadway hopes to try a run through the beautiful Dee Valley when she stars at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod this summer.

Kerry Ellis – known as the Queen of the West End after playing a leading role in shows from My Fair Lady to We Will Rock You and from Les Miserables to Wicked – will take to centre stage during one of the Eisteddfod’s big Core Week concerts on Thursday July 4.

She will be performing alongside another musical theatre great, John Owen-Jones, in Direct from the West End and says she just can’t wait to get to Llangollen.

As a keen runner Kerry is hoping to find time to take a dash through the breathtaking local countryside.

“I did my first half-marathon last year and I’ll be arriving in the area the day before the concert so hopefully I’ll get the chance to fit in a bit of a run in the hills close to the town,” she said.

Hailed as the First Lady of West End musicals, Kerry was catapulted to fame in 2002 when she landed the role of Meat in the original London cast of We Will Rock You, a role for which she was especially scouted by Sir Brian May himself.

Taking some of musical theatre’s biggest roles, she has earned numerous awards along the way.

She has also recorded four studio albums, and toured the world both as a solo artist and with her good friend Sir Brian.

She said: “I have been to the Llangollen Eisteddfod before in 2016 when I appeared in a musical theatre evening concert with the singing group Calabro, which I really enjoyed.

“I’m very excited about coming back again and performing with John Owen-Jones, who is an old friend of mine, and a hand-picked orchestra of first-class West End performers. It should be a great evening.

“We’ll be performing a combination of songs from the shows we’ve both been in, like Les Miserables and Wicked, and no doubt John will do something from Phantom of the Opera and some other well-known favourites.”

At the Eisteddfod, Kerry will be gracing the same stage as another of her old duet partners and Llangollen favourite Alfie Boe.

She worked with him on his very first studio album and fondly remembers him as a “brilliant guy”.

Kerry has also previously worked with the Eisteddfod’s Artistic Director, Dave Danford, and says she is delighted he will be musical supervisor on Direct from the West End.

Soon after her Llangollen appearance Kerry will be heading off on a 40-date UK tour. Meanwhile, she says she’s looking forward very much to coming to Llangollen which, after all she says, is at the heart of the Land of Song.

Direct from the West End, under musical director Iestyn Griffiths, also features the final of the Voice of Musical Theatre competition, which will have been running through Eisteddfod week.

Tickets for Direct from the West End on Thursday July 4 are available online from: Thursday 4 July 2024 Direct from the West End: Kerry Ellis & John Owen-Jones – Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (international-eisteddfod.co.uk)

Picture by MattCrockett