West End And Broadway Star Kerry Ellis To Celebrate Bolton Pride

Musical theatre royalty Kerry Ellis will appear in a very special evening of Voices & Lyrics next month to bring Bolton Pride 2017 to a close in style.

The West End and Broadway performer is set to join a line-up of performers at the one-off live music and spoken word event at the Bolton Octagon on Monday October 2.

The evening features musical theatre songs, extracts from plays by writers including Alan Bennett, a celebration of Freddie Mercury - who made his first professional appearance in the UK at the Bolton Octagon in 1969, and stories from the LGBT community about coming out and hate crime.

And there are discounted tickets for people who quote 'Bolton Pride' when they book.

Kerry Ellis is best known for her starring roles in London's West End and on Broadway. She has also achieved chart-topping success as a recording artist signed to Universal Decca with her debut album Anthems.

She originated the role of Meat in Queen's We Will Rock You, and was the first British Elphaba in the West End smash hit Wicked, winning the 2008 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Takeover in a Role. She then immediately transferred to Broadway and played Elphaba at the Gershwin Theater for six months, where she won the Broadway.com Audience Award for Favourite Female Breakthrough Performance, before returning to London for six months in 2009.

Her many other leading role credits include Nancy in Oliver! at the London Palladium, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Ellen in Miss Saigon, and Fantine in Les Miserables.

Kerry will be Joined At The Voices & Lyrics event by Britain's Got Talent duo James and Graham Edgington, along with Olivia Archbold and Jenny Carson. The Voice's Divina De Campo is the glamorous host for the evening.

James Edgington said: "There is so much incredible work that has been created by members of the LGBT community and many people take this for granted. It's wonderful that we can share this with Bolton and celebrate powerful performance past and present.

"As Bolton Pride is a hate crime campaign, it is important to give people local to Bolton who may have been affected by homophobia a chance to be heard. Sharing their stories will be something quite special.

"To have Kerry on board with this project is an exciting prospect having been involved in such varied iconic work during her career."

Tickets are available at www.octagonbolton.co.uk.