Rachel Tucker
Rachel Kelly Tucker is a Northern Irish actress and singer, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the musical Wicked in the West End and on Broadway. She also starred in the West End and Broadway productions of Come from Away, Sunset Boulevard, Hadestown, The Great Gatsby, The Last Ship.
Early life and career
Tucker was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up singing on the cabaret circuit from the age of nine with her father, Tommy Kelly and sister Margaret Kelly under the group's name Tucker Kelly and the Kelstar. She was a member of the Arts Youth Theatre during the late 1990s featuring in shows such as Ecstasy and Our Day Out. She then went on to feature in Michael Poyner's version of the Rockin Mikado as Katisha. In 2001, she competed in the Irish version of Popstars, featuring prominently in episode 3 where she is featured singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Her contestant number was B0161. She also featured as a contestant with sister Margaret on Michael Barrymore's My Kind of Music singing "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!". She also competed in the talent show Star for a Night making the final with her performance of "Kids".Tucker trained at the Royal Academy of Music. She worked with Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead in the 2005 United Kingdom tour of the Rock musical, Tommy as Sally Simpson. In December 2007, Tucker appeared as Dorothy Gale in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of The Wizard of Oz at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. The Stage described her performance as "looking and sounding uncannily like the legendary Garland". For her performance, she was nominated for an award in the 2008 TMA Awards. Tucker recorded a version of the civil rights anthem "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" which was used in a television advertisement for Libresse in 2005 entitled "March".
''I'd Do Anything''
Tucker was chosen as one of the twelve finalists on the show in which began in March 2008, appearing each week in the live show on Saturday evenings and the results shows which aired each Sunday. She made it to the semi-finals in week nine where she was eliminated on 25 May. In week six, she was in the bottom two with Sarah Lark, with Tucker having received the lowest number of viewers votes. In the results show on 4 May 2008, they sang "As If We Never Said Goodbye", from the musical Sunset Boulevard. Andrew Lloyd Webber chose to save Tucker and eliminate Lark, saying: "I have to think as a producer and I do think Rachel was rock solid."Tucker was once again in the bottom two in week eight, the quarter-final stage of the series. She was in the sing-off for a second time, this time with Niamh Perry, with Perry having received the lowest number of viewers votes. They sang "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from the musical Evita. Lloyd Webber chose to save Tucker and eliminate Perry.
At the semi-final stage, week nine, Tucker was in the bottom two for a third time, together with Samantha Barks, who had received the lowest number of viewers votes. They sang "Memory" from the musical Cats. Cameron Mackintosh joined the judging panel for this episode. Lloyd Webber chose to save Barks and eliminate Tucker saying: "Last night Cameron and I were both saying that we thought both of you would be fantastic Nancys and now here am I faced with this. But I've got to make a decision and I've got to think of where the show ultimately for Cameron is going to go and I think I have to go with you Samantha. A week after the show, Lloyd Webber said: "The fact is Cameron wanted Rachel to stay. He wanted Rachel and Samantha in the final from the beginning of the series. Rachel did a fantastic performance but I had to face up to the fact that she wouldn't have gone any further. What I may think professionally is sometimes different to what the public want. I saved Rachel three times and she still ended up in the bottom two."
Performances on ''I'd Do Anything''
West End and Broadway stardom
In July 2008, Tucker took part in a private workshop performance of the first act of the sequel to The Phantom of The Opera at Andrew Lloyd Webber's private Sydmonton Festival near his estate in Hampshire, in which she sang the role of Meg Giry. On 2 August 2008, in Belfast, she performed at the Gay Pride Festival. She sang a medley which included excerpts from Cabaret, "All That Jazz", "Maybe This Time" and "Don't Rain on My Parade". On 13 September 2008, she performed alongside fellow I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry at the Proms in the Park, held at Belfast City Hall as part of the nationwide celebration of the BBC Last Night of the Proms. The following day, she performed at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday in the Park' show in Hyde Park, London, singing "Light at the End of The Tunnel" from Starlight Express. In November 2008, Tucker filmed a West End special of The Weakest Link in which she was voted off first. The show was aired on BBC1 during the 2008 Christmas schedule. In late 2009, she was a judge on amateur comedy show Find Me the Funny and presented The Friday Show, a six-part entertainment series with Eamonn Holmes, both for BBC Northern Ireland.''We Will Rock You''
From 22 September 2008, for one year, Tucker played Meat in the jukebox musical We Will Rock You, at the Dominion Theatre, London, under the direction of Christopher Renshaw. A review of the opening night performance of the show in The Stage newspaper said of Tucker's debut that she had "found the perfect stage for her large voice. Her rendition of "No-One but You " is one of the highlights of a first act that works on many levels." Tucker was also the first understudy to Sabrina Aloueche for the role of Scaramouche, and played the role on many occasions to cover Aloueche's holidays.''Wicked''
Tucker starred as Elphaba in the West End production of the musical Wicked, at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, under the direction of Joe Mantello. She replaced Alexia Khadime on 29 March 2010, starring opposite Louise Dearman as Glinda. For the entirety of her run, Nikki Davis-Jones was her standby, and went on during Tucker's holidays and other absences. On 1 August 2011, it was revealed that Tucker had extended her contract with the production into October 2012. In June 2012, she succeeded Kerry Ellis as the longest-running West End Elphaba.For her portrayal of Elphaba, Tucker won a 2011 WhatsOnStage.com Award in the category of Best Takeover in a Role. She performed "The Wizard and I" at West End Live 2010 and the Laurence Olivier Awards 2012, and "Defying Gravity" at Pride London. On 13 February 2011, she performed "Defying Gravity" as part of a theatre-themed episode of Dancing on Ice for ITV. Tucker also sang the same hit song at West End Live 2011 which was held at Trafalgar Square.
On 10 September 2011, Tucker was joined on stage by Stacey Solomon to sing "For Good" at the end of the show. This was in aid of BBC Children in Need Pop Goes the Musical, where a whole host of celebrities graced the stages of the West End of London to raise awareness for the charity's 2011 appeal. On 19 March 2012, Tucker won the West End Frame Award for Best Performance of a Song in a Musical for her performance of "Defying Gravity". Tucker left the role on 27 October 2012 for maternity leave, after over 900 performances. Dearman took over the role on 29 October 2012.
She reprised the role of Elphaba in the Broadway production from 15 September 2015 at the Gershwin Theatre. Tucker played her final performance on 30 July 2016 and was replaced by Jennifer DiNoia. For her performance in the Broadway production, Tucker was the recipient of the 2016 Best Female Replacement Award at the 2016 Broadway.com Audience Awards.
Tucker returned to the West End production of Wicked, leading the show's 10th Anniversary Cast in London, on 5 September 2016 and played a limited run as Elphaba until 28 January 2017. With over 1,000 performances both in the West End and on Broadway, Tucker remains one of the longest-running Elphabas in the show's history.