Caroline O'Connor
Encyclopedia
Caroline Ann O'Connor is an English-Australian singer, dancer and actress.
O'Connor was born in Oldham
, Lancashire, England, to Irish parents and subsequently raised and trained in Sydney, Australia. She trained at the Royal Ballet School
in London and worked for one year at the Australian Opera
Ballet. She became an Australian Citizen in 2007 giving her dual citizenship.
O'Connor's film work includes the featured role of Nini Legs in the Air in Baz Luhrmann
's film Moulin Rouge!
, and as Ethel Merman
in the Cole Porter
biopic De-Lovely
. She also featured on the De-Lovely soundtrack, singing Anything Goes
.
In 2003 O'Connor made her Broadway
debut as Velma Kelly in Chicago
. Her West End theatre
performances include Mabel in Mack & Mabel
for which she received an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. O'Connor was a member of the original 1986 revival cast of Me and My Girl
at the Adelphi Theatre
.
O'Connor's other UK theatre credits include A Chorus Line
, Hold on Tight it's 60's Night, Chicago
, Damn Yankees
, West Side Story
and as Ellie May in Showboat
for the Royal Shakespeare Company
and Opera North
.
In 1998, O'Connor returned to Australia as Velma Kelly in Chicago for which she won a Green Room Award
and the Mo Award for Female Musical Theatre Performer of the Year. Other Australian productions include the one woman play Bombshells written especially for Caroline O'Connor by playwright Joanna Murray-Smith
, West Side Story, Man of La Mancha
, Oklahoma!
and concert productions of Funny Girl and Mack & Mabel. She has since filmed Bombshells for ABC Television
. Her portrayal of Édith Piaf
in Pam Gems
's play Piaf
gained her three Australian theatre awards.
Bombshells toured to sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Festival
(where she won the coveted Fringe First Award), London's West End at the Arts Theatre
(for which she received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination), and at the World Stage Festival in Toronto, Canada. O'Connor starred as Judy Garland
in the 2005 world premiere of Peter Quilter
's play End of the Rainbow at the Sydney Opera House
. Following its Sydney and Melbourne seasons, Caroline recorded the CD A Tribute to Judy Garland, and reprised her Helpmann Award
winning role in Sydney at the Theatre Royal in 2006.
She starred in the premiere production of the musical The Hatpin
, which opened in Sydney on 27 February 2008 to critical acclaim. In June 2008, she played the title role —a role specifically written for O'Connor— in the premiere of David Williamson
's 2008 play Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot at the Melbourne Theatre Company
.
O'Connor has recorded four solo CDs (What I Did For Love, A Tribute To Piaf, From Stage to Screen, A Tribute to Garland), and has featured on numerous cast recordings and compilations.
In March 2009, O'Connor reprised her role as Velma Kelly in the 2009 Australian production of Chicago where she starred alongside Sharon Millerchip and Craig McLachlan
.
In May 2010, she appeared as Mrs Cooper in the TV series, Lowdown
.
From 22 April to 21 May 2011, O'Connor starred as Mrs Lovett in the Théâtre du Châtelet
production of Stephen Sondheim
's Sweeney Todd in Paris.
O'Connor was born in Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire, England, to Irish parents and subsequently raised and trained in Sydney, Australia. She trained at the Royal Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the Royal Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in London...
in London and worked for one year at the Australian Opera
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
Ballet. She became an Australian Citizen in 2007 giving her dual citizenship.
O'Connor's film work includes the featured role of Nini Legs in the Air in Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
's film Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
, and as Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
in the Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
biopic De-Lovely
De-Lovely
De-Lovely is a 2004 musical biopic directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Jay Cocks is based on the life and career of Cole Porter, from his first meeting with Linda Lee Thomas until his death...
. She also featured on the De-Lovely soundtrack, singing Anything Goes
Anything Goes (song)
"Anything Goes" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Anything Goes . Many of the lyrics feature humorous references to various figures of scandal and gossip in Depression Era high society...
.
In 2003 O'Connor made her Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as Velma Kelly in Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
. Her West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
performances include Mabel in Mack & Mabel
Mack & Mabel
Mack & Mabel is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. The plot involves the tumultuous romantic relationship between Hollywood director Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand , who became one of his biggest stars...
for which she received an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. O'Connor was a member of the original 1986 revival cast of Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
.
O'Connor's other UK theatre credits include A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
, Hold on Tight it's 60's Night, Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
, Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees
Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...
, West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
and as Ellie May in Showboat
Showboat
A showboat, or show boat, was a form of theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers . A showboat was basically a barge that resembled a long, flat-roofed house, and in order to move down the river, it was pushed by a small tugboat...
for the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
and Opera North
Opera North
Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays and the Theatre Royal, Newcastle...
.
In 1998, O'Connor returned to Australia as Velma Kelly in Chicago for which she won a Green Room Award
Green Room Awards
The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne....
and the Mo Award for Female Musical Theatre Performer of the Year. Other Australian productions include the one woman play Bombshells written especially for Caroline O'Connor by playwright Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith
Joanna Murray-Smith is a Melbourne based playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist and newspaper columnist.-Biography:...
, West Side Story, Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
, Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
and concert productions of Funny Girl and Mack & Mabel. She has since filmed Bombshells for ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
. Her portrayal of Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
in Pam Gems
Pam Gems
Pam Gems was a British playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf.-Personal life:...
's play Piaf
Piaf (play)
Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
gained her three Australian theatre awards.
Bombshells toured to sell-out performances at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
(where she won the coveted Fringe First Award), London's West End at the Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
(for which she received her second Laurence Olivier Award nomination), and at the World Stage Festival in Toronto, Canada. O'Connor starred as Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in the 2005 world premiere of Peter Quilter
Peter Quilter
Peter Quilter is a playwright whose plays have been translated into 20 languages and performed in 33 countries. His shows have been performed in cities across six continents, including London, Cape Town, Rome, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Chicago, Madrid, Sydney and New...
's play End of the Rainbow at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
. Following its Sydney and Melbourne seasons, Caroline recorded the CD A Tribute to Judy Garland, and reprised her Helpmann Award
Helpmann Award
The Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
winning role in Sydney at the Theatre Royal in 2006.
She starred in the premiere production of the musical The Hatpin
The Hatpin
The Hatpin is a musical theatre production inspired by the true story of Amber Murray who in 1892 gave up her son to the Makin family in Sydney, Australia. Written and developed in 2006–2007, by James Millar and Peter Rutherford , The Hatpin opened at the Seymour Centre in Sydney on 27 February...
, which opened in Sydney on 27 February 2008 to critical acclaim. In June 2008, she played the title role —a role specifically written for O'Connor— in the premiere of David Williamson
David Williamson
David Keith Williamson AO is one of Australia's best-known playwrights. He has also written screenplays and teleplays.-Biography:...
's 2008 play Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot at the Melbourne Theatre Company
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne. Founded in 1953, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia, and has its own theatre, The MTC Theatre – which houses the 500-seat Sumner Theatre and the 150-seat Lawler Studio – located in Melbourne's Arts...
.
O'Connor has recorded four solo CDs (What I Did For Love, A Tribute To Piaf, From Stage to Screen, A Tribute to Garland), and has featured on numerous cast recordings and compilations.
In March 2009, O'Connor reprised her role as Velma Kelly in the 2009 Australian production of Chicago where she starred alongside Sharon Millerchip and Craig McLachlan
Craig McLachlan
Craig McLachlan is an Australian actor and singer. He appeared in shows such as Sons and Daughters, Neighbours, Bugs and Home and Away.-Biography:...
.
In May 2010, she appeared as Mrs Cooper in the TV series, Lowdown
Lowdown (TV series)
Lowdown is an award-winning Australian television comedy series set in the world of celebrity journalism. Created by Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar, it stars Zwar, Paul Denny, Beth Buchanan, Dailan Evans, Kim Gyngell and is narrated by Geoffrey Rush...
.
From 22 April to 21 May 2011, O'Connor starred as Mrs Lovett in the Théâtre du Châtelet
Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
production of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Sweeney Todd in Paris.