Noel Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Noel Sullivan is a Welsh singer and actor. He was a member of the British pop
group Hear'Say
. Like the other members of the group, he won his part through the talent show Popstars
.
in Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande Sullivan established a love for Theatre. He performed with many choirs before finishing his A levels and touring the U.S with The Black Mountain Male Chorus of Wales when he was 18 as a musical theatre soloist. Sullivan then spent 2 years working in Ibiza for Laser entertainments, as a singer and a puppeteer with a black light theatre of prague style show. At this time Sullivan also worked as a videographer at a Spanish diving centre.
Sullivan first rose to fame in 2001, after his appearance as an aspiring pop singer in the first series of the reality television
documentary Popstars
, which aired on the British television channel ITV1
. After impressing the judges of the series (which included Nigel Lythgoe
and Nicki Chapman
), Sullivan was selected as a founder member of the pop group Hear'say
, alongside Danny Foster, Myleene Klass
, Kym Marsh
and Suzanne Shaw
.
After the formation of the group on TV, Sullivan gave up his part time job as a waiter to move to London
. Hear'say went on to enjoy huge international success, selling nearly three million records worldwide. The group's debut single "Pure and Simple
" became the fastest selling number one single of the UK Singles Chart
at the time. The group also released another UK number one single and a number one album, as well as performing a sell out arena tour across the UK and Ireland
. The group disbanded 18 months later after 4 singles and 2 album releases.
After the split of Hear'say, Sullivan refocused his career to his initial passion, musical theatre
, appearing in high-profile of productions such as Fame
, Love Shack
and What A Feeling and performed at the Royal Gala opening of the Wales Millennium Centre
.In 2003 Noel appeared in Grease
as Danny opposite Claire Buckfield as Sandy at The Jersey Opera House. In 2006 Sullivan moved to the U.S for 18 months, working in Las Vegas hosting Simply Ballroom and then moving to Reno and Branson as part of The Twelve Irish Tenors. Starting in July 2008, Sullivan played the lead role in the world premier production ofFlashdance
. From November 2009, Noel Sullivan starred in the West End production of Grease
as the male lead, Danny Zuko.
Sullivan made a cameo appearance in Gavin & Stacey
broadcast on BBC1 on Friday 1 January 2010.
Sullivan has also occasionally guest-presented on Capital radio
Cardiff, as well as performing with his Funk, Soul band in London.
Sullivan is also a keen songwriter and is currently working on his debut album.
's Fame: The Musical
in Dublin on Sunday 13 June 2010.
Sullivan is currently playing the lead role of Gallileo Figaro in the 2011 UK tour of We Will Rock You
.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Hear'Say
Hear'Say
Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
. Like the other members of the group, he won his part through the talent show Popstars
Popstars (UK series 1)
Popstars was a UK talent show series that was broadcast on ITV in early 2001. It was the first UK series of the international Popstars franchise, and was billed as a documentary on the formation of a modern pop group. The series began with audition rounds of aspiring singers performing songs...
.
Early life and career
Noel Sullivan was born in Cardiff, Wales. He grew up having trained as a chorister and came from a strong choral background. Having understudied for the Welsh National OperaWelsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
in Debussys Pelléas et Mélisande Sullivan established a love for Theatre. He performed with many choirs before finishing his A levels and touring the U.S with The Black Mountain Male Chorus of Wales when he was 18 as a musical theatre soloist. Sullivan then spent 2 years working in Ibiza for Laser entertainments, as a singer and a puppeteer with a black light theatre of prague style show. At this time Sullivan also worked as a videographer at a Spanish diving centre.
Sullivan first rose to fame in 2001, after his appearance as an aspiring pop singer in the first series of the reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
documentary Popstars
Popstars (UK series 1)
Popstars was a UK talent show series that was broadcast on ITV in early 2001. It was the first UK series of the international Popstars franchise, and was billed as a documentary on the formation of a modern pop group. The series began with audition rounds of aspiring singers performing songs...
, which aired on the British television channel ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. After impressing the judges of the series (which included Nigel Lythgoe
Nigel Lythgoe
Nigel Lythgoe is an English television and film director and producer, and former dancer in the Young Generation and choreographer. He is noted for being the producer of the shows Pop Idol and American Idol as well as being a creator, executive producer and a regular judge for So You Think You Can...
and Nicki Chapman
Nicki Chapman
Nicki Chapman is an English television presenter who also works in the British pop music industry. She was also a judge on the ITV reality shows Popstars, with Nigel Lythgoe and Paul Adam, and Pop Idol, along with Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and Neil Fox...
), Sullivan was selected as a founder member of the pop group Hear'say
Hear'Say
Hear'Say were a British manufactured pop group created in February 2001 from the winners of Popstars, an ITV reality TV show based on a New Zealand show of the same name. They enjoyed huge success with their debut single "Pure and Simple", helped by the publicity surrounding Popstars, the first of...
, alongside Danny Foster, Myleene Klass
Myleene Klass
Myleene Angela Quinn is an English singer, pianist, media personality and occasional model. She was formerly a member of the defunct British pop band Hear'Say.-Early life:...
, Kym Marsh
Kym Marsh
Kimberley Gail Marsh is an English actress and singer.- Early life :Marsh was born in Wigan, Greater Manchester and raised in Garswood, in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside...
and Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw is an English actress, singer and television personality...
.
After the formation of the group on TV, Sullivan gave up his part time job as a waiter to move to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Hear'say went on to enjoy huge international success, selling nearly three million records worldwide. The group's debut single "Pure and Simple
Pure and Simple
"Pure and Simple" is a popular song, released as the debut single by Hear'Say, the original winners of the UK version of Popstars. It was released as a double A-side with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which was a fan favourite at the live shows....
" became the fastest selling number one single of the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at the time. The group also released another UK number one single and a number one album, as well as performing a sell out arena tour across the UK and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The group disbanded 18 months later after 4 singles and 2 album releases.
After the split of Hear'say, Sullivan refocused his career to his initial passion, musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, appearing in high-profile of productions such as Fame
Fame (musical)
A stage musical based on the 1980 musical film Fame has been staged under two titles. The first, 'Fame – The Musical' conceived and developed by David De Silva, is a musical with a book by Jose Fernandez, music by Steve Margoshes and lyrics by Jacques Levy. The musical premiered in 1988 in Miami,...
, Love Shack
Love Shack
"Love Shack" is a single by rock band The B-52's. Originally released in 1989 from their album Cosmic Thing, the single was the band's biggest hit song and first million-copy seller...
and What A Feeling and performed at the Royal Gala opening of the Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre
Wales Millennium Centre is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on 22 January 2009 with an inaugural concert...
.In 2003 Noel appeared in Grease
Grease
Grease may refer to:* Grease , a type of industrial lubricant* Yellow grease, in rendering, used frying oils, or lower-quality grades of tallow...
as Danny opposite Claire Buckfield as Sandy at The Jersey Opera House. In 2006 Sullivan moved to the U.S for 18 months, working in Las Vegas hosting Simply Ballroom and then moving to Reno and Branson as part of The Twelve Irish Tenors. Starting in July 2008, Sullivan played the lead role in the world premier production ofFlashdance
Flashdance
Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
. From November 2009, Noel Sullivan starred in the West End production of Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
as the male lead, Danny Zuko.
Sullivan made a cameo appearance in Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series. A romantic comedy-drama, the show follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin from Billericay in Essex, England, and Stacey from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also...
broadcast on BBC1 on Friday 1 January 2010.
Sullivan has also occasionally guest-presented on Capital radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
Cardiff, as well as performing with his Funk, Soul band in London.
Sullivan is also a keen songwriter and is currently working on his debut album.
Recent career
Noel Sullivan sang with Jessica Cervi and Sarah O'Connor in the final of RTÉ OneRTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
's Fame: The Musical
Fame: The Musical
Fame: The Musical is a singing and dance contest in Ireland, produced by Screentime ShinAwiL for RTÉ. The audition and Fame Bootcamp stages were filmed around Ireland and in London....
in Dublin on Sunday 13 June 2010.
Sullivan is currently playing the lead role of Gallileo Figaro in the 2011 UK tour of We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
.