Limited Edition Essex
9trade in the West End
for as long as Michael
has.
Born in
Bromsgrove,
Worcestershire,
Michael moved to
Dartmoor with his
parents when he was
just three.
He was interested
in the theatre from
an early age and his
father,who had
wanted to be an
actor,used to take
him to see shows in
the school holidays.
This eventually led him to the
Guildford School of Acting from
which he graduated in 1984.
8220I did a bit of singing at
Guildhall,8221 Michael added,8220but
mostly I learnt to sing by listening
to other people,like Frank Sinatra.
I quickly realised it was about
singing from the heart rather than
the head and it just came to me
by instinct really.8221
It was that natural talent which
first got him noticed when he
went for what was to be his
breakthrough role in Pirates of
Penzance at the Opera House,
Manchester.
8220It was real X
Factor stuff,8221 Michael
said excitedly,as
though it happened
just the other day.
8220When you first start
out,you go up for
anything so I thought
why not? There were
huge queues so it
was just such an
incredible thing when
I got offered the
part.8221
As with most things
in the showbiz
industry one big part
leads to another and
it wasn8217t long before Michael8217s
burgeoning star quality caught the
attention of theatre impresario Sir
Cameron Mackintosh and he cast
him as Marius in the original
London production of Les
Mis233rables.10
10148
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