HELENA BLACKMAN

How do you s

olve

a problem lik

e

Maria?

BBC World Wide - ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’Helena came second in the Reality TV Talent show which aired prime time on BBC1 in the UK and then all over the world, picking up an International Emmy Award amongst many other awards. 

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Do_You_Solve_a_Problem_Like_Maria%3F

Helena’s Favourite Performances

Woman In Love (Barbra Streisand) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_k2gvhFQ4

Cabaret (Liza Minnelli) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rREplkW9fdIw

Do Re Mi (The Sound of Music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POZAJfTiRTc

Helena Blackman is a British actress and singer and is best known for coming second in the BBC reality TV talent show ‘How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria’.

She gained a scholarship to train in Musical Theatre at the prestigious world renowned drama school The Guildford School of Acting and since graduating has travelled all over the world and all over the country performing.

In musical theatre Helena has played lead roles in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady, The Sound Of Music, The Wizard of Ozand Gypsy to name just a few. She was also nominated for a TMA award for her portrayal of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and for herportrayal of Gertrude Lawrence in the two hander, Noel & Gertie.

In concert, Helena’s favourite performances have been on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night, in front of 6000 people at The Royal Albert Hall and singing at the Miss World Competition. She was also a runner up on The Voice of Musical Theatre 2006 and has performed alongside many musical theatre greats including Helen Moore and Alison Jiear as well as for composer/lyricists Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Kander & Ebb.

She released her debut album The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein in 2011 to critical acclaim, being one of the youngest females in modern time to re-visit and record their material and continues to record for other artists and producers.

Her work also includes her own one woman cabaret which varies between popular musical theatre and animated music and last year she started to take this on cruise ships, entertaining audiences across the seven seas.

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WHATS ON STAGE“Helena Blackman (best-known as having been runner-up in the BBC’s How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?) Does a fine job as Milly, with just the right balance of strength and vulnerability and a note-perfect voice.”

The Telegraph:

“...Blackman’s assertive soprano.”

THE STAGE

“Undoubtedly the star of the show...is Helena Blackman as... Milly.

Rapidly developing an enviable portfolio of leading roles outside London, Blackman’s

attention to detail is tremendous, coupled with stunning vocals and a knack for comedy that

only adds to her considerable charm.

Broadway World: “Blackman is a mesmerising Millie with

stunning vocals and a radiant charisma in the role.”

MyFairLadyK I L W O R T H H O U S E T H E A T R E

MUSICAL THEATRE Review Review by Roderic Dunnett

My Fair Lady – Kilworth House Theatre By Admin on Monday, 17 June, 2013 in Onstage, Review Playing at the Kilworth House Theatre, near Lutterworth, Leicestershire until 14th July. “Mitch Sebastian’s memorable staging of My Fair Lady is as well-chiselled as the astutely and beautifully designed environment of the Kilworth House Theatre…” “…..Blackman is splendid and her singing voice and top register (terrific high notes) soon blossom. ‘Just you Wait’ is a treat, her performance soaring in parallel with her posh accent, and ‘The Rain In Spain’ is uproariously funny. Easily, though, the actress’ most brilliantly polished number is the duet with Tom Sterling’s Freddy (‘Show Me’).”

DaventryExpress Review by Amanda Chalmers Published Tuesday 11/06/2013 14:52

This beloved tale, based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, is a familiar one. Covent Garden flower seller Eliza Doolittle is whisked from the streets by Professor Henry Higgins who vows to transform her into a lady and pass her off at society events.

Doolittle and Higgins are superbly portrayed by Helena Blackman and Mark Inscoe whose exceptional vocal talents and on-stage rapport help seals the deal.

The beautiful setting of Kilworth House Theatre adds an intimate atmosphere to the show with the natural surroundings also encompassed into certain scenes.

Number from Alan Jay Lerner’s stunning score include Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, The Rain In Spain, Just You Wait, On The Street Where You Live and the rousing Get Me To The Church On Time.

All in all a toe-tapping, feel good show which leaves you wanting more.

THE STAGE Review by Pat Ashworth Published Monday 17 June 2013 at 10:41 The full house here is testament to the perfection of the musical offering and the quality of the Kilworth House experience. Torrential rain got its own applause, bursting on to the scene at the very point when Eliza was articulating “The rain in Spain…” It is a joyful production. Cockney life erupts on to the stage from all sides, and it’s a feature of Mitch Sebastian’s choreography that the dances com from nowhere, unheralded, sparked by the action of one vignette. There’s a glorious Ascot romp that uses the full circle of Libby Watson’s versatile set, which has Higgins’ chaotic study up on a plinth. Helena Blackman and Mark Inscoe work so intuitively together as Eliza and Higgins. Their singing voices are modulated and seemingly effortless to produce but both have immaculate dramatic timing too and can hold the moment. It is timing that makes the tea party scene so howlingly funn and the final confrontations between the two so intense.

productions featured Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, while the film adaptation substituted Audrey Hepburn in the central role. In the beautiful open-air setting of Leicestershire’s Kilworth House Theatre, that honour goes to Helena Blackman, last seen here as Maria von Trapp and probably best known for her runner-up spot in the TV talent search How Do You Solve a Problem… As in The Sound of Music, she proves more than capable of holding a show. Her transition from the guttersnipe Covent Garden flower girl to would-be duchess under the tutelage of disciplinarian Professor Higgins is superb. Blackman’s voice continues to mature with confidence and some crystal-clear high notes, and she acts and dances as well as she sings. With such an assured star in the driving seat, Mitch Sebastian’s production barely puts a foot wrong. His previous successes at the venue make it hard to sustain the standard he’s set himself, but he has again acquired an ensemble of hard-working, dedicated professionals to give rural theatregoers a taste of West End quality.

WHATS ON STAGE

Reviewer Friday 14 Jun 2013

Lerner and Loewe’s musical retelling of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion has had a long and successful stage history. Its first Broadway and West End

SOUND OF MUSICThe K I L W O R T H H O U S E T H E A T R E

THE STAGE Published Friday 24 August 2012 at 17:47 by Pat Ashworth

Helena Blackman, runner-up in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Maria quest, gets to play the role at last and does it sublime. There are echoes of Anne of Green Gables in her sunny, disarming, fast-talking Maria, and the transition she make to the mature woman is evident in her voice as well as he bearing.

This is a lavish, heart-warming show that exploits Kilworth’s magnificent outdoor setting to the full. The action spills out so widely that the audience is always alert to what is about to happen, as well as what’s actually happening on stage - there is a heightened sense of anticipation. That’s particularly evident in the presence of the Nazi storm troopers among the audience in the final scene, lending every illusion that we are that concert audience.

It’s played out on the elegance of Libby Watson’s versatile set, where the pieces are seamlessly reconfigured to create hous terrace and abbey.

DaventryExpressPublished on Monday 3 September 2012 14:19

THE hills are very much alive with The Sound of Music in Kilworth - and resonating with rapturous applause.This al fresco adaptation of the perennial musical classic is a sheer delight and not one to be missed.

The story is a familiar one to most of us - a singing postulant called Maria is sent from an Austrian abbey to be governess to the seven children of a former naval sea captain.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s original stage score includes one or two less familiar songs alongside favourites such as Do-Re-Mi, My Favourite Things, Edelweiss and Climb Ev’ry Mountain.

Helena Blackman, who was beaten to first place by Connie Fisher in BBC’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, finally gets her spotlight - and my, how brightly it shines!

Miss Blackman’s stunning vocal and stage presence more than does justice to the role, one of the most iconic in musical theatre history.

EXPRESS Published on 31/08/12 by Neil Norman

“In the bucolic open-air setting of Kilworth House Theatre (Helena Blackman) conjures the naïve and irrepressible spirit of the trainee nun in a convent, conspicuous by her presence.”

NOëLGERTIE

AND

WHATS ON STAGEPublished on 3 October 2011 By Laura Tosney …splendidly performed by Ben Stock and Helena Blackman, pulling the audience through their history...Helena Blackman is beautiful - doll-like even - under the lights. Close your eyes and listen to the lilting trills as she sings… ...superb performances...they truly are... The excerpts from his…plays are...Acted to a tee by Ben Stock and Helena Blackman, the tantalising snippets simply drive home the desire to watch the pair play the entirety of each role…

THE STAGEPublished on 3 October 2011 by Paul Vale ...two delightfully fresh actors with Helena Blackman as an achingly chic, wryly cynical Lawrence. Blackman inhabits the 30s remarkably well with her languid eyes, sylph-like figure and impeccably clipped consonants. This proves to be more than simply affectation however as Blackman shows flashes of a very real, vulnerable Lawrence through the haze of cigarette smoke.

A YOUNGER THEATREBy Julia Rank Helena Blackman... is every inch the 1920s starlet with her elegant composure... their moments together at the piano are lovely, with Blackman’s renditions of ‘Sail Away’ and ‘Why Must the Show Go On?’ showing remarkable control and empathy.

thepublicreviewsby Johnny Fox Helena Blackman is every inch Miss Lawrence, capturing the hauteur, the recklessness and the insecurities as well as delivering the songs with a pitch-perfect capability Gertie herself didn’t always possess. Sail Away, writ-en for the rasping tones of Elaine Stritch, transcends its source to become a torch song of immense beauty and delicacy.

HELENA BLACKMAN’S ALBUM REVIEWS

thepublicreviews 5* To say that the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein has played a central role in Helena Blackman’s career may be an understatement. She first came to the attention of the musical theatre world when she reached the final of the BBC’s talent search How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and after the show her connection with Rodgers & Hammerstein continued as she was cast in the UK tour of South Pacific. Now she cements her association with the legendary musical theatre writing duo by recording this beautiful selection of some of their best known songs.

The album is entitled The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein, but the new sound might be a more appropriate description, because this is Rodgers & Hammerstein as you have never heard it before. In a series of playful ar-rangements, the tracks preserve the heart of the original songs while putting a refreshing twist on familiar numbers. The album bursts out of the speakers from the very first track with a lively version of I Have Confidence, setting the tone for a recording that is confident and assured throughout.

The cleverly selected tracks highlight both Blackman’s vocal and acting range, with a blend of tender romance and rip-roaring comedy. Love Look Away, singled out by Blackman as one of her favourite tracks, sounds as though it is sung straight from the heart and follows the equally beautiful Some Enchanted Evening. In these more slow-tempo numbers Blackman’s vocals are crystal clear, her voice rising effortless from a gentle whisper to belt out some stunning high notes.

For me, however, some of the highlights of the album were the more upbeat tracks in which Blackman’s acting could shine through. The dazzling expressiveness of her voice crafts characters that leap out of the songs, particularly in I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, The Gentleman is a Dope and my personal favourite I Enjoy Being a Girl, sung with tongue firmly in cheek. The two duets with Jonathon Ansell and Daniel Boys are also treats; Blackman and Boys singing People Will Say We’re in Love from Oklahoma is close to musical theatre perfection.

The concluding number is another Sound of Music favourite, a rousing rendition of Climb Every Mountain, bringing the album full circle and reminding listeners of where Blackman kick started her career. This entertaining and highly listenable album showcases Blackman’s talent and provides a fresh, modern take on old classics, making it ideal for both lifelong fans and those who are only just discovering the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein.

Helena Blackman might have been the runner-up in the BBC’s 2005 quest to find a Maria for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s revival of The Sound of Music. But as her debut album, The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein, reveals, she was never going to settle for perennial bridesmaid status.The diversity of Blackman’s CV since her television talent show days is telling, and suggests that coming first is far from everything. Connie Fisher was such a quintessential Maria that she was the only possible winner – and consequently seems destined to play the role on the road forever. Similarly, it’s hard to see I’d Do Anythingwinner Jodie Prenger playing anything other than variations on her hearty Nancy, while runner-up Jessie Buckley has, like Blackman, developed a potentially stellar career as a singer and actor based on the breadth and variety of her talents.That said, I must confess that I approached The Sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein with somewhat muted enthusiasm, simply because there are more than half a century’s worth of similar anthologies out there. Do we really need another one?Well yes, it turns out that we do. Blackman’s producers, Neil Eckersley and Paul Spicer, and conductor Mike Dixon, have treated her to a substantial orchestra – much bigger than you’ll find in the average West End pit today. And yet the playing of Richard Rodgers’ soaring melodies is so restrained and sympathetic that the songs emerge as chamber pieces, clear and nuanced, with Blackman in commanding form as she traces their underlying emotional content with obvious pleasure, as if she’s discovering treasure in each line.

With a pure soprano voice that would easily straddle the divide between operetta and musical theatre, she’s something of a throwback to a golden age of pre-pop performers who knew all about lyrical interpretation and melodic lines.

At the same time, and supported here by some sharp, pared down arrangements, she’s quite capable of giving a refreshing twist to familiar material without resorting to contemporary vocal gimmicks. “What’s the Use of Wondrin’?” becomes an unexpectedly modern, gentle piece of introspection, for example, and the wistful “Love Look Away” is beautifully reinvented as a stately ballad, delivered with controlled power.

If the track list contains no real surprises, the real delight is to hear Hammerstein’s words and phrases delivered with such crystal eloquence. There are duets with Jonathan Ansell (“I Have Dreamed”) and Daniel Boys (a profoundly romantic “People Will Say We’re in Love”). The album is book-ended by numbers from The Sound of Music,“I Have Confidence” and that ripe, wise old anthem, “Climb Every Mountain” – perhaps not an obvious choice for a singer whose voice rings with youthful clarity but it’s an unbeatable show stopper to end on and Blackman proves herself more than equal to the task.

In between, other highlights include characterful stalwarts like “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of my Hair”, “Some Enchanted Evening” and a splendid “The Gentleman is a Dope”.

HeightsREACHING NEW