Chris Barton
Encyclopedia
Chris Barton is an English
actor
and singer who featured in the BBC
talent show Any Dream Will Do
, and has subsequently gone on to appear in numerous musical theatre productions in the West End
and across the UK.
, Chester
, a specialist dance school where he was given a scholarship to attend for five years. It was full time and he also boarded at the school. He trained in ballet
, jazz
, tap
, contemporary dance
, singing and drama
. Barton furthered his training at the Liverpool Theatre School, where he graduated in 2007, gaining a National Diploma
in Musical Theatre
.
talent show
Any Dream Will Do
, where he worked closely with Andrew Lloyd Webber
. The show was hosted by Graham Norton
, and was the second West End talent show to be produced by the BBC and Lloyd Webber. Barton was selected from thousands of auditionees and was invited to attend "Joseph School" where after surviving further auditions and elimination rounds, reached the final 12, singing live on television every Saturday night. Judge, Denise Van Outen
commented at Barton's early audition, that when Barton performed, the "hairs on her arms stood on end". Judge Zoe Tyler
's reaction to his audition was "Wow!".
" (Marc Cohen
)
Week 2 - "I'll Be There" (Jackson 5)
Week 3 - "Tell Her About It
" (Billy Joel
)
Week 4 - "All Night Long (All Night)
" (Lionel Ritchie)
Barton was the fifth to leave the competition, and was offered the role of Benjamin in Bill Kenwright
's touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
. He also played Joseph at certain performances and narrator
. Barton recorded an album
with fellow Joseph friends called Dream On, following which they performed a concert at the London Palladium
.
set in Liverpool. He then took part in his first West End show Spring Awakening
, a musical that won eight Tony Award
s on Broadway
and won 'Best New Musical' in London at the Olivier Awards. Barton, as Swing in Spring Awakening had the opportunity to play most roles within the show during his time in the production, including the lead role of Melchior Gabor. After seven months in Spring Awakening, Barton moved on to a role in the hit West End musical Hairspray
, where he played Sketch, before leaving in March 2010.
starring alongside Connie Fisher
who won the BBC Talent show prior to Any Dream Will Do
- How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria. Barton continued in the 2011 tour of the show alongside Verity Rushworth
and Jason Donovan
until the summer of that year.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and singer who featured in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
talent show Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
, and has subsequently gone on to appear in numerous musical theatre productions in the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
and across the UK.
Early career
Barton trained at The Hammond SchoolThe Hammond School
The Hammond School, is a specialist co-educational performing arts school based in Chester in the United Kingdom.-Overview:Irene Hammond founded the Hammond School of Dancing in 1917, when she took over an established dance school in Chester. She expanded the school to include a full programme of...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, a specialist dance school where he was given a scholarship to attend for five years. It was full time and he also boarded at the school. He trained in ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, tap
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
, contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
, singing and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. Barton furthered his training at the Liverpool Theatre School, where he graduated in 2007, gaining a National Diploma
National Diploma (UK)
A National Diploma is a standard academic qualification, offered by most further education colleges and universities in the United Kingdom. The title National Diploma is used in a variety of ways, however most are undergraduate qualifications rated at levels 3 on the National Qualifications...
in 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...
.
Any Dream Will Do
In Barton's third year of college, in 2007, he successfully auditioned for the BBC reality televisionReality 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...
talent show
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
, where he worked closely with Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. The show was hosted by Graham Norton
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...
, and was the second West End talent show to be produced by the BBC and Lloyd Webber. Barton was selected from thousands of auditionees and was invited to attend "Joseph School" where after surviving further auditions and elimination rounds, reached the final 12, singing live on television every Saturday night. Judge, Denise Van Outen
Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.- Early life :Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the...
commented at Barton's early audition, that when Barton performed, the "hairs on her arms stood on end". Judge Zoe Tyler
Zoe Tyler
Zoë Tyler, is an English voice coach, cruise ship singer, performer and reality television show judge. She is also a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.-Early career:...
's reaction to his audition was "Wow!".
Studio performances
Week 1 - "Walking in MemphisWalking in Memphis
-Cher version:"Walking in Memphis" is the first European single by American singer-actress Cher from her twenty-second studio album, It's a Man's World. It was released in the end of 1995 by WEA. The song was performed in some shows in Europe, and in her tours since the Do You Believe? Tour.-Song...
" (Marc Cohen
Marc Cohen
Marc Cohen is a radio personality who has spent over 30 years as a prominent Southern California announcer. He has performed on both television and radio and has a long running technology show, which is not only well respected, it is one of the most listened to shows on technology in the country...
)
Week 2 - "I'll Be There" (Jackson 5)
Week 3 - "Tell Her About It
Tell Her About It
"Tell Her About It" is a hit 1983 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album An Innocent Man. An apparent homage to the Motown Sound, the song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for one week on September 24, 1983, replacing the Phil Ramone-produced song, "Maniac" by Michael Sembello. The...
" (Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
)
Week 4 - "All Night Long (All Night)
All Night Long (All Night)
"All Night Long " is a hit single for Lionel Richie from 1983. Taken from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down, it combined Richie's soulful Commodores style with Caribbean influences. This new, more dance approach proved popular, as the single reached number one on three Billboard charts...
" (Lionel Ritchie)
Barton was the fifth to leave the competition, and was offered the role of Benjamin in Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright
Bill Kenwright CBE is a leading West End theatre producer and film producer.He is also the Chairman of Everton Football Club, an English professional football club from the city of Liverpool....
's touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
. He also played Joseph at certain performances and narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
. Barton recorded an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
with fellow Joseph friends called Dream On, following which they performed a concert at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
.
Further career
Barton went on to play older Benny in Our Benny, a rags to riches musicalMusical 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...
set in Liverpool. He then took part in his first West End show Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
, a musical that won eight Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s on 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...
and won 'Best New Musical' in London at the Olivier Awards. Barton, as Swing in Spring Awakening had the opportunity to play most roles within the show during his time in the production, including the lead role of Melchior Gabor. After seven months in Spring Awakening, Barton moved on to a role in the hit West End musical Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, where he played Sketch, before leaving in March 2010.
The Sound of Music
In the summer of 2010, Barton played Rolf in the UK touring production of The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
starring alongside Connie Fisher
Connie Fisher
Connie Fisher is a Welsh actress and singer, who won the BBC One talent contest, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?...
who won the BBC Talent show prior to Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
- How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria. Barton continued in the 2011 tour of the show alongside Verity Rushworth
Verity Rushworth
Verity Rushworth is an English actress who is best known for her role as Donna Windsor-Dingle in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale, having taken over the role from Sophie Jeffery in 1998.- Life and career :...
and Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
until the summer of that year.