Gina Beck | |
|---|---|
| Origin | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Genres | Musical Theatre |
| Occupations | Actress, singer, voice actress |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Website | www |
Gina Beck (born on 30th December 1981 in Buckinghamshire) is a British stage actress and singer, mainly known for playing major roles in various West End musicals. She played the characters of Miss Honey in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production ofMatilda the Musical, Magnolia Hawks inDaniel Evans production of the 1927 musicalShow Boat,Glinda the Good Witch inWicked, both in the London production and the 1st national tour,Christine Daaé in the West End production ofAndrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musicalThe Phantom of the Opera, Sarah Brown in the 2025 London revival ofGuys and Dolls, andCosette inLes Misérables.
Gina Beck was born inHigh Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, but moved toHampshire with her parents at an early age. She attended local schools and was introduced to the stage through school and amateur groups. She passed her Grade 8 singingexamination at the age of fifteen and gained experience in both solo and ensemble singing as a founder member of the Hampshire Children's Choir and subsequently, the Hampshire County Youth Choir.
In her teens, she had many acting and singing roles atPerins School andPeter Symonds College inWinchester[1] and was also engaged professionally to play leading roles in productions atWinchester College (Gianetta inL’élisir d’Amoré, 1999; Beatrice inMuch Ado About Nothing, 2000 and Emily Tallentire inThe Hired Man, 2001). Her first break into musical theatre occurred when she auditioned successfully at the age of 14 for theNational Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) of Great Britain. She performed in their production ofWarchild in various English cathedrals during 1997. The following year she played the leading role of Kate Hardcastle inThe Kissing Dance, a new musical written for the NYMT byCharles Hart andHoward Goodall based onGoldsmith'sShe Stoops to Conquer.[2] The show was performed to great critical acclaim at theBrighton andEdinburgh Festivals, TheLyric Theatre Hammersmith, and TheLinbury Studio Theatre,Covent Garden amongst other venues.[3][4] She reprised this role in the first professional production ofThe Kissing Dance in March 2011 at theJermyn Street Theatre, off the West End.[5] Her last role with the NYMT was asGuinevere in their Arthurian legend showPendragon.[6] Performances of this show included two tours to Japan.
AfterA-level exams, she successfully auditioned for an acting degree at theRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, from where she graduated with a BA in Acting in 2004. After graduation, she had a number of small cameo roles on TV (Doctors,Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, among others) and commenced a long-standing relationship withPearson Education doing both voice-over and video recordings for English Language teaching media.
Beck performed in opera and operetta withHolland Park Opera (Puccini's Madame Butterfly andDonizetti'sL'élisir d'Amoré) and theBuxton Opera House (Gilbert and Sullivan'sRuddigore andThe Sorcerer).
In 2006 she toured South Africa inThe Merry Widow and in June of that year made herWest End debut asCosette inLes Misérables atQueen's Theatre. She performed the role in the 21st anniversary celebration concert ofLes Misérables which was broadcast onBBC Radio 2. After a year, she left the show to create the lead role of Rebecca Warshowsky for the world première of the new musicalImagine This at theTheatre Royal, Plymouth in July 2007.[7] At Christmas 2007 Beck appeared asWendy Darling in the Rachel Kavanaugh production ofPeter Pan, the Musical at theBirmingham Rep.[8]
She took over the principal role ofChristine Daaé inThe Phantom of the Opera atHer Majesty's Theatre in September 2008,[9] for which she was nominated for a Theatre Fans Choice Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, 2010.[10] She subsequently performedThe Phantom duet withRamin Karimloo atAndrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday concert inHyde Park, London.[11] She has sung the duet "All I Ask of You" with co-star Simon Bailey on the Grand Staircase of the actualOpera Garnier in Paris (wherePhantom is set) forCBS television[12] and the same song on theAlan Titchmarsh show onITV1. On 3 October 2010 she appeared as part of the Alumni Ensemble in the 25th Anniversary Celebration ofLes Misérables at London'sO2 Arena and also appeared in theLes Misérables sequences in the 2010Royal Variety Performance atThe London Palladium. Later that year, Beck returned toThe Phantom of the Opera as an emergency cover for Christine on 23 December, co-starring withJohn Owen-Jones. Beck also played Cosette as a voice role in theFocus on the Family Radio Theatre production ofLes Miserables.[13]
She has supported the music of young musical-theatre composer Steven Luke Walker. She has taken part in several workshops of his compositions for the musical based on the novelLittle Women byLouisa May Alcott and, together with many stars from the West End, has performed in and helped promote a concert of his songs.[14]
In June 2011, she made her debut in the leading role ofMaria von Trapp in a new production of theRodgers and Hammerstein musicalThe Sound of Music at the 3,000 seat Plenary Hall Convention Centre inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[15] In September 2011 she played Letitia Hardy inHannah Cowley's restoration comedyThe Belle's Stratagem atSouthwark Playhouse.[16][17] This was the first time in over 100 years that this play had been produced in London.
In December 2011, Beck took over the lead role ofGlinda the Good Witch in the West End production of the musicalWicked, at theApollo Victoria Theatre.[18] She starred alongsideRachel Tucker and, later,Louise Dearman as Elphaba. She completed two years in the role at theApollo Victoria Theatre in November 2013.
She also appeared as an extra/solo singer (turning woman 3) in the 2012 film adaptation ofLes Misérables.[19]
On 26 November 2013, it was announced that Gina Beck would be returning to the role ofGlinda, this time in the United States, joining the cast of the first national tour ofWicked, alongsideAlison Luff as Elphaba andCurt Hansen as Fiyero. She began performances on 16 December 2013 at theOriental Theatre inChicago, Illinois.[20] This marks the first ever international transfer to join an American production for an actress playing Glinda. On 14 July 2014, it was announced that she would be leaving the First National Tour on 27 July 2014. She was replaced, as Glinda, byChandra Lee Schwartz.
In November 2014 she performed in an Off-West End 5-week run ofJacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the Charing Cross Theatre
In April and May 2015 she played the role ofBathsheba Everdene in The Watermill Theatre's production ofFar From the Madding Crowd
In 2015, Gina Beck played the leading role of Magnolia Hawks in Daniel Evans' acclaimed production of Kern and Hammerstein's classic and ground-breaking musicalShow Boat at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The production subsequently transferred to the West End at the New London Theatre in April 2016 for a limited run until August 2016.[21]
In 2017 she recorded two songs for the albumWit & Whimsy – Songs by Alexander S. Bermange (one solo and one featuring all of the album's 23 artists), which reached No. 1 in the iTunes comedy album chart.
Gina Beck then joined the West End production ofMatilda the Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, playing the role of Miss Honey, in September 2017. After an extremely successful run, she finally left the show in March 2020, just before the West End went dark because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
She was next scheduled to star as Ensign Nellie Forbush oppositeJulian Ovenden in theChichester Festival Theatre production ofSouth Pacific but, due to COVID-19, the show was postponed to summer 2021. In the meantime, Gina appeared in the all-star outdoor Summer 2020 concerts at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Due to becoming pregnant, Beck shared her lead role inSouth Pacific withAlex Young during the summer of 2021.[22] Beck returned to the role with fellow stars in the transfer toSadler's Wells in July 2022, preceding a UK and Ireland tour.[23]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | Maid | TV movie |
| 2010 | Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary | Female Worker 3 / Turning Woman 1 | |
| 2012 | Les Misérables | Turning Woman #3 |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The Crust | Lydia D. Hemmingway | Episode: "Pizza Panther" |
| 2008 | Doctors | Carrie Harkness | Episode: "Heston C in Da House" |
| Year | Song | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | "Turning" | Les Misérables: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition) | Polydor Group |
| 2013 | "Once More" (with Steven Luke Walker) | Once More – Single | Eastern Star Music |