Sophie Jenkins (née Evans) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Sophie Gwen Evans (1993-02-13)13 February 1993 (age 32) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Sophie Gwen Jenkins (néeEvans; born 13 February 1993) is a Welsh singer and actress fromTonypandy. She played Glinda in theWest End production ofWicked (2017) and Dorothy in the 2011 musicalThe Wizard of Oz.
As a child, Evans performed with the Mid-Rhondda Operatic Society. After several television appearances in her teens, she achieved wider notice as the runner-up on the 2010BBC talent showOver the Rainbow. Evans made her West End debut in March 2011 as the alternateDorothy inAndrew Lloyd Webber's production ofThe Wizard of Oz.[1] From February to September 2012, she played Dorothy full-time.[2]
Evans was born and raised in theRhondda Valley. Her parents, David and Michelle Evans and her younger sister Beth, live inTonypandy, where Evans attended Tonypandy Community College as a sixth-form student.[3][4]
She appeared in school plays and musicals, and featured in a Joshua Foundation Show at theMillennium Centre,Cardiff.[3] Evans was also a member of the Mid-Rhondda Operatic Society from a young age to her early teens.[5] She appeared on the 2008 series ofITV'sThe X Factor.[6] Her other television appearances includeThe Big Performance (CBBC),The Big Talent Show (S4C) and a centenary documentary about theTonypandy riots (BBC Wales).[7]
Evans auditioned forOver the Rainbow, a reality show in which young actress/singers competed to play the role ofDorothy Gale inAndrew Lloyd Webber's 2011 production ofThe Wizard of Oz. She advanced to the final along withDanielle Hope andLauren Samuels. The final aired in two parts on 22 May 2010.[8] Hope was the declared the winner and Evans the runner-up.[3]
| Solo Song | |
|---|---|
| Week one(03/04/10) | "If I Were a Boy"(Beyoncé Knowles)[9] |
| Week two(10/04/10) | "That Don't Impress Me Much"(Shania Twain)[10] |
| Week three(17 April 2010) | "I'm with You"(Avril Lavigne)[11] |
| Week four(24 April 2010) | "Love Song"(Sara Bareilles)[12] |
| Week five(01/05/10) | "What a Wonderful World"(Louis Armstrong)[13] |
| Week six(08/05/10) | "I Enjoy Being a Girl"(fromFlower Drum Song)[14] |
| Week seven(semi-final) (15 May 2010) | "Reflection"(fromMulan)[15] |
| Week eight(final) (22 May 2010) | "Tomorrow"(fromAnnie)[16] |
Lloyd Webber elected to assist Evans, with the aid of casting directorBill Kenwright, to start her professional career,[17] funding her continued training as a performer at a one-year musical theatre course at theArts Educational Schools inChiswick, London.[18] In autumn 2010, Lloyd Webber cast Evans as the "alternate" Dorothy inThe Wizard of Oz, to give Hope a rest on Tuesday evenings.[18]
In November 2010,WalesOnline named Evans as the 5th sexiest woman in Wales.[19] Evans joinedOnly Men Aloud! on the Cardiff dates of their December 2010 tour.[20]
On 8 March 2011, Evans made her professional stage debut[7] as the alternate Dorothy inThe Wizard of Oz, appearing on Tuesday evenings and covering the role during Hope's illnesses and holiday weeks in May and September 2011.[1][18] At first hiding her red hair under a brunette wig, Evans was later given permission by Lloyd Webber to show her natural hair in the role.[21]The Oxford Times reviewed the production during Evans's first full week as Dorothy (in May 2011) replacing the vacationing Hope and wrote of Evans: "Such is her success in the role that it would be hard to imagine anyone could consider they were getting second-best."[22] Another critic commented, "She plays a naive and tender Dorothy who you really want to befriend."[23] A third wrote that she plays "Dorothy perfectly with great vocals in the musical numbers, "Over the Rainbow" was quite magical."[24]
In July 2011, Evans sang as the special guest as part of anOnly Boys Aloud! concert in theParc and Dare Hall,Treorchy.[25] Also in July 2011, Evans participated in a TV reality show filmed in Pembrokeshire, calledCariad@iaith:love4language, in which she and other Welsh celebrities lived together at a campsite for eight days and intensively studied theWelsh language.[26][27] She has also performed at various charity events.[28][29] In October 2011, she sang at Millennium Stadium to support theWelsh rugby team in their semi-final match against France in the2011 Rugby World Cup.[30] Evans sings a duet with Welsh baritone Mark Llewelyn Evans on his debut albumLet the Light In, released in November 2011.[31] She is the subject of an ITV Wales documentary about her preparation for, and debut in,The Wizard of Oz, filmed in 2010–2011, calledDare to Dream: The Sophie Evans Journey.[32][33]
On 7 February 2012, Evans took over the role of Dorothy full-time in the West End production.[2] She remained inThe Wizard of Oz until the show closed on 2 September 2012.[34][35] On 15 April 2012, Evans performed as Dorothy at the 2012Olivier Awards ceremony at theRoyal Opera House in London.[36] The same month, she headlined a concert with theBBC National Orchestra of Wales.[37]
Evans presented and starred inThe Really Welsh Christmas Show forBBC Television with theBBC National Orchestra of Wales at theWales Millennium Centre.[38] Also featuringMichael Ball andOnly Boys Aloud, the 45-minute show first aired onBBC One Wales on 19 December 2012.[39] In 2013, Evans starred in the final installment of the"Cornetto Trilogy",The World's End, written byEdgar Wright andSimon Pegg. She later performed at Proms in the Park, inCaerphilly, South Wales.[40]
In early 2014, she was part of an all-star cast performing,Irving Berlin: From Rags to Ritzes, beginning in London and later touring nationwide.[41] Among the songs will be classics such asWhite Christmas andWhat'll I Do.[42] She also featured in the 2014 filmPride, directed byMatthew Warchus.
From October 2015 Sophie performed withLord of the Dance asErin the Goddess a month run at the Playhouse Theatre, London, a 9-week run at the Lyric Theatre, Broadway and a 6-week American tour finishing a Caesars Palace, Las Vegas forMichael Flately's last performance.
From July 2017, Evans took over the role of Glinda in theWest End production ofWicked from Australian actressSuzie Mathers, and as a result became the youngest person to play the role in London, at the age of 24.[43] She starred oppositeAlice Fearn as Elphaba.
Evans leftWicked on 20 July 2019, and was replaced by Helen Woolf.[44]
On 2 September 2021, it was announced that Evans would return to the West End production ofWicked as Glinda covering for Helen Woolf who was on maternity leave.[45] She re-opened the production on 15 September 2021, almost 18 months since its closure on 16 March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic lockdown. She will leave the production in January 2022, and will be replaced by Helen Woolf.
She and Welsh rugby starEllis Jenkins had dated since they were teenagers. Sophie and Ellis announced their engagement in 2021. In June 2022, they revealed that Sophie was expecting their first child. They married on 25 June, 2022. Their first child was born in December 2022. A second child was born in April 2025.[46][47]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Cariad@iaith:love4language | Herself | |
| 2011 Rugby World Cup | Herself | Semi Final betweenWales vFrance | |
| 2012 | The Big Performance | Herself | |
| Dare to Dream: The Sophie Evans Journey | Herself | Documenting her debut in The Wizard of Oz | |
| BBC'sThe Really Welsh Christmas Show | Host | ||
| 2013 | The World's End | Becky Salt | Final installment of theCornetto Trilogy |
| BBCProms in the Park | Herself | ||
| 2014 | Under Milk Wood | Neighbour | TV movie |
| 2014 | Pride | Debbie Thomas | Directed byMatthew Warchus |
| 2020 | Gangs of London | Young Daughter | TV series (2 episodes) |
| 2022 | La diosa reflectante | Sofi |
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Only Men Aloud! Wales Tour | Herself | — | Cardiff |
| 2011–12 | The Wizard of Oz | Alternate Dorothy Gale | London Palladium | West End |
| 2011 | Only Men Aloud! in Concert | Herself | Parc and Dare Hall | Treorchy |
| 2012 | The Wizard of Oz | Dorothy Gale | London Palladium | West End |
| 2012 | BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Concert | Headlining Singer | Wales Millennium Centre | Cardiff |
| 2014 | Irving Berlin's From Rags to Riches | Herself | — | International Tour |
| 2015 | Lord of the Dance | Erin the Goddess | — | International Tour |
| 2017–19 | Wicked | Glinda | Apollo Victoria Theatre | West End |
| 2021–22 |
