Elizabeth Seal

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Elizabeth Anne Seal (born August 28, 1933 in Genoa , Italy ) is a British actress , dancer and choreographer .

Life

Elizabeth Seal was born in Genoa in 1933, the daughter of shipbrokers Frederick George Seal and Rill Alice Seal (a native of Read ). She showed a talent as a dancer early on and received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dancing at the age of five . In 1951 she made her debut at the London theater in the play Gay's the Word . At the same time, she made her first appearances in film and television roles.

In 1958 she played the title role in the musical Irma la Douce for the first time in the West End of London . From 1960 she also appeared with the piece on New York's Broadway . In 1961 she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this role . After a few years offstage, Seal made a comeback in 1976 as Cassie on the London production of A Chorus Line . The US-American director Michael Bennett surprisingly fired Seal after several rehearsals and cast the role with his own wife Donna McKechnie . The casting of an American woman who was also married to the director caused a scandal and the British actors' union Equity revised its permission to change the cast following sharp protests from the industry; the role eventually went to Petra Siniawski .

In the 1980s, Seal increasingly turned to teaching and was also active as a choreographer. In 2012 and 2013 she was seen again in revivals of the play Gay's the Word .

Seal was married to Peter Townsend in his first marriage and to the actor Zack Matalon in his second marriage . The second marriage resulted in a daughter and two sons. In her third marriage, she was married to the photographer Michael Ward from 1976 until his death in 2011 and is the stepmother of Ward's two daughters.

Theater (selection)

  • 1951: Gay's the Word (Saville Theater, London)
  • 1955: The Pajama Game ( Coliseum Theater , London)
  • 1957: Damn Yankees (Coliseum Theater, London; Replacement)
  • 1957: Camino Real (Phoenix Theater, London)
  • 1958: Irma la Douce (Lyric Theater, London)
  • 1960/61: Irma la Douce (Plymouth Theater, New York City)
  • 1961: Irma la Douce ( Alvin Theater , New York City)
  • 1976: Salad Days (Duke of York's Theater, London)
  • 1979: Chicago (Cambridge Theater, London; Replacement)
  • 1983: The Corn Is Green ( Lunt-Fontanne Theater , New York City)
  • 2012: Gay's the Word (Finborough Theater, London)
  • 2013: Gay's the Word (Jermyn Street Theater, London)

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Elizabeth Seal . In: masterworksbroadway.com, accessed September 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ Elizabeth Seal . In: tonyawards.com, accessed September 12, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Tom Rowan: A Chorus Line FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Broadway's Singular Sensation . Hal Leonard Corporation, 2015, ISBN 978-1-4803-6754-8 , page 306.
  4. ↑ Ian Jack: Michael Ward obituary . In: theguardian.com of May 17, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Seal, Elizabeth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seal, Elizabeth Anne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress, dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Genoa , Italy