Joseph McManners
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Joseph McManners | |
|---|---|
 "The Little Prince" |
|
| Origin | Canterbury, UK |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Genres | Classical/ Opera |
| Labels | Sony BMG |
Joseph McManners (born December 3, 1992[1], in Canterbury, Kent) is an English musical theatre actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in small village near Canterbury[1] and attends Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (also in Canterbury).[2]
When Joseph was 8 years old he saw the film Titanic. He liked the song My Heart Will Go On so much that he decided to perform it on a family reunion. He describes this event as the point in his life where he knew he wanted to become a singer. He also plays the violin and the piano and has started to learn playing the guitar.[1]
He starred as Oliver Twist in a local production of the play in Canterbury opposite Ron Moody who played Fagin in the 1968 film adaptation of the famous novel. After that, McManners auditioned for the lead role in the BBC's operatic version of "The Little Prince" directed by Francesca Zambello. He was chosen from 25000 others to play the part. During filming for "The Little Prince", he was spotted by executives from Sony BMG which led to a £2 million 4-album record deal and management by Derek MacKillop in 2005.[3]
McManners went to Prague[1] together with his producer Nick Patrick.[3] to record the music for his first album In Dreams which was performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Not all music was done by the orchestra, though. Joseph's brother plays the violin in "Where is Love".[1] The album was released on December 5, 2005. McManners chose the songs that appear on the album himself.[4]
The album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 2006 Classical Brit Awards.[5] and his rendition of "Bright Eyes" from the same album has debuted at "number one" in Asian airplay, ahead of James Blunt and Prince.[6]
He has also appeared in several theatre productions. McManners played Oliver in the BBC's "Celebrate Oliver!" presented by Shane Ritchie[7] on December 26, 2005[8] and he appeared in an episode of BBC's The Sound of Musicals on February 4, 2006[9] (filmed in 2005).
McManners is also set to make his feature film acting debut in a film called Hot Fuzz opposite people like Simon Pegg, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton[10], Steve Coogan, Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy.[11]
According to Chris Britcher of the Kent newspaper Saturday Observer, McManners had turned down an earlier offer in 2005 to star as the young Hannibal Lecter in the Hollywood film about the serial killer's childhood called Hannibal Rising due to school and other commitments.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Interview from the Limited Edition Japanese DVD release of "In Dreams". (available on YouTube).
- ^ a b "Schoolboy star turns down killer role" by Chris Britcher, Saturday Observer (published September 17, 2006; accessed November 17, 2006) (details in PDF version)
- ^ a b sound generator - Joseph McManners - In Dreams review (accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ Joseph McManners biography at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ The BPI Unveils Nominees for The Classical BRIT Awards 2006 (published April 11, 2006; accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ Number 1 Airplay at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ Celebrate 'Oliver!' at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ "Celebrate Oliver!" to be screened on Boxing Day at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ Cached version of a BBC 1 television listing for The Sound of Musicals
- ^ New film at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
- ^ Hot Fuzz at the Internet Movie Database (accessed August 28, 2006).
