Our talented troubadours include...

Abi Finley Fiona
Abi trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and was most recently seen as a semi finalist on the hit TV show, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? Other credits include the title role in Calamity Jane and Ado Annie in Oklahoma (both at the University of Leeds), Paulina in A Winter’s Tale, Rizzo in Grease (both at Central School of Speech and Drama). Abi is delighted to be making her professional debut in Blondel and wants to thank Connie for winning, and everyone else who made this possible!

Chris Grierson Blondel
Chris grew up in Wadhurst, East Sussex, and began performing at Theatre FX in Tunbridge Wells. He then trained at Arts Educational London, where he gained a B.A. Hons. Degree in Musical Theatre. In theatre Chris' credits include Vassily in Howard Goodall's Two Cities (Salisbury Playhouse), Barry in New Boy (Greenwich Playhouse), Harry Bailey'in It's A Wonderful Life (Workshop), Jesus in Godspell (Cannizaro Park Festival), Curly in Peter Pan (Derngate, Northampton). While at Arts Ed, Chris performed the role of Parsee Man in the European Premiere of the new version of Just So, directed by Anthony Drewe. On television Chris played the recurring character Chris Fenwick in Hollyoaks (Mersey TV) for just over a year. You can also see Chris as Fran Barker in the online computer game Jamie Kane (BBC Drama).

Napoleon Ryan The Assassin
As a child, Napoleon sang opera with the E.N.O. and trained at the Patricia Hammond School of Dramatic Art. He started out as an adult in repertory seasons of Agatha Christie thrillers. Next he roamed around Britain portraying Shakespearean characters like Edmund the Bastard, Polonius, Petruchio and Touchstone. Other parts included Medviedenko in The Seagull and Sparkish in The Country Wife. He then toured throughout Italy as the title role in a new musical adaptation of The Canterville Ghost and followed this up with seven months of clowning for audiences across Spain. Last Christmas he debuted his pantomime Dame in County Durham after several years as an Ugly Sister and this summer featured as Tony Blair and assorted members of the Cabinet in a run of the satirical sketch show Newsrevue. His recent stage work has also involved playing Maurice Polpin in John B. Keane’s Irish drama Big Maggie and Clive, a drunk literary agent, in the world premiere of After by Ali Muriel (whose latest film script, Furnace Four, he has just finished shooting). He appeared in the first series of the BBC’s Bafta-nominated comedy show Look Around You and eagerly awaits the 2007 release of a feature film called Ulysses Road in which he is Peters, a deranged World War Two veteran with a pig fixation. In his spare time he writes comedy and classical music whilst plotting world domination.

Matt Harrop Prince John
Matt was born and brought up in Southport, Merseyside and trained at the Guildford School of Acting. He has had a long association with the Cameron Mackintosh production of Les Miserables, both at the Palace Theatre and the Queens Theatre, Playing Grantaire, cover Thenardier, and also as Dance Captain. He also had the pleasure of performing a concert version, as Grantaire, in front of the Queen and President Chirac, for the celebrations of 100 years of the Entente Cordial, at Windsor Castle, and also as Bamatabois in the First Scandinavian Concert Tour. Other theatre credits include: My Fair Lady (National Tour), Ensemble and cover Harry/Zoltan Karpathy, Sunset Boulevard (First National Tour) 1st Finance Man, cover Manfred, Anyone Can Whistle in Concert (Savoy Theatre), Cora's Boy, A Handful of Keys (Prince Edward Theatre), directed by Julia McKenzie, The Trial of Joe K (Brockley Jack Theatre) Uncle Karl in Adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Trial. Also for Les Miserables, he appeared on Tonight at The London Palladium and for the 21st Birthday Celebration, broadcast on BBC Radio 2.

Mark Inscoe King Richard
Mark Inscoe's Theatre credits include Dean Martin in The Ratpack – Live From Las Vegas (Savoy Theatre, London), Lumiere in Disney's Beauty And The Beast (National Tour), Vitorio Vidal in Sweet Charity (Sheffield Crucible Theatre - Winner of 2003 Best Musical - TMA Awards) :Boone in first National tour of Whistle Down The Wind, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (20th Anniversary Production, Bridewell Theatre, London) Jules/Bob Greenberg in Sunday In The Park With George (Leicester Haymarket), W.D. Taylor in Mack & Mabel (Piccadilly Theatre), Captain von Trapp in The Sound Of Music (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), Original Cast of Sunset Boulevard (Adelphi Theatre), Grantaire/Foreman Les Miserables (Palace Theatre), Howard Carter in Tutankhamun (Northcott Theatre, Exeter), Baron Von Geigern in Grand Hotel (Dominion Theatre), Phantom Of The Opera (Her Majesties Theatre), Anything Goes (Prince Edward Theatre), Evita (Opera House, Manchester). Swan Esther (Windsor and National Tour), The African & Crocodile in Just So (Barbican Theatre, Plymouth), Principal Performer in the 2002 Cardiff International Music Theatre Festival. Mark's television credits include Howards Way, The South Bank Show – Lloyd Webber Special, Revue , Dean Martin in The Ratpacks Back (International), The Gypsy In Me (One Man show of Coward and Porter), Perfectly Weill (Jigsaw Music Theatre). His Recordings include Sunset Boulevard, George in La Cage Aux Folles, Will Parker in Oklahoma, Bill in Me & My Girl, An Evening With Alan J. Lerner. Concerts include Les Miserables (with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra), Sweeney Todd (Royal Festival Hall, London), Bernstein Gala (HerodAtticus Theatre, Athens), Cavalcade Of Coward (Piccadilly Theatre) - and performing worldwide in Cabaret. Mark also has an Honours Degree in Geology from Exeter University.

David Paul West Leopold
David was born in Thornaby, Teeside, and trained at the Academy Drama School in London. He created the role of Kevin in the original production of Patrick Wilde’s What’s Wrong With Angry and went on to play the lead at Europride in Copenhagen. Other stage work includes Axel in Woody Allen’s play Don’t Drink The Water, David in Matt Ian Kelly’s However Do You Want Me at the Hen and Chickens, and Kevin in You Couldn’t Make It Up at the Gilded Balloon Edinburgh and New End Theatre. Recently David has been touring with the comedy sketch show The Gaydar Diaries, which played at the Pleasance, both in Edinburgh and London; he also found time to be anchorman for the vodcasts of BroadwayBaby.com. His film work includes Richard in Get Real (Paramount Classics) and Toby in Things To Do Before you’re Thirty (Momentum). David’s last musical outing was as The Plant in the Lost theatre production of The Little Shop of Horrors.

James Durrant Monk
James trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Recent theatre credits include Mackendrick in The Changing Room at The Royal Court, a national tour of Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew, playing Malcolm and Lucentio, and Elegies at the Fortune Theatre. He has just finished playing the lead role of Joseph King in Failed States at the Pleasance.

Gavin James Monk
Gavin James trained at Oldham Theatre Workshop and Central School of Speech and Drama. His theatre credits include South Pacific (BBC Radio 2/ CBSO), Side by Side by Sondheim (Union Theatre), Deputy Sheriff in Whistle Down The Wind (National Tour), The Falling Man in Drive Ride Walk, Guest Soloist in the Farewell Concerts, Evans in Great Scott and Ethan in The Ballad of Little Jo (all Bridewell Theatre), Apollo in Hermes (Rosemary Branch), The Boy in Sleep Tight and Andrew in Leaves on The Line (Landor Theatre), 16 Gobs 2002/03 (King's Head Theatre), In The Red (Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre), The Amazons (Covent Garden Festival), Riki Strange in The Chic Nerds (Etcetera Theatre), Mendoza, Lorna Doone, The Scarlet Letter and Falls (Greenwich Theatre/ Musical Futures), John Wilkes Booth in Assassins (CSSD). Film includes The Visitor (Parallax Pictures). Recordings and demos: The Amazons (Original London Cast), My Beautiful Launderette, The Scarlet Letter.

Charlie Tighe Monk
Prior to training in Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music he appeared in Whistle Down The Wind (Edinburgh Festival, Sadler’s Wells, West Yorkshire Playhouse) with the NYMT and Nicholas Nickelby (Lowry Theatre, Manchester) with the NYT. Recent theatre credits include The Life Of Galileo (National Theatre) Freddy in Pygmalion (International Tour), and Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, (National Tour), Great Expecations (Shaw Theatre, London), Comedy Of Errors (Globe Theatre, Nuess) Minor Irritations (Pleasance, Edinburgh) and Aladdin (Pleasance, London). As a singer Charlie has sung on two albums for Virgin-EMI and performed on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM as well in various concert halls across Europe, America and Africa, including the Royal Albert Hall and as a backing singer for Elton John at the Royal Opera House. Film and TV credits include The Slammer (BBC 1), A Kiss Of Death (Lightfoot Films) and The Director (Starwish).

Nick Trumble Monk
As a young boy Nick trained as a chorister and musician in Guildford. He then went on to train as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy in London. Since graduating Nick has enjoyed a summer of weekly Rep. Theatre in Frinton-on-Sea, and two seasons of outdoor Shakespeare in Greenwich Park and Sussex among other things. His Credits include Dickie Winslow in The Winslow Boy, Norman in Living Together, Vic Johnson in Funny Money (Frinton Summer Theatre), Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Francis Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Eros/Soothsayer in Antony And Cleopatra (Greenwich Park/Highdown Gardens), Paul in Someone’s Son (Union Theatre) and Sweetshop in Walking On The Moon (Meridian Television/Peter Kosminksy).

Zoë Harrison Blondette
Zoë trained at The Guildford School of Acting. Whilst there, she played the roles of Bunny Byron in Babes in Arms and Carol Drayton in Weird Romance, among others. Stage appearances since graduating include Ann in Half a Sixpence, Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Alice Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington (Shanklin Theatre). She also toured with Somerset Maugham’s play The Circle (Oxford Stage Company). Roles on screen include The Traveller in Night Shift (Maverick Television) and Kirstie in the feature film Neil’s Party (235 Productions). She has also appeared in several television commercials. Zoë has just returned from an eye-opening year spent living and working in Sri Lanka.

Polli Redston Blondette
Polli Redston trained at The Guildford School of Acting and Sylvia Young Theatre School. Her theatre credits include Whistle Down The Wind (The Palace ,London), Sadie Tara Thompson in Caviar and Chips (The Landor, Clapham), Mags in Rhona’s Pantry (The Landor, Clapham) U/S Captain in Only You Can Save Mankind (The Pleasance, Edinburgh) Sister Mary Hubert in Nunsense (The Nuffield, Southampton) Whistle Down The Wind (No.1 UK Tour), Cecily Cardew in The Importance of Being Earnest (Shanklin Theatre, I.O.W.), Gob 1 in 16 Gobs (The Kings Head, Islington), Emily in Remember Remember! (The Bridewell, London), Eliza Dolittle in My Fair Lady (Sandown Pavilion, I.O.W.), Dorothy in The Night Before Christmas (The Canal Café Theatre, Little Venice). Film credits include the Can-Can Girl in The Importance of Being Earnest (Ealing Studios). Polli has various voice-overs and language tapes for LWT and Longmans to her credit and appears on the recording of Annie (The Musicals Collection, Abbey Road Studios)

Rebecca Seale Blondette
Rebecca graduated with a BA (Hons) Acting in 1999 at the Liverpool institute for Performing Arts. She made her West End debut in Mamma Mia! at The Prince Edward Theatre, understudying and playing the lead role of Sophie. She then went on to understudy and play the role of Eponine in Les Miserables at The Palace Theatre, London. Other credits include; Soloist in The World Goes Round at the Kings Head Theatre in Islington, Linda in Insomnia at the Chapter Arts Theatre for the Cardiff International Festival of Musical Theatre and most recently, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado with Charles Court Opera. She has also performed in numerous cabarets in and around the West End and is currently singing jazz at The Playrooms in Piccadilly, London. Rebecca gained a Postgraduate Diploma with distinction from Trinity College of Music in July this year.