By Niall Palmer; updated February 2018
Cassidy Janson wowed West End audiences with her powerhouse performance in the title role of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
To celebrate her birthday last year, we picked out ten things you may not know about the West End superstar:
- Cassidy tends to refer to herself as CJ.
- She’s good friends with Katie Brayben, who originated the role of Carole King in London.
- The first show Cassidy saw in the West End was Cats – and it made a huge impression.
- Cassidy didn’t go to stage school until she was sixteen.
- Her first ever theatre role was in Snoopy The Musical.
- CJ starred with Neil Patrick Harris in Tick Tick Boom! at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
- She went on as Elphaba in the original London cast of Wicked – with just two hours’ notice.
- As well as Carole King, Cassidy is also a big fan of Lily James and Cynthia Erivo.
- Cassidy sings “You’ve Got A Friend” in the stage show – in real life her best friend is soul and session singer Lizzie Dean.
- CJ’s favourite song to perform was Beautiful – it was when she felt most connected to the audience.
Beautiful – The Carole King Musical was the untold story of the legendary singer’s journey from school girl to superstar, which finished performances in the West End in August 2017.
The Tony Award-winning musical featured King classics including So Far Away, It Might As Well Rain Until September, Take Good Care Of My Baby, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Up On The Roof, Locomotion, One Fine Day, You’ve Got A Friend, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman and I Feel the Earth Move. The show also featured hits like You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, On Broadway and Uptown from songwriters Mann and Weil.
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