7:00pm Wednesday 26th May 2010
By Michelle Archard
LEE Mead kicked off his solo tour in his home town on Sunday night to a packed Cliffs Pavilion.
The 29-year-old, who found fame on BBC’s Any Dream Will Do and went on to a successful run as the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, is now getting used to performing alone.
He opened his tour at the Southend theatre singing songs from his album, Nothing Else Matters.
Lee, who is enjoying life with his wife, Basildon girl Denise Van Outen, and his newborn daughter Betsy, will be doing a handful of dates across the country before a UK tour starting in the autumn.
He will be fitting in the schedule around his latest role, starring as Fiyero in the award-winning London production of Wicked.
Paul Driscoll, marketing manager at the Cliffs, said: “It was incredibly busy, with about 1,400 tickets sold.
“He was very well received. Lee is very much a local hero returning home to his patch.
“It was nice to have him back headlining in his home town.”
Lee, who grew up in Eastwood and went to Eastwood School, has returned to the West End stage following an 18-month break. After leaving Joseph, in January last year, he enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York, where he spent three months studying.
He will be back at the Cliffs Pavilion on January 30, as the special guest of the Leigh Orpheus Male Voice Choir.
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