Rachel Tucker
Rachel Kelly Tucker (born 29 May 1981) is a Northern Irish stage actress, best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the musical Wicked. She also starred in Come from Away on Broadway, having originated the role on the West End. Rachel has starred in various other musicals and plays, including one alongside Sting (The Last Ship).
Rachel Tucker
Actress, singer
2000–present
Guy Retallack
1
Early life and career[edit]
Tucker was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up singing on the cabaret circuit from the age of nine with her father, Tommy (Tucker) Kelly and sister Margaret Kelly under the group's name Tucker Kelly and the Kelstar. She was a member of the Arts Youth Theatre during the late 1990s featuring in shows such as Ecstasy and Our Day Out. She then went on to feature in Michael Poyner's version of the Rockin Mikado as Katisha. In 2001, she competed in the Irish version of Popstars, featuring prominently in episode 3 where she is featured singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Her contestant number was B0161. She also featured as a contestant with sister Margaret on Michael Barrymore's My Kind of Music singing "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!". She also competed in the talent show Star for a Night making the final with her performance of "Kids".
Tucker trained at the Royal Academy of Music.[1] She worked with Any Dream Will Do winner Lee Mead in the 2005 United Kingdom tour of the Rock musical, Tommy as Sally Simpson.[2] In December 2007, Tucker appeared as Dorothy Gale in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of The Wizard of Oz at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. The Stage described her performance as "looking and sounding uncannily like the legendary Garland".[3] For her performance, she was nominated for an award in the 2008 TMA Awards.[4] Tucker recorded a version of the civil rights anthem "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around" which was used in a television advertisement for Libresse in 2005 entitled "March".[5]
Personal life[edit]
On Valentine's Day 2008, Tucker was engaged to theatre director Guy Retallack. The couple married in 2009 and have one son, born in February 2013.[40][41]