Susan Boyle

Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961) is a Scottish singer who came to international attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling album on charts around the globe.

Boyle's initial appearance on the talent show fired public imagination when her modest stage introduction left audience, viewers and judges alike unprepared for the power and expression of her mezzo-soprano voice. Before she had finished the song's opening phrase a standing ovation for Boyle had erupted. An international media and Internet response coincided. Within nine days of the audition, videos of Boyle—from the show, various interviews and her 1999 rendition of "Cry Me a River"—had been watched over 100 million times. She eventually finished in second place on the show behind dance troupe Diversity.

Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream (2009), instantly became the UK's best-selling debut album of all time, beating the previous record held by Spirit by Leona Lewis.I Dreamed a Dream is ranked fourth in its first week sales according to the Official Chart Company in the United Kingdom. Topping the Billboard 200 for six weeks, it was the second best-selling album of 2009 in the US. In her first year of fame, Boyle made £5 million with the release of I Dreamed a Dream and its lead-off singles, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Wild Horses". The success was continued with her second album, The Gift (2010), where she became only the third act ever to top both the UK and US album charts twice in the same year, and was followed by Boyle's third album, Someone to Watch Over Me, released on 31 October 2011. Boyle subsequently released her fourth album "Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage" in 2012, her fifth album "Home for Christmas" in 2013, and her sixth album "Hope" in 2014.

I Dreamed a Dream (musical)

I Dreamed a Dream is a jukebox musical with a book co-written by Alan McHugh and Elaine C. Smith and produced by Michael Harrison. It is based on the life of Susan Boyle and her 2010 autobiography, The Woman I Was Born to Be. The score features songs recorded by Boyle, hymns, traditional songs and popular songs, mostly from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The show premiered on 27 March 2012 at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle, directed by Ed Curtis and choreographed by Nick Winston. Smith stars as Susan Boyle, and Boyle herself sings two songs at the end of most performances. It has received generally favourable reviews. The production's tour of the UK and Ireland continued through much of 2012.

Fox Searchlight have bought life rights to Susan Boyle along with rights to the musical I Dreamed a Dream. They plan to develop a film version of the musical creating a sensitive biopic.

Synopsis

Act I

Susan muses to the audience about childhood dreams ("I Dreamed a Dream"). The adult Susan, as narrator, explains that she is a shy, sometimes awkward person who doesn't know what to say to others. But she means to tell her "fairy tale" story. It starts with the birth of a baby girl, in Scotland on 1 April 1961, an April Fool's Day baby. A doctor tells her parents, Bridie and Patrick Boyle, that the baby may suffer from brain damage due to deprivation of oxygen, telling them not to expect too much from her. Bridie and Pat are worried yet hopeful ("Joy is in the Child").

Autumn Leaves

autumn leaves under frozen souls,
hungry hands turning soft and old,
my hero cried as we stood out there in the cold,
like these autumn leaves i don't have nothing to hold.
handsome smile, wearing handsome shoes,
too young to say, though i swear he knew,
and i hear him singing while he sits there in his chair,
while these autumn leaves float around everywhere.
and i look at you, and i see me,
making noise so restlessly,
but now it's quiet and i can hear you sing,
'my little fish don't cry, my little fish don't cry.'
autumn leaves have faded now,
that smile i lost, well i've found somehow,
because you still live on in my father's eyes,
these autumn leaves, all these autumn leave, all these autumn leaves are yours tonight.

Susan Boyle

I Dreamed a Dream (musical)

Synopsis

Act I

Susan Boyle

ALBUMS

Home For Christmas

Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs from the Stage

Someone to Watch Over Me

The Gift

I Dreamed a Dream

Related Sites

Autumn Leaves