Lauren James

Lauren James

Lauren is originally from Swansea, South Wales and began performing at the age of 11 at Dance and Theatre Arts, Swansea. Whilst attending Cwmtawe Comprehensive School, she was part of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Grand Theatre, as part of the Choir with the Mark Jermin stage school. During her time in Swansea, Lauren was also invited to perform for Sir Harry Secombe at the Pier Ballroom, Mumbles. Lauren gained a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School and moved to London at the age of 13. Whilst there she performed at numerous concerts and venues, to include a solo performance at the Royal Albert Hall for The Night of 1000 Voices, at the Natural History Museum as part of the SYTS choir for the Save the Children charity and Princess Anne, was a solo vocalist/dancer for Wella! Millennium Girl at the Royal Albert Hall, sang solo for England’s World Cup Bid 2006 at Hampton Court Palace, and was also a solo vocalist/dancer with SYTS in their Carnaby Street Cabaret in Bruges, Belgium for Schwartskopf. She also sang the lead of Mary in The Real Meaning of Christmas, for GMTV. Upon graduating from SYTS, Lauren received the Josie Bradley award for Most Promising Musical Student. She then went on to train part time at Laine Theatre Arts, Epsom, during which time she was a principal actor for an episode of Dear Deirdre for This Morning television.

Lauren made her West End debut in Les Misérables at the age of 18, where she understudied and played the roles of Eponine and Cosette. She was fortunate to be part of the last cast to perform Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre and was part of the first cast to open it at its new home, the Queen’s Theatre in London’s West End. She also appeared with the cast of Les Misérables, live on Children in Need for the BBC.

Lauren is also a singer/songwriter and in late 2005 decided to move to Vancouver, Canada. During her stay there she trained at School Creative and had the opportunity to record her original solo music. She has been back in the UK since late 2006 and has performed her solo material in many London venues including Café de Paris, The Bedford Pops, Cargo and the Gardening Club. You can listen to her music at www.myspace.com/laurenjamesuk