Robert Hugh "Hadley" Fraser (born 21 April 1980) is an English actor and singer. He made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables. He also originated the role of Tiernan in the Broadway show The Pirate Queen.

Hadley Fraser
Fraser in 2013
Born
Robert Hugh Fraser

(1980-04-21) 21 April 1980 (age 44)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active1998–present
Known for
Spouse
(m. 2014)
Children1

Fraser’s other West End credits include Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein, Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess, Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden, and many others. He also played Raoul de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, Grantaire in Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary, and Billy Bigelow in Carousel at Cadogan Hall.[1]

Early life and education

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Fraser was born in Windsor, Berkshire.[citation needed] He holds a BA from Birmingham University and a Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music.[citation needed] In 2011, he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, or ARAM.[2][failed verification]

Personal life

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On 5 October 2014, Hadley married his long-time girlfriend, actress Rosalie Craig.[citation needed] The couple have a daughter.[citation needed]

Career

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Fraser has performed in a number of West End productions and played Gareth in the Doctor Who episode "Army of Ghosts" (2006).

In 2009, Fraser played the recurring role of Reed in The Fresh Beat Band season 1; in the last 2 seasons, he was replaced by Patrick Levis. In May 2010, he returned to the West End to play the role of El Gallo in The Fantasticks.

In October 2010, Fraser sang the Les Misérables role of Grantaire in the 25th Anniversary concert in the West End.

On 23 June 2011, Fraser returned to the West End production of Les Misérables, this time to play the role of Javert. He received critical acclaim for the role and remained with the show until June 2012.[3]

On 1 and 2 October 2011, Fraser played Raoul in the 25th anniversary staging of The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He appeared alongside Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, who played the Phantom and Christine respectively. Fraser also co-starred with Karimloo in the 25th Anniversary concert of Les Misérables and they both made their West End debuts in the show in 2002 where Karimloo understudied Fraser. Hadley has written music for a band called "Sheytoons" with Karimloo, including "Heading West" and "Driftwood".

Fraser appeared in the film adaptation of Les Misérables as the Army General of the National Guard.

In 2012, Fraser sang "Beyond the Door" on the concept album for The In-Between, as the character of Calicus.

Fraser appeared aside Tom Hiddleston in the Donmar Warehouse's production of Coriolanus from 6 December 2013 to 13 February 2014.

In December 2014, he returned to the Donmar Warehouse to play Stine in City of Angels, alongside his wife Rosalie Craig as Gabby/Bobbi and Samantha Barks as Mallory/Avril.[4]

An avid musician as well, Fraser can be heard on Scott Alan's releases Keys and Scott Alan LIVE, as well as his own EP, "Just Let Go", released in August 2014 via social media and digital download (no hardcopy has been released).

He was the co-lyricist and co-book writer (with Josie Rourke) for the verbatim musical Committee... (full title The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Takes Oral Evidence on Whitehall's Relationship with Kids Company) with music by Tom Deering, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse from 23 June to 12 August 2017.

He played Frederick Frankenstein in the UK premiere of the musical Young Frankenstein in August 2017, at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End, following a tryout run at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. In May 2019, he played Billy Bigelow in a concert of Carousel.

In 2022, he received high praise for his performance as Anatoly Sergeivesky in a West End concert run of Chess.[5] He also played Archibald Craven in a concert of The Secret Garden opposite Mark Feehily as his brother Neville.[6]

In 2024, Fraser played the role of Manny in the new musical Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.[7] On 4 June 2024, it was announced that Dirty Rotten Scoundrels would return to the West End for a concert run at the London Palladium on 24 November 2024, marking 20 years since the show premiered. Fraser is set to star as Lawrence Jamieson opposite Ramin Karimloo as Freddy Benson.[8]

Acting credits

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Film and television

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List of Hadley Fraser film and television credits
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Doctor Who Gareth TV series (Army of Ghosts)
2009–2010 The Fresh Beat Band Reed TV series – 13 episodes in season 1
2010 The Lost Tribe Chris
2010 Les Misérables: 25th Anniversary Concert Grantaire Live concert at The O2
2011 Convincing Clooney Chris
2011 The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall Viscount Raoul de Chagny Live adaptation of the musical
2012 Shackled Jesse Short film
2012 Les Misérables National Guardsman
2014 Coriolanus Tullus Aufidius National Theatre Live
2014 The Wrong Mans MI5 Agent TV Series
2014 Sons of Liberty John Dickinson TV Series
2014 Pompidou Maitre D' TV Series
2015 Holby City Sebastian Coulter TV Series
2016 The Legend of Tarzan Tarzan's father
2017 Murder on the Orient Express British Military Escort
2018 All Is True Shakespeare's son-in-law
2022 Gentleman Jack M. Bradley
2023 The Gold DC John Fordham TV Series

Theatre

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List of Hadley Fraser theatre credits
Year Title Role Theatre Location
1998 Jesus Christ Superstar Judas Iscariot[9] Birmingham University Birmingham
1999 West Side Story Riff[citation needed]
2002 Little Shop of Horrors Seymour Krelborn Northampton Derngate Northampton[10]
2002–2003 Les Misérables Marius Pontmercy Palace Theatre West End
2003–2004 Peter Pan Curly Savoy Theatre
The Pirates of Penzance Frederic
2004 The Shaughraun Captain Molineaux Abbey Theatre Dublin
Putting It Together Young Man Harrogate Theatre Harrogate
2005 The Far Pavilions Ashton Pelham-Martyn Shaftesbury Theatre West End
Longitude William Harrison Greenwich Theatre Off-West End
2006 Assassins John Wilkes Booth Sheffield Crucible Sheffield
Pacific Overtures Kayama Yasaemon Leicester Haymarket Leicester
My Fair Lady Freddy Eynsford-Hill Larnaca Amphitheatre Cyprus
2006–2007 The Pirate Queen Tiernan Cadillac Palace & Hilton Theatre Chicago & Broadway
2007 The Last Five Years Jamie Wellerstein Theatre Aspen Colorado
2009 A Christmas Carol Bob Cratchit Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham
2010 The Fantasticks El Gallo Duchess Theatre West End
Les Misérables Grantaire O2 Arena London
2011–2012 Inspector Javert Queen's Theatre West End
2011 The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny Royal Albert Hall London
2013 The Pajama Game Sid Sorokin Chichester Minerva Theatre Chichester
The Machine Garry Kasparov M.I.F. and Park Avenue Armoury New York City
2013–2014 Coriolanus Tullus Aufidius Donmar Warehouse Off-West End
2014–2015 City of Angels Stine
2015 The Vote Alastair Swift
The Winter's Tale Polixenes Garrick Theatre West End
2015–2016 Harlequinade First Halberdier
2016 Long Day's Journey Into Night James Tyrone Jr Bristol Old Vic Bristol
2017 Committee...(a new musical) co-lyricist and co-book writer Donmar Warehouse Off-West End
Saint Joan Dunois
2017–2018 Young Frankenstein Dr. Frederick Frankenstein Newcastle Theatre Royal & Garrick Theatre Newcastle & West End
2019 Carousel Billy Bigelow Cadogan Hall London
The Deep Blue Sea Freddie Page Chichester Minerva Theatre Chichester
The Antipodes Dorfman Theatre (National Theatre) London
2020 City of Angels Stine Garrick Theatre West End
2021 2:22 A Ghost Story Sam Noël Coward Theatre
2022 Chess Anatoly Sergievsky Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The Secret Garden Lord Archibald Craven The London Palladium
2023 The Lehman Trilogy Mayer Lehman Gillian Lynne Theatre
2024 Opening Night Manny Gielgud Theatre
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Lawrence Jameson London Palladium

Discography

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Just Let Go

  • Released: Pre-Release 21 Aug 14
  • Format: Digital EP
  • Writer: Hadley Fraser
  • Tracks: "Just Let Go", "Heading West", "Herne and the Red Kite", "But For Me", "On Constellation Street"

References

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  1. ^ Hadley Fraser Theatre Credits AboutTheArtists
  2. ^ "Broadway World UK / West End Awards". Royal Academy of Music. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Matt Lucas, Alfie Boe and Hadley Fraser to Storm the Barricades in West End's Les Miserables". Broadway.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Donmar Warehouse's Fall Season Will Include City of Angels, Starring Samantha Barks". Broadway.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  5. ^ Scott, Ester (13 August 2022). "'Chess: The Musical' Finally Makes The Right Moves: Review". indiependent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ Gans, Andrew (10 May 2022). "Hadley Fraser, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Emma Williams, More Set for The Secret Garden at the London Palladium". Playbill. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  7. ^ Newitt, Emmie (14 December 2023). "Further cast announced for world premiere of OPENING NIGHT". London Box Office. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  8. ^ Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to be staged in concert with Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser
  9. ^ GMTG 1998 - Jesus Christ Superstar. Guild TV Archive. 26 April 2020. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Hadley Fraser Credits
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