Rolan Bell

Rolan Bell
Born Rolan Bell
(1983-10-17) 17 October 1983
London
Occupation Actor
Years active 2006 –

Rolan Bell (born 17 October 1983) is a British actor who was born in Chiswick, west London,[1] of Jamaican heritage. He became known for appearing in the BBC One television soap opera EastEnders as Theo Kelly in 2009.[2]

Background and career

Born as Rolan Alfonso Bell in London, England, to Jamaican parents[2] (the second oldest of their seven children), he began his training as an actor in 2000 at Hammersmith and West London College on a two-year performing arts course, before going on to the Drama Centre London.[1][3] Bell was first seen professionally in Doctors in 2006 and also appeared in a number of theatre productions, including a stage adaptation of The Harder They Come in which he played the lead role,[4][5] in Margaret Busby's An African Cargo (2007)[6] and The Lion King. Bell also played the role of Fela Kuti in the Broadway show Fela! in December 2010.[7]

More recently, Bell appeared as Coalhouse Walker Jr, in Ragtime, the Musical.[8]

Bell appeared as Silly Billy in the pantomime Jack and The Beanstalk at the Cambridge Arts Theatre from 6 December 2012 to 13 January 2013[9] (Hugh Homan commented in The Stage: "Rolan Bell as Silly Billy is superb at involving the audience").[10] He played the role of Britney in the We Will Rock You world arena tour 2013.[3] Also in 2013 Bell appeared in the BBC drama series WPCV 56.[11]

For his performance in the West End production of Memphis The Musical,[12] Bell was nominated in 2015 for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical.[13] He was announced in October 2015 as leading the cast for Rapunzel, Park Theatre's Christmas show.[14][15]

References

  1. 1 2 Gillian Fisher, "Rolan Bell, Ragtime the Musical", Afridiziak Theatre News, 20 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 Rolan Bell at IMDb.
  3. 1 2 "We Will Rock You UK Tour - Principals - Rolan Bell". Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Rolan Bell On ... His Reggae Education", What's On Stage, 7 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "The Harder They Come", Playhouse Theatre.
  6. ↑ Colette Lebrasse, "An African Cargo @ Greenwich Theatre", Say It Loud, 2007. Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Neil Spencer, "Fela Kuti remembered: 'He was a tornado of a man, but he loved humanity'", The Observer, 31 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Rolan Bell is in Ragtime the Musical at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from 18 May to 8 September 2012". Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Cambridge Arts Theatre - Jack and the Beanstalk". Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  10. ↑ Hugh Homan, "Jack and the Beanstalk", The Stage, 17 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "Memories are Made of This", WPC 56, Series 1, Episode 2 of 5, BBC One.
  12. ↑ Matthew Amer, "Memphis The Musical", Official London Theatre, 24 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "Interview: FRolan Bell", Olivier Awards, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Rolan Bell leads the cast of Park Theatre’s Rapunzel", London Theatre 1, 9 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Rapunzel Christmas musical at the Park Theatre – Rolan Bell and Aretha Ayeh lead cast", Musical Theratre Review, 12 October 2015.
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