Phyllida Crowley Smith

Phyllida hails from the Isle of Wight (off the South Coast of England), where she began training at the age of four at her mother's dancing school. From the age of sixteen she studied at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, during which time she won the Cosmopolitan Magazine Young Dancer of the Year Award for choreography, the Noreen Bush Award for classical ballet and the Dancing Times Award for choreography. Her theatre credits include the West End productions of Phantom of the Opera, in which she appeared as "Meg Giry" and lead dancer, Cats - playing "Victoria" and "Demeter", Fame - the Original London Cast and Grease in which she appeared as "Frenchie". Other theatre work includes Gillan Lynne and Friends at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, Oklahoma! National Tour playing Dream Laurie, Heathcliff National Tour and Robinson Crusoe at Wimbledon. She has also appeared in several charity galas including Dance for Life at Her Majesty's Theatre and A Handful of Keys at the Prince Edward Theatre. Phyllida's choreographic work includes Bouncers in Harlow, a natural history series entitled Who's Afraid Of... for the BBC, The Larks at the Dolman Theatre, Newport, and several pieces for Doreen Bird College. Television work includes Peak Practice, The Ghost's of Oxford Street, Children in Need, The Olivier Awards, Talking Telephone Numbers and the Brit Awards 1991. Phyllida features in the recording of a childrens series for BBC Radio called The Song Tree: Octavia and Friends in which she plays 'Millie the Millipede'! She has recorded the "Original Cast Albums" of Fame and Heathcliff and Dave's Brother Al with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Also as part of the 'Fame' company, she recorded a song for the album We Can Be Kind which was in aid of the charity 'West End Cares'. She has both choreographed and performed in "On Broadway" a tribute to the great Stage Musicals; at various venues in England and Wales. She can also be seen in the exclusive video of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats', in which she returns to her West End role of 'Victoria the White Cat'.