G4 tenor Ansell to make musical debut in Whistle Down The Wind

Published Thursday 26 November 2009 at 15:31 by Lalayn Baluch

Singer Jonathan Ansell, who was a member of pop-opera act G4, is to make his musical debut in Whistle Down the Wind.

The Bill Kenwright production of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber show will embark on a national tour in 2010, opening at the Liverpool Empire on January 20. It is currently scheduled to run until June 12, although further dates are expected to be announced.

Ansell found success with quartet G4 – comprising four young performers from Guildhall School of Music and Drama – after the group were named runners-up in the 2004 series of X-Factor.

In February 2008, Ansell released his first solo album Tenor at the Movies, which went to number one and made him the youngest tenor to top the classical charts. He recently released his second album Forever, and is appearing in touring concert show A Night at the Opera.

The musical version of Whistle Down the Wind is based on a novel by Mary Hayley Bell, which was adapted for the big screen in 1961 by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall and starred Bell’s daughter Hayley Mills.