JOSEPH MCMANNERS

'Joseph McManners' (born December 3, 1992,^[1] in Canterbury, Kent) is an English musical theatre actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in a small village near Canterbury¹ and recently left Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (also in Canterbury) for a boarding school after being awarded a drama and choir scholarship.

Contents

Singing career

Acting career

See also

References

External links

Singing career

When Joseph was 8-years-old he saw the film Titanic. He liked the song My Heart Will Go On so much that he decided to perform it at a family reunion. He describes this event as the point in his life where he knew he wanted to become a singer.^[2] He also plays the violin and the piano and has started to learn playing the guitar.¹ He uses a semi acoustic Yamaha guitar. ^[3]
McManners then auditioned for the lead role in the BBC's operatic version of "The Little Prince" directed by Francesca Zambello. He was chosen from 25000 others to play the part. During filming for "The Little Prince", he was spotted by executives from Sony BMG which led to a UK£2 million 4-album record deal and management by Derek MacKillop in 2005.^[4][5]
McManners went to Prague¹ together with his producer Nick Patrick.⁴ to record the music for his first album ''In Dreams'' which was performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Not all music was done by the orchestra, though, Joseph's brother plays the violin in ''"Where is Love"''.¹ The album was released on December 5, 2005. McManners chose the songs that appear on the album himself.^[6]
Within days of his debut album release, McManners rocketed into the classical music charts at number five – outselling the new release by Aled Jones.^[7] The album was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards.The BPI Unveils Nominees for The Classical BRIT Awards 2006 (published April 11, 2006; accessed August 28, 2006). and his rendition of "Bright Eyes" from the same album debuted at "number one" in Asian airplay, ahead of James Blunt and Prince.^[8]
In December 2006 it was reported that McManners and Sony BMG split over artistic differences.^[9]

Acting career

In 2004, McManners starred as Oliver Twist in a local production of the play at Canterbury's
Marlowe Theatre opposite Ron Moody who played Fagin in the 1968 film adaptation of the famous novel. He reprised his role as Oliver Twist two years later in the BBC's "Celebrate 'Oliver!'" presented by Shane Ritchie^[10] on December 26, 2005,^[11] and he appeared in an episode of BBC's ''The Sound of Musicals'' on February 4, 2006^[12] (filmed in 2005).
McManners made his feature film acting debut in ''Hot Fuzz'' opposite the likes of Simon Pegg, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton,^[13] Steve Coogan, Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy.^[14] He played the part of Gabriel who is described as being an 'angelic schoolboy'.^[15] Unfortunately, his background story and an entire sub-plot surrounding his character was cut from the final version and can only be found in the bonus material of the DVD.³ Chris Britcher comedically reported in the Kent newspaper Saturday Observer shortly after the film's release that because of Joseph's age, he is unable to legally view the film until his 15th birthday later this year.^[16]
Also according to Chris Britcher of the Kent newspaper Saturday Observer, McManners had turned down an earlier offer in 2005 to star as the young Hannibal Lecter in the Hollywood film about the serial killer's childhood called ''Hannibal Rising'' due to school and other commitments.^[17]
On Friday 13 July, Joseph attended an audition for the role of Eustace Scrubb, a character in the upcoming film, , scheduled for release in 2009.³. It has also been reported on his forums that Joseph recently attended an audition for a part in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although the name of the particular character hasn't been disclosed to the public, fans are speculating the role is that of young Tom Riddle ³.
Joseph is son to author and broadcaster Hugh McManners and Deborah McManners, who are divorced,^[18] and grandson to the Rev Prof John McManners.^[19]

See also

★ Nicolas Caeyers, The Little Prince in Belgium

★ Thomas Jesty

References

1. Interview from the Limited Edition Japanese DVD release of ''"In Dreams"''.
2. EXCLUSIVE: RISE AND RISE OF THE SMALL BOY WITH THE BIG VOICE at www.mirror.co.uk (accessed July 8, 2007)
3. Official News Updates at www.joemcmanners.com (accessed May 27, 2007) '(official news updates from McManners)'
4. sound generator - Joseph McManners - In Dreams review (accessed August 28, 2006).
5.
Schoolboy earns £2m record deal
6. Joseph McManners biography at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
7. Silver screen beckons for teenage singing sensation from Kent newspaper Kent on Sunday (accessed December 19, 2005).
8. Number 1 Airplay at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
9.
Joe's dream deal is over Chris Britcher
10. Celebrate 'Oliver!' at the Internet Movie Database.
11. "Celebrate Oliver!" to be screened on Boxing Day at Sony BMG.co.uk (accessed August 28, 2006).
12. Cached version of a BBC 1 television listing for The Sound of Musicals
13. New film from Kent newspaper Saturday Observer (accessed September 15, 2006).
14. Hot Fuzz at the Internet Movie Database (accessed August 28, 2006).
15. Singing star Joseph even hotter stuff from Canterbury Gazette newspaper (accessed February 15, 2007).
16. Joe's too young for own film from Kent newspaper Saturday Observer (accessed February 17, 2007).
17. "Schoolboy star turns down killer role" by Chris Britcher, Saturday Observer (published September 17, 2006; accessed November 17, 2006) '(details in PDF version)'
18.
£2 million: The 12-year-old schoolboy worth more than all of his teachers put together Peter Zimonjic
19.
Obituary: John McManners, British religious historian and expert on the ancient régime Nigel Aston

External links

★ Official Joseph McManners website

★ Official Forums

★

★ Joseph McManners' MySpace website