Norwegian Star of Musicals, Stage & Screen Corey Conradi
joined Debbie Curtis for the 2008 'Sunday Night Swing Session' at The London Palladium on August 3rd.
Corey is known as Kare Conradi in his native Norway!
Conradi already knew what he wanted to become when he was very young. He started
acting at an early age, got small parts in local plays and was on TV for the first time when he was 16, where he tap-danced
and sang. After he took his theatre education in Norway, he was offered a job at the National Theatre, where he had his stage
debut in 1996. After
being here for two years, he travelled to Troendelag Theatre where he did many great things, such as Tony in "West Side
Story" and the role of Hamlet. While he was doing this, he decided to go back to school, and ended up at "The London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Art". When he had completed his studies, he went back to the National Theatre where he
stayed for another year.
In 2001 he and three other actors/actresses decided to try and spice
up the Torshov Theatre (a part of the National Theatre), and had success with plays such as "Circus" and "I
Hired A Contract Killer" where Conradi also sang "Love Is In The Air" - in Norwegian. In the summer of 2001,
he spent a couple of months in London, England, and tried out for the Bing Crosby part in a West End production of "High
Society". After several weeks of auditions, the choice was between him and an English actor. They used Winona Ryder's
language coach to change his perfect English accent into American. They ended up choosing the other actor, as he already spoke
American fluently.
It was not until the beginning of November 2001 that things seriously started happening.
He and his colleague, Oeystein Roeger, decided to do "Stones In His Pockets", which has been done in both Ireland
and London before. The two actors did almost ten parts each, and the show was sold out with several extra dates, in both January
and May to June of 2002. When they later did "The Shadow" (originally HC Andersen) and "The Pianist",
sold-out venues were to be expected.
In the beginning of 2002, Conradi was asked to be best man at the Royal Wedding,
taking place in May the same year. Because of this he was highly profiled, and from being someone only those who were interested
in theatre knew, he became one of the most profiled actors in the country. He also did a show prior to the Royal Wedding,
then with several European Royalties among the audience. At this show he read poems, sang, performed and was a host.
Conradi always admired the likes of Sinatra and Davis Jr., something that can be heard in the second part of his career.
Through the years he has done several smaller performances, recorded two songs for a Christmas album ("Let It Snow"
and "Sleigh Ride") that was released for Christmas 2001. For the release of Robbie Williams's album, "Swing
When You're Winning", he did a release-concert, where he proved to all those present that he sings these kind of
songs brilliantly. As a follow-up, he did a jazz/big-band concert in early 2002, where he performed undying classics such
as "The Best of Everything", "Summer Wind", "My Kind of Town", "Let's Face The Music
and Dance", "My Way" and the unforgettable "New York, New York".
In the summer of 2002 he and three other artists did a show called "Back to
Broadway", which
featured songs from the well known musicals such as "Phantom of the Opera", "Mama Mia", "Les Miserables",
"Jesus Christ Superstar", "Miss Saigon", "West Side Story" and "Chess". In the weeks
the show was running, they never played to an empty seat.
Lately he has been working on a concept album featuring
old Norwegian songs, translated into English. These have all been songs that have a special meaning to him, some of which
his father - who was in a famous Norwegian band called the "Monn-Keys" - did in his time.
Trivia
Kåre Conradi was best man for
Ari Behn at the Norwegian Royal wedding. Also he has been in numerous Theatre productions in both Norway and England.
Corey recently finished shooting two feature films, released this Summer, as well as his first English speaking film
'Wide Blue Yonder' playing a major role opposite Lauren Bacall, Brian Cox and James Fox!
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