Musical theatre Kelly's West End musical credits include
Beauty and the Beast,
Whistle Down The Wind as Swallow (2000) (with a 10-year-old
Jessie J),
Les Misérables as Eponine at the
Palace Theatre (2001),
Mamma Mia! as Sophie at the
Prince Edward Theatre (2002), and
My Fair Lady as
Eliza Doolittle in the transfer of the National Theatre's production to the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (2003). She made her Broadway debut as Hodel in the 2004 Broadway revival of
Fiddler on the Roof.
Mary Poppins premiered in September 2004 at the
Bristol Hippodrome, followed in December by its opening in the
West End at the
Prince Edward Theatre. For her role as the title character, Kelly earned rave reviews as well as the 2005
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She left
Mary Poppins on 29 October 2005 after more than 400 performances and was succeeded by
Scarlett Strallen. Kelly then went to Singapore to star in a revival of
A Twist of Fate in November 2005, produced by the Singapore Repertory Company. It also starred
Anthony Drewe (who co-wrote the music with Singaporean composer
Dick Lee). In 2006 she returned to the London stage performing in
A Tribute to Dirty Dancing at
Kenwood House and
Marble Hill. Kelly and
Michael Ball performed at the
Hackney Empire on 1 August 2006 to celebrate
Anthony Newley for
BBC Radio 2 which was broadcast on 29 September 2006. Kelly was the Special Guest for
Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra on tour during December 2006. On 27 August 2007, Kelly made her
BBC Proms debut, performing "
The Prayer" from the film
Quest for Camelot alongside
Michael Ball. During 2007–08, Kelly played the role of
Galadriel in the original London production of
The Lord of the Rings – The Musical at
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The show began previews on 9 May 2007, with an official opening night of 19 June 2007. Kelly played her final performance on 2 February 2008, and was replaced by Abbie Osman. She played the dual role of a nun and former
Coronation Street actor
Johnny Briggs's trophy wife in an
ITV1 production of
Agatha Christie's
Nemesis. Kelly appeared alongside
Kevin Spacey and
Jeff Goldblum in
David Mamet's play
Speed-the-Plow at London's
Old Vic theatre from 1 February to 26 April 2008 and at the
Ruhrfestspiele in
Recklinghausen,
Germany, in May 2008. Kelly voiced "Dorothy", the patient's girlfriend in
Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's production of
The Screwtape Letters. This audio-drama was also expanded to include speaking roles for Wormwood, the patient (called "John Hamilton"), and the patient's mother.
Andy Serkis played Screwtape and
Bertie Carvel was Wormwood. Beginning 12 October 2009, Kelly reprised the role of
Mary Poppins at the
New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway, replacing
Scarlett Strallen. Kelly temporarily left the cast of
Mary Poppins on 6 March 2011, where she was replaced by originator
Ashley Brown, to shoot a film. She returned to the production on 19 July 2011. She played her final performance on 9 October 2011 and was replaced by Steffanie Leigh. Kelly and former London co-star
Gavin Lee performed as Mary Poppins and Bert in the ''America Celebrates 4 July at Ford's Theatre
in front of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama on 6 June 2010. The special aired on 2 July 2010 on ABC. Kelly once again reunited with Lee when he returned to the role of Bert in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins'' on 24 August 2010. Kelly starred as Anna Leonowens in a production of
The King and I at
the Muny from 6–12 August 2012. She also starred as Ensign Nellie Forbush in the Muny production of
South Pacific from 8–14 July 2013. She reprised the role of Eliza in a concert version of
My Fair Lady at the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on 5 May 2013. On 2 June 2014, it was announced that Kelly would star as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies in the world premiere of the new musical,
Finding Neverland, which played at the
American Repertory Theater from July through September 2014. She reprised the role in the Broadway production, which opened on 15 April 2015 at the
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. She stayed with the production until it closed on 21 August 2016. That same month she appeared as the Mother in the
Ellis Island concert of
Ragtime. In November 2016, Kelly began a North American tour starring as Anna Leonowens in
The King and I. She stayed with the show until 17 March 2018. In 2018, she was announced as the lead in the
Encores! production of
Me and My Girl, alongside former Mary Poppins co-star
Christian Borle. She plays the role of Julie, one of the Cavendish family, in the musical
The Royal Family of Broadway at the
Barrington Stage Company (Massachusetts) in June 2018 to July 2018.
Recording artist Kelly released her debut single, "There Was A Time", through
EMIs Angel label for download only on 17 April 2006. The single enjoyed Record of the Week status on
BBC Radio 2. This single is from her debut solo album,
The Storm Inside which was released on 1 May 2006. The album includes six original songs and six covers, including three songs which Kelly wrote herself and a cover of
Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know", which predated the Lily Allen cover and has a similar arrangement. A new single, "What's It All For?" (written by singer
Judie Tzuke) was released as a digital download on 5 March 2007. It was followed by the release of her album, also titled ''What's It All For?
, with the three new tracks and a selection of others from The Storm Inside'', which was released in 2006. Kelly also recorded a song for the radio-dramatization of
The Screwtape Letters that she starred in as Dorothy, the patient's girlfriend. The song was called, "This is a War".
Film Kelly made her feature film debut in 2007 as
Lucy Barker in the
Tim Burton/
DreamWorks film
Sweeney Todd. Her first starring role was in the 2013 film
Goddess, playing a mother of young twins in an isolated farmhouse in
Tasmania, who finds unexpected fame when performances of her songs go
viral on the Internet without the knowledge of her absent husband, played by
Ronan Keating. ==Personal life==