In July 2008, Tucker took part in a private workshop performance of the first act of the sequel to
The Phantom of The Opera (
Love Never Dies) at Andrew Lloyd Webber's private
Sydmonton Festival near his estate in
Hampshire, in which she sang the role of
Meg Giry. On 2 August 2008, in Belfast, she performed at the Gay Pride Festival. She sang a medley which included excerpts from
Cabaret, "
All That Jazz", "
Maybe This Time" and "
Don't Rain on My Parade". On 13 September 2008, she performed alongside fellow ''I'd Do Anything
finalist Niamh Perry at the Proms in the Park, held at Belfast City Hall as part of the nationwide celebration of the BBC Last Night of the Proms''. The following day, she performed at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday in the Park' show in
Hyde Park, London, singing "Light at the End of The Tunnel" from
Starlight Express. In November 2008, Tucker filmed a
West End special of
The Weakest Link in which she was voted off first. The show was aired on BBC1 during the 2008 Christmas schedule. In late 2009, she was a judge on amateur comedy show
Find Me the Funny and presented
The Friday Show, a six-part entertainment series with
Eamonn Holmes, both for BBC Northern Ireland.
We Will Rock You From 22 September 2008, for one year, Tucker played Meat in the
jukebox musical We Will Rock You, at the
Dominion Theatre, London, under the direction of
Christopher Renshaw. A review of the opening night performance of the show in
The Stage newspaper said of Tucker's debut that she had "found the perfect stage for her large voice. Her rendition of "
No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" is one of the highlights of a first act that works on many levels." Tucker was also the first
understudy to
Sabrina Aloueche for the role of Scaramouche, and played the role on many occasions to cover Aloueche's holidays.
Wicked Tucker starred as
Elphaba in the
West End production of the musical
Wicked, at the
Apollo Victoria Theatre, under the direction of
Joe Mantello. She replaced
Alexia Khadime on 29 March 2010, starring opposite
Louise Dearman (also her debut) as
Glinda. For the entirety of her run, Nikki Davis-Jones was her
standby, and went on during Tucker's holidays and other absences. On 1 August 2011, it was revealed that Tucker had extended her contract with the production into October 2012. In June 2012, she succeeded
Kerry Ellis as the longest-running West End Elphaba. For her portrayal of Elphaba, Tucker won a 2011
WhatsOnStage.com Award in the category of Best Takeover in a Role. She performed "
The Wizard and I" at West End Live 2010 and the
Laurence Olivier Awards 2012, and "
Defying Gravity" at Pride London. On 13 February 2011, she performed "Defying Gravity" as part of a theatre-themed episode of
Dancing on Ice for
ITV. Tucker also sang the same hit song at West End Live 2011 which was held at
Trafalgar Square. On 10 September 2011, Tucker was joined on stage by
Stacey Solomon to sing "
For Good" at the end of the show. This was in aid of BBC
Children in Need Pop Goes the Musical, where a whole host of celebrities graced the stages of the West End of London to raise awareness for the charity's 2011 appeal. On 19 March 2012, Tucker won the
West End Frame Award for Best Performance of a Song in a Musical for her performance of "
Defying Gravity". Tucker left the role on 27 October 2012 for maternity leave, after over 900 performances. Dearman took over the role on 29 October 2012. She reprised the role of Elphaba in the
Broadway production from 15 September 2015 at the
Gershwin Theatre. Tucker played her final performance on 30 July 2016 and was replaced by
Jennifer DiNoia. For her performance in the Broadway production, Tucker was the recipient of the 2016 Best Female Replacement Award at the 2016 Broadway.com Audience Awards. Tucker returned to the West End production of
Wicked, leading the show's 10th Anniversary Cast in London, on 5 September 2016 and played a limited run as Elphaba until 28 January 2017. With over 1,000 performances both in the West End and on Broadway, Tucker remains one of the longest-running Elphabas in the show's history.
Farragut North Tucker starred in
Farragut North playing the role of Ida, which premiered in London at the Southwark Playhouse on 11 September 2013. Produced by Peter Huntley, in association with Daniel Krupnik and Southwark Playhouse, Directed by Guy Unsworth and with original music by Jude Obermüller, the production also starred
Max Irons in the role of Stephen, and features
Shaun Williamson,
Aysha Kala,
Josh O'Connor, Alain Terzoli and Andrew Whipp.
The Last Ship Tucker returned to Broadway in
The Last Ship which began at the
Neil Simon Theatre on 30 September 2014. The musical follows the story of shipbuilders in the North East of England using music from Sting's album of the same name. It also starred
Michael Esper and
Jimmy Nail. The production closed on 24 January 2015.
Rachel Tucker: Back from Broadway On 19 April 2015, Tucker hosted two performances, one at 3pm and one at 7pm, at the St James theatre in London with the 7pm show being completely sold out. The special guests that appeared to sing songs with Tucker were George Macguire and Giles Terera, as well as a special performance with her own sister. Tucker sang 24 of her favourite songs, and also talked about her recent experience on Broadway.
Communicating Doors She appeared
off-West End in
Communicating Doors at the
Menier Chocolate Factory. The show began on 7 May 2015 and closed on 27 June 2015.
UK Tour Tucker gave three intimate concerts at 'Live at Zédel' in London towards the end of March 2017. The concerts were directed by Tucker's husband, Guy Retallack, with musical director Kris Rawlinson. Reviews praised the performances of both Tucker and Rawlinson. The two followed up with an 11-date UK tour, visiting cities and towns such as Belfast, Cardiff, Bury St. Edmunds and Birmingham, beginning in Belfast on 13 May and finishing in Birmingham on 10 June. They recorded an album,
On the Road, a compilation of some of the songs performed on the tour. The album was only available as a physical copy.
Come from Away Tucker played the roles of Beverley and others in the London production of
Come from Away from February 2019. She was nominated for a
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical for this role. She left the production on 8 February 2020. She reprises her roles in the Broadway production of the show from 3 March 2020 until production was suspended the following week due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
John & Jen She starred alongside Lewis Cornay in a production of the musical
John & Jen. The show was directed by Tucker's husband, Guy Retallack, and had a limited run from July 28, 2021, to August 21, 2021. It received praise from critics, with
Theatre Weekly writing that the two leads had "an exquisite chemistry" and that Tucker was "unsurprisingly, incredible in the role of Jen" while
Gay Times wrote "We were expecting big things from West End and Broadway star Rachel Tucker and she truly delivers", noting also that the production was "easily one of the most ambitious and polished musicals we've seen in a studio theatre".
Sunset Boulevard In the 2023
West End revival of
Andrew Lloyd Webber's
Sunset Boulevard Tucker played Norma Desmond as alternate to
Nicole Scherzinger on Monday evenings from October 16 until the end of the limited run.
Hadestown In the
West End production of
Hadestown, she was a replacement in the role of
Persephone from October 15, 2024, to February 9, 2025.
The Great Gatsby She originated the role of Myrtle Wilson in the West End production of
The Great Gatsby at the
London Coliseum in April 2025 and is expected to continue in the role until September 2025. ==Filmography and theatre credits==