A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Jennifer Ellison

Jennifer Lesley Ellison was born on the 30th of May 1983 and brought up in West Derby, Liverpool. She studied dance from the age of three, first at a dance school in Liverpool, then later at the Elizabeth Hill School of Dance, St Helens. After graduating from Broughton Hall High School, a Catholic girl's school,  she attended St Edward's College Sixth Form. She took examinations with the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) and won Ballet and Modern Dance titles at the IDTA Theatre Dance Championships in 1996 and 1997, in addition to being awarded the Carl Alan Award for ballet in 1998. Choosing to pursue a professional career in dance, she successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet Lower School. However, although she achieved examination passes with the Royal Academy of Dance and appeared on instructional videos for the academy, she left dance to pursue acting and rose to prominence playing Emily Shadwick at the age of 12 in the television soap opera 'Brookside' (1998-2003), but still found time to study and managed to pass 11 GCSEs and four A-levels. Emily was the rebellious daughter of Greg and Margi, and was killed off after falling from a window during a siege and slipping into a coma.

as Emily Shadwick and Philip Oliver as Tim O'Leary

Then she began her singing career by releasing two separate singles, 'Baby I Don't Care' and 'Bye Bye Boy', as well as singing several times (notably in the number 'Angel of Music') when she secured her place as a household name by playing Meg Giry in her international film debut, the 2004 adaptation of  'The Phantom of the Opera'. Also in 2004, she had a run in the London West End theatre version of the musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre playing the leading role of Roxie Hart, reprising the role in 2006 at the Cambridge Theatre. In October 2007 she joined the cast of a revival of 'Boeing Boeing' at the Comedy Theatre, London playing the part of Gloria, an American air stewardess. In 2008 she was in the Empire Theatre, Liverpool with Cilla Black and Les Dennis in the pantomime 'Cinderella' and in 2009 also played a starring role in the 30th anniversary UK tour of Jeff Wayne's 'War Of The Worlds'. The following year she was in the UK tour of the stage adaption of the film 'Calender Girls' and the same year appeared in Stoke in the pantomime 'Robinson Crusoe'. As well as these, she was on the UK tour company of 'Legally Blonde' and in February 2013 she joined 'Singin' in the Rain' at the Palace Theatre London.

 

She gave up her acclaimed musical theatre career to spend more time with her growing family for 10 years until the offer to return to the stage to join the cast of the hit 'Take That musical Greatest Days' coincided with three important moments in her life: she had recently celebrated her 40th birthday, she regained her confidence after a brutal but rewarding stint on Channel 4 reality show 'Celebrity SAS', and her three sons were growing up. Jennifer who had spent much of the past 10 years building up a successful performing arts school, Jelli Studios, which occupies the former Territorial Army barracks on Edge Lane, Liverpool, said: "It 100% felt like the right moment. I’m lucky. I’ve just turned 40 and my kids are getting older – the eldest is 14 and the youngest is nine – so they’re not as dependent on me quite as much, plus my school and college is in a fantastic place with a brilliant team in place. It's established and doing well." When she made the decision to step away from acting, there was no doubt in her mind that she would return to the dance world. She explained, "I wasn't from a very well-off background and I felt when I was growing up that to go to London and train wasn't possible for me. I couldn't afford to live there and unless I got a scholarship I wouldn't afford the fees, so I was passionate about asking why we needed to go to London, and from a young age I said I was going to open my own college. For a while, because of my career, it felt like it wasn't going to happen. Once I had the children, I knew I couldn't be living in London for a year to be in the West End or to go on tour for 12 months at a time, so that’s when I decided I was going to go after my little girl dream. At first, it was a Sunday school and then it grew bigger and bigger and now it's a full-time college. It’s been tough and it’s been a learning curve, but it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2025/06/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-shaun.html