Irish Daily Mirror - 11.06.2010
Maeve Quigley

SEXY singer Susan McFadden will be coming back to Ireland to duet with the finalists on the last episode of Fame the Musical.
Although she was well known in Ireland beforehand, Susan got her big break on UTV's Grease is the Word where she won the starring role of Sandy in the musical.
The singer said she hasn't looked back since so understands how much Sunday night will mean to Sarah O' Connor, Jessica Cervi, Ben Morris and Seán Carey.
Susan, sister of ex-Westlife star Brian, said: "I'm at home practising my singing for Sunday night before I head to work.
"I am playing Serena in Legally Blonde in the West End at the minute and it's great because I'm getting to enjoy London life and stay in my own flat after being out on tour with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers last year.
"But Grease was definitely my foot in the door of the West End so I totally understand how the finalists are feeling.
"I watched the programme and it's so good - everyone on the show is amazing and I know exactly what they are going through. It's nerve wracking not only to stand up and sing in front of everyone in Ireland but to then be criticised in public too."
But in spite of the nerves, Susan said the higher your profile, the more likely you are to bag a leading West End role.
She added: "Being in Fame the Musical can only help the finalists as these days it's hard to get a West End part if you aren't known."
Susan will be joined by former Hear'Say singer Noel Sullivan who'll sing with the girls while she'll duet with the boys. And Susan actually met two of the hopefuls before.
She said: "I met Conleth when I was touring with Seven Brides as he knew one of the girls in the show and came up to stay with us when we were in Sunderland.
"I was hoping he'd get to the final so that I could sing with him. But I know Jessica too from doing panto in Dublin two years ago. I was the Genie and she was Princess Jasmine so I am really looking forward to seeing her.
"I am a bit biased because I know Jessica but I think Sarah is fantastic too. Whoever wins the producers will be happy because they are both great performers."
Seán, Jessica, Ben and Sarah will be singing with Noel and Susan in the final on Sunday at 6.30pm on RTE One.

http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/s...

By Lisa Marie Berry
Wednesday August 12 2009


Susan McFadden is set to see her musical career go stellar after landing a leading role in another West End show.

Susan, sister of singer Brian McFadden, has been lined up for a role in the new stage version of the hit movie Legally Blonde.

In the show, Dubliner Susan will play the role of Serena, the best friend and sorority sister of main character Elle, the shopaholic-turned-lawyer, who was played in the original film by Reese Witherspoon.

Susan took the West End by storm when she won the coveted lead female role of Sandy on ITV reality TV show Grease Is The Word in 2007. She received rave reviews for her performance.

Since then she has gone from strength to strength and has managed to sustain her leading lady title.

She is currently playing Milly in the stage adaptation of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.

A source said: "It's a fantastic achievement once again for Susan. She is in a class of her own. Long may her success continue.

"She is an absolute professional and a joy to work with. Ireland should be proud of such a talent."

And the London show is beginning to take a decidedly Irish bent -- Susan will be joined on stage by Galway girl Aoife Mulholland, who will play Brooke Wyndham, a murder suspect who is represented by Elle.

Aoife, who has just completed her run as Roxie in the West End production of Chicago, got her big break in theatre when she appeared on BBC reality talent show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria in 2006.

Legally Blonde the Musical is Susan's third West End show in two years. It will kick off at the Savoy theatre on December 5.

hnews@herald.ie

- Lisa Marie Berry

Feb 21 2009 by Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo

Susan McFadden’s rise to fame wasn’t all greased lightening. But now she has the spotlight, she’s determined not to let it go finds GAVIN ALLEN

SUSAN McFadden says that if she is to turn her reality TV breakthrough into a lasting career she will do it by following the example of Connie Fisher.

McFadden, who stars in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers at The New Theatre from Monday, shot to fame as the winner of ITV show Grease Is the Word. It landed her a starring role in the West End, playing Sandy opposite Danny Bayne as Danny Zuko, and fulfilled her childhood dreams.

The next step is to seek longevity and she aims to do that by following in the footsteps of the Pembrokeshire star who first succeeded in reality audition show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria.

“Connie Fisher is the one,” says McFadden, pictured, who left Dublin at 21 to try her hand in London.

“People in the business do look to her. Connie has done so much since The Sound Of Music and I know I look at her and think, ‘If she can do it, I can do it’.

“She has done it the right way and her talent has prevailed. She didn’t succeed because she was lucky on a TV show, she got it because she is talented and she worked hard.”

Seven Brides ... is McFadden’s first engagement since finishing Grease and she believes it was a good move.

“My first choice after Grease was crucial, because you don’t want Grease to be your one hit wonder and then fade into oblivion,” she says.

“I wanted to use it as a first step into a long term career and not be my 15 minutes of fame. I needed something meatier, something contrasting.

“For me, this is more of an acting role. Grease was very much just a singing role.”

This year-long tour as Milly, the Oregon girl who falls in love with Adam and winds up playing school ma’am and matchmaker to his six brothers, will do much to cement her credentials. Where Grease ensured full theatres because of the TV juggernaut that accompanied it, Seven Brides ... is going to test her ability to stand on her own two feet as a performer, and sell a show on her own name. But McFadden says she feels no pressure.

“I don’t think I will ever have more pressure on me than I did for Grease because it was on TV and people wanted to see if I could deliver live after all those weeks on TV,” she says.

“For this I auditioned like everyone else. When we first did Grease people were wary because they didn’t know our backgrounds. That was a lot of pressure.”

People often presume that McFadden’s rise was assured because she had a famous brother, former Westlife singer Brian, pulling strings for her behind the scenes, but she points out that he was able to do very little for her career because he worked in a different field.

“He’s a singer/songwriter and I’m in stage musicals,” says McFadden, who built a successful stage musical career in Ireland before leaving for London.

McFadden is doing as she has always done and walking her own path, singing her heart out every night and acting for all she’s worth.

And playing an outdoors type of woman is quite a stretch for her. Can she generally be found chopping wood or raising a barn?

“No,” she laughs. “I’m more into going to get my nails done!”