Perry Cree

Perry Cree began his entertainment career in 1970 at the age of eight with a number of appearances in Yorkshire Television’s ‘Junior Showtime,’ filmed in Leeds. Following this he had a weekly slot on Radio Leicester in which he played various characters in a series of broadcasts aimed at children.

He went on to appear in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at the Haymarket Theatre at the age of twelve, a part which he reprised several times over the next three years, not only at the Haymarket Theatre but also at other venues including the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. The part of ‘King’ was originally played by Michael Atwell and subsequently Cy Grant, including a special appearance by Bill Maynard standing in for Michael Atwell.

In between reprised productions of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ Perry also appeared in ‘Babes In The Wood,’ ‘Dick Whittington,’ and ‘Little Lamb.’ He was also a member of the Leicester Children’s Choir under the direction of Robert Mandell and performed regularly at the Leicester De Montfort Hall.

At the age of fourteen he was cast in ‘Little Lamb’ which was written by the actress and author Liane Aukin and saw Perry playing alongside Bill Wallis and legendary screen actress Heather Sears in the Studio Theatre, a separate theatre created by the Haymarket Theatre which was a former rehearsal room. Directed by Robin Midgley, it was a dramatic role and further highlighted Perry’s talents as a serious actor.

In 1979 he landed a role in the Central TV production of ‘Starting Out,’ which was a TV series about the trials and tribulations of youngsters who were embarking on their life after leaving school and their search for employment.

Later that year after an audition with Sue Pomeroy, Perry was given the part of ‘Pemmo’ in Alan Bleasdale’s ‘No More Sitting On The Old School Bench’ at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester, a performance that was to bring his talents to the attention of director Ian Giles. Later that same year, Perry successfully passed an acting audition for the director and a singing audition before Sue Townsend and the musical director and was given the lead role of ‘Hero’ in ‘Killer On The Dance Floor.’

‘Killer On The Dance Floor’ was a new musical production written by the now legendary music producer Trevor Horn and Rod Thompson, both of whom were responsible for the number one record ‘Video Killed The Radio Star,’ a massive hit for The Buggles in 1979. The play was set in a futuristic city which Hero, as a young innocent youth, was to find both adventurous and daunting. The show featured many original songs performed by Perry including, ‘Going To The City,’ and the show-stopping ballad, ‘Where Do I Go From Here.’ The production favoured well with the press as newspaper reviews of the time will testify. The original draft of the play was re-written for the stage by Sue Townsend who would later go on to create Adrian Mole and with who Perry would again work with at a later stage in his career.

Various productions followed on from ‘Killer On The Dance Floor’ including ‘King Lear,’ ‘Little Brother Little Sister,’ ‘Henry IV,’ ‘We Can’t Pay We Won’t Pay,’ and ‘Jack Sheppard’ in which Perry played various characters.

He was to work with Sue Townsend again on a new musical production entitled ‘The Ghost of Daniel Lambert,’ which was written by the Adrian Mole author. It premiered at the Phoenix Theatre in Leicester before transferring to the Haymarket Theatre. The musical production for the show was by Rick Lloyd who later went on to have massive success with the acappella group The Flying Pickets. A single featuring songs from the show was recorded and released. One of Perry’s solo numbers from the show entitled ‘Wide Boy’ (and later released on a single by The Flying Pickets) was the stand-out track on the single and received regular airplay on local radio stations.

After ‘The Ghost of Daniel Lambert,’ he played the part of Lamar in ‘Godspell’ at the Haymarket Theatre, Brick in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at The Exchange Theatre, Tom Wingfield in ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at The Gate Theatre and returned to appear in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ on two occasions at the Bristol Hippodrome.

He recorded and released a cover version of The Beatles song ‘Let it Be’ in 1984.

His final stage role was in the 1988 play ‘The Miracle Worker’ at the Lyric Hammersmith where he played the part of James Keller.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, Perry was frequently involved in the Eurovision Song Contest and also performed extensively as a vocalist in venues throughout the country and in Europe.

He turned to television in the late 1990’s where he appeared on several TV shows including Crossroads, The Bill, Casualty, Holby City, Doctors, Soldiers, Heartbeat, London’s Burning, Emmerdale Farm, Coronation Street, Brookside, Selwynn Frogitt and an appearance on a cookery show with James Martin on Sky TV, which is a popular video on YouTube. He also appeared many times on BBC’s ‘Top of the Pops’ as a backing vocalist for a variety of top hit stars including Visage, Tight Fit, Modern Romance, and many others.

Perry has worked with a variety of notable performers such as Alan Rickman, Irene Handl, Bill Maynard, Sue Townsend, Nigel Havers, Leslie Crowther, Mia Farrow, Heather Sears, Eleanor Summerfield, Carol Cleveland, Nigel Bennett, Don Estelle, Windsor Davies and Liane Aukin. He has also had the pleasure over the years of being in the company of famous names such as Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Edward Fox, Celia Imrie, Millicent Martin, Nigel Davenport, Corin Redgrave, Frances de la Tour and others too numerous to mention.

He is currently recording a new album to be released in the latter half of 2022.