Welcome!
If you were any where near the West End during the 80's/early 90's it was nearly impossible not to know or have heard the name: Martin Smith.
Martin Smith was a very popular performer, actor, singer, and composer in the West End in London before his unfortunate death in 1994. He starred in leading roles in many musicals, including Evita, March Of the Falsettos, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, A Swell Party and City Of Angels.
I have created this website to help keep his memory alive. You can find an extensive biography of his work, audio and video clips of him performing, production photos and headshots, and memories and reviews from fans and friends of his.
Martin Smith was a very popular performer, actor, singer, and composer in the West End in London before his unfortunate death in 1994. He starred in leading roles in many musicals, including Evita, March Of the Falsettos, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, A Swell Party and City Of Angels.
I have created this website to help keep his memory alive. You can find an extensive biography of his work, audio and video clips of him performing, production photos and headshots, and memories and reviews from fans and friends of his.
About the author of this website:
I sadly never was around when Martin was alive.
I discovered Martin through an old tape of Les Miserables from 1987. Martin had performed as Jean Valjean on occasion and luckily there was a video going around of it. I had heard of Martin from the Phantom of the Opera fandom as he is sort of a big mystery there, I had never heard him sing before and was curious about his work, all I knew he was well known in the West End during that time, he was in Les Miserables and Evita, and that he had passed away in 1994.
I watched the video and liked his voice, I wanted to learn more. By some miracle a friend of mine found me an mp3 copy of his out of print solo album, Martin Smith & A Handful Of Keys. This was the true start of my love. Martin had such an incredibly unique voice and his ability to not just sing, but act/truly live and embody a song was remarkable. I wanted to hear more.
I began looking up albums he appeared on and bootleg tapes that were out there. I bought a bunch of additional tracks on iTunes. He slowly but surely was becoming one of my favorite singers and performers.
Now, at that point, all there was for information of Martin was a very scarcely-written Wikipedia article. I thought this was an absolute outrage, his work was slowly fading into obscurity and there was no place for decent information, audio clips, photos, or anything really!
Taking matters into my own hands, I created this website.
It is a constant work in progress as I discover more about his work and as more material shows up. I hope you all enjoy your visit on the website, and if you're unfamiliar with his work, that you'll learn to love his singing, acting, and all around incredible talent as much as I have.
~Brady
I discovered Martin through an old tape of Les Miserables from 1987. Martin had performed as Jean Valjean on occasion and luckily there was a video going around of it. I had heard of Martin from the Phantom of the Opera fandom as he is sort of a big mystery there, I had never heard him sing before and was curious about his work, all I knew he was well known in the West End during that time, he was in Les Miserables and Evita, and that he had passed away in 1994.
I watched the video and liked his voice, I wanted to learn more. By some miracle a friend of mine found me an mp3 copy of his out of print solo album, Martin Smith & A Handful Of Keys. This was the true start of my love. Martin had such an incredibly unique voice and his ability to not just sing, but act/truly live and embody a song was remarkable. I wanted to hear more.
I began looking up albums he appeared on and bootleg tapes that were out there. I bought a bunch of additional tracks on iTunes. He slowly but surely was becoming one of my favorite singers and performers.
Now, at that point, all there was for information of Martin was a very scarcely-written Wikipedia article. I thought this was an absolute outrage, his work was slowly fading into obscurity and there was no place for decent information, audio clips, photos, or anything really!
Taking matters into my own hands, I created this website.
It is a constant work in progress as I discover more about his work and as more material shows up. I hope you all enjoy your visit on the website, and if you're unfamiliar with his work, that you'll learn to love his singing, acting, and all around incredible talent as much as I have.
~Brady
