Madalena Alberto is a Portuguese actress, singer and composer who has developed her career in London's West End. Alberto received rave reviews for her role as Eva Perón in Evita in the West End (2014), where the show arrived after its UK Tour.[1] Alberto played the role of Fantine in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Misérables.[2]
Career
Her professional debut was in Aladdin at the Old Vic, London, with Sir Ian McKellen (2005).[3] She has developed her career mainly in Musical Theatre performing the roles of Lucy in The Threepenny Opera (Lisbon, 2005), Carmen Diaz in Fame (UK Tour, 2007) and Hunyak in Chicago (Kuala Lumpur, 2007).[4] Alberto was part of the original cast of the West End production of Zorro the Musical (Garrick Theatre, 2008), playing the role of Luisa at certain performances; and in the summer of 2009, Alberto played the role of Sam in Christopher Hamilton's new musical Over the Threshold at the Edinburgh Festival. The show transferred to the Jermyn Street Theatre, London.[5]
In 2013, Alberto played the role of Édith Piaf in Pam Gems' Piaf, at Leicester's Curve Theatre directed by Paul Kerrison.[9]
Alberto starred as Eva Perón in the 2013–2014 UK tour of Evita alongside Marti Pellow as Che. Produced by Bill Kenwright, the tour opened at London's New Wimbledon Theatre on 15 May. The first length of the tour concluded in Peterborough on 9 November 2013. The second length of this UK Tour, opened in Oxford on 22 January 2014, and ended in Aylesbury on 19 July 2014. Afterwards, Evita with Mark Powell replacing Marti Pellow, ran at the Kursaal Oostende in Belgium from 29 July to 10 August 2014.[10] Alberto received rave reviews for this role.
On 27 June 2014 it was announced that Evita was due to open on Tuesday 16 September 2014 at the recently refurbished Dominion Theatre for 55 performances only starring Marti Pellow and Alberto.[11] After a successful run in the West End, receiving rave reviews for her role, Alberto was nominated as Best Actress in a Musical in the 15th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards.[12]
Madalena made her solo concert debut in London, Don't Cry For Me, on 25 July 2015, at St. James Studio, with Alfonso Casado as MD, and with Sophie Evans, Ceilli O’Connor, Simon Bailey, Jade Anouka and Sam Cassidy as guest artists.[14]
Alberto performed alongside Ricardo Afonso and Sofia Escobar at the Golden Globe Awards in Portugal on 29 May 2011.[16]
Alberto made her Spanish debut in Barcelona on 3 December 2012, performing in an intimate concert at La Cova del Drac with Nina and Daniel Anglès as special guests.[17] She came back to Barcelona in 2015, performing at L'Auditori (Sala Alicia Larrocha) on 24 March with Joan Tena, Lucy Lummis and Anna Mateo as special guests.[18]
She performed in the gala concert 'O Melhor dos Musicais no Coliseu' at the Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon, alongside Robyn North, John Owen-Jones and Henrique Feist on 22 February 2013 under the musical direction of Nuno Feist. This concert took place again on 20 November 2014 with Sofia Escobar replacing Robyn North.[19]
Alberto combines her work as an actress with her career as a composer and performing her own songs. She released Foreign Sketches - Live Studio Recording -her first solo album- in March 2011;[20] and on 5 September 2012 she released the EP Heart Condition, her first collaboration with other musicians.[21] In her songs, Alberto expresses universal feelings about emancipation, dreams, drugs, sex, betrayal and jealousy. She performs her music in different London venues such as The 100 Club, The Regal Room, The Troubador, Parker McMillan or Ryan's Bar. Alberto has also offered different concerts in Lisbon, her hometown, in December 2011 (Vinyl, Braço de Prata), April 2012 (Vinyl) and December 2022 (Avenew).[22]
Recordings include Les Misérables Live! – The 2010 Cast album,[23]Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 CD and DVD,[24] and The Postman and the Poet[25] and One Touch of Venus[26] released by Jay Records. Alberto can also be heard at John Owen-Jones album Rise released in March 2015.[27] In March 2014 Alberto released her solo album Don’t Cry For Me, released by BK Records, performing musical theatre classics.[28]
Alberto reprised her role as Eva Perón in Evita in 2017-2018, for the UK and world tour. Notable UK venues included the Palace Theatre (Manchester), King's Theatre (Glasgow) and Theatre Royal (Newcastle). Alberto also played in Dubai, Luxembourg and Italy as part of the tour. On 2 June 2018, Alberto gave her final performance as Eva Perón.[33]
In 2020, Madalena was asked to come into the Portuguese comedy soap-opera Amor, Amor, playing the role of Julieta and appearing in more than 50 episodes.[37]
In 2023, Madalena originated the role of Maggie, in Warner Brown’s new musical Killing the Cat (Riverside Studios, London);[40] and played the role of Alice Bean in Maury Yeston’s Titanic, which toured in several cities across mainland Republic of China.[41]
