Ep 59: Daniel Boys, West End lead, TV and recording artist.

Daniel won a Cameron Mackintosh scholarship to study at the Guildford School of Acting, where he graduated with a BA (Honours) in 2001. He was selected to perform in the first UK tour of Jonathan Larson's Rent, which meant leaving college early. He understudied the characters of Mark (played by Adam Rickitt) and Angel, eventually taking over the role of Mark, performing on alternate nights at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London's West End. In 2002, he played Morino in the UK tour of Sunset Boulevard, which starred Faith Brown. Boys also appeared as Roger, one of the T-birds, in Grease at the Victoria Palace. He also went on the touring production to Japan, and playing the role of Doody in Scandinavia and Cyprus. Daniel was also a soloist in Disney's Enchanted Evening (a series of UK concerts in 2004), of which the final concert was televised on BBC1 as the BBC Family Prom in the Park.

In 2005, Boys took part in BBC London's Children in Need – The Musical. He also performed at Party in the Park with the company of Grease. Guest TV appearances with Grease also included Blue Peter and The Graham Norton Show. His other early theatre credits include; Austin in I Love You Because (Landor in 2007), Anthony in Sweeney Todd (Royal Festival Hall in 2007), Mark in Rent (European Tour in 2006) and Parson Nathaniel (u/s) in Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds (National Tour in 2007). He also understudied all male roles. He can be seen on the live tour DVD special features, performing in place of Russell Watson in the dress rehearsal.

In 2007 he participated in the BBC reality show Any Dream Will Do and was the 7th contestant to be eliminated from the series. During the series, the judges tested his vocal skills on a wide variety of music genres including rock, swing, ballads, and pop. His only opportunity to sing a musical theatre number was during a sing-off, in which he performed "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables against Lewis Bradley.

Daniel has appeared as Anthony Hope in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which was one of the first shows to open at the newly restored Royal Festival Hall and in late 2008, he joined the cast of the hit show Avenue Q and played the lead roles of Princeton and Rod and won the "What's on Stage Theatregoers Choice Award" for "Best Takeover in a Role" for his performance.

Daniel has performed at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday concert in Hyde Park, appeared on the BBC programme "Songs of Praise" and toured with John Barrowman on his Music Music Music tour. On 6 December 2009, Boys performed with fellow artists in "Christmas in New York" at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Among his songs were "Ave Maria" and "Winter Wonderland".

In 2009 Daniel's debut solo album So Close was released and he embarked on a series of solo concerts performing at venues such as Leicester Square Theatre, the Delfont Room in the Prince of Wales Theatre, Wilton Music Hall, Greenwich Theatre and three sold-out performances at Pizza on the Park (Jazz Club), London. He made his American debut with the show when he performed at Show at Barre (Los Angeles), supported by Broadway actress Megan Hilty, and in Australia he played at both Sydney and the Adelaide Cabaret Festival alongside acts such as Olivia Newton-John and Chita Rivera.

In February 2010, Boys performed with Jessie Buckley in two concerts in Manchester and Birmingham entitled "Valentines at the Musicals" including songs from West Side Story and My Fair Lady'.

See here for further career credits