Helen Reddy

Helen Maxine Lamond Reddy (born 25 October 1941) is an Australian singer, actress, and activist. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed 15 singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six made the Top 10 and three reached No. 1, including her signature hit "I Am Woman". She is often referred to as the "Queen of '70s Pop."

Reddy placed 25 songs on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart; 15 made the Top 10 and eight reached No. 1, six consecutively. In 1974, at the inaugural American Music Awards, she became the first artist to win the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. She was the first Australian to have three No. 1 hits in the same year. In television, she was the first Australian to host her own one-hour weekly primetime variety show on an American network, along with several specials that were seen in more than 40 countries.

Reddy retired from live performance in 2002, returned to university in Australia and earned her degree, and practiced as a clinical hypnotherapist and motivational speaker. In 2011, after singing "Breezin' Along With the Breeze" with her sister, Toni Lamond, for Toni's birthday, she decided to return to live performing.

Helen Reddy (album)

Helen Reddy is the second album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy and was released in the fall of 1971 by Capitol Records. Reddy's selections include tracks by singer-songwriters Carole King, John Lennon, Randy Newman, and Donovan. It debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated December 4, 1971, and had a seven-week chart run in which it got as high as number 167. On March 29, 2005, the album was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being I Don't Know How to Love Him, Reddy's debut LP that originally came out in the spring of 1971.

Single

Billboard's December 4, 1971, issue also marked the first appearance of the single from the album, "No Sad Song", on the magazine's Hot 100, where it spent eight weeks and peaked at number 62, and the December 25 issue, three weeks later, began the song's four weeks on the Easy Listening chart, where it reached number 32. It also reached number 51 on the pop chart in Canada's RPM magazine.

Center Stage (Helen Reddy album)

Center Stage is an album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in 1998 by Varèse Sarabande. Reddy describes the album as the perfect melding of two areas of her career: "the recording studio and the theatrical stage. I tried to select songs from various songwriters in different eras. I've also included (of course) a song from each of the musical shows I've performed in."

Singles

The album version of "Surrender" and a longer dance version were released together as a CD single but did not have any appearances on Billboard's Hot 100 or Adult Contemporary charts. Of the album version, Reddy writes, "Andrew Lloyd Webber is very rigid about his songs being sung exactly as written. I gave him his due in the first pass at this song from Sunset Boulevard (originally sung over the body of a dead monkey). However, my need for self-expression found its voice in the second half."

Reception

Joe Viglione of Allmusic describes the album as "masterful" and writes, "The song selection is tremendous, and the performance is a milestone for a singer who has already conquered other formats. Center Stage is a delightful treat and will be a considered a classic years down the road, on that you can be sure."Billboard clarifies, "It's not that she has refashioned her vocal approach -- it remains an affecting ballad voice. But it's employed in the interest here of classy, mostly rarely recorded ballads from the world of musical theater." They conclude, "Reddy makes daring choices throughout this album and meets the challenge every time."

Center Stage

Center Stage or Centre Stage may refer to:

Films, theatre, TV, radio

Music

See also

Centre Stage (Kimberley Walsh album)

Centre Stage is the debut studio album from British pop singer Kimberley Walsh, released on 4 February 2013 through Decca Records. The album is Walsh's first solo music release outside of British girl group Girls Aloud after working in acting, television presenting, and theatre. It consists of covers of songs from popular musical theatre and musical films, a passion which Walsh has wished to pursue since she was just three years old, as well as two brand new songs. Centre Stage also features duets with fellow performers Louise Dearman and Ronan Keating.

Background and development

In 2008, for the ITV2 television series The Passions of Girls Aloud, Walsh set forth to achieve her lifelong dream of appearing in a West End production. She met with a vocal coach to practice using her upper register, which she had not used for years. Walsh auditioned for Les Misérables, and explained that "the audition was scary because I haven’t auditioned since Popstars: The Rivals. It was frightening." In 2009, Girls Aloud announced they would take a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects, but would reunite for a new studio album in 2010. In August 2010, bandmate Nicola Roberts revealed that she wasn't anticipating a reunion of the band until 2012. Walsh then made her first foray into a solo music career when she appeared on the Aggro Santos song "Like U Like" in 2011. In October 2011, Walsh made her West End theatre debut, playing Princess Fiona in the London production of Shrek the Musical. The announcement came after Amanda Holden announced her pregnancy in August 2011.

Center Stage (2000 film)

Center Stage is a 2000 American teen drama film, directed by Nicholas Hytner, about a group of young dancers from various backgrounds who enroll at the fictitious American Ballet Academy in New York City. The film explores the issues and difficulties in the world of professional dance, and how each individual copes with the stresses.

Plot

After a series of country-wide auditions, 12 young dancers gain entry to the American Ballet Academy (which is loosely based on the School of American Ballet). They work hard, attending classes every day for weeks to make them the best dancers they can possibly be, and in preparations for a final dance workshop which will determine the three boys and three girls who will be asked to join the American Ballet Company (which appears to be based on either the American Ballet Theatre or the New York City Ballet). The workshop will also provide an opportunity for the students to showcase their talent to other ballet companies across the country. Gaining a leading part in the workshop is therefore essential.