Ellis was born in 1979 in Haughley, a small village near Stowmarket, Suffolk, where she grew up with her older brother Andrew. Ellis attended Stowmarket High School and in 1995, she joined the team of Starmakers at the age of 16, with which she was involved until 1997. In 1996 and 1997, as a member of Starmakers, Ellis performed musical numbers such as "Memory" from Cats and "Sun and Moon" from Miss Saigon.Following this, Ellis returned to formal stage training at Laine Theatre Arts.
In 1999 Ellis sang on a recording for Children in Need and did a jingle for Capital Radio. In 2004 she worked with Queen lead guitarist Brian May to record an orchestral version of the song "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)", originally a Queen song and featured in the musical We Will Rock You.[7]
In 2000, Kerry became a member of the My Fair Lady cast and became second understudy to Martine McCutcheon for the lead role of Eliza Dolittle, which she got to play on five occasions. During 2000 Ellis also understudied Marti Webb in Magic Of The Musicals.
In 2002, Ellis originated the role of Meat in We Will Rock You, and played this role for two years, making appearances for performances such as "Party in the Park", "Party in the Palace" and Parkinson. Ellis left the cast of We Will Rock You on 17 April 2004 and went on to play Ellen in Cameron Mackintosh's UK tour of Miss Saigon. On 7 June 2005 she joined the cast of Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre, portraying the character Fantine.
In 2006, Ellis joined the cast of West End's new production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, as the temporary standby for Idina Menzel, who originated the lead role. She took the role of Elphaba over full-time after Menzel's pre-planned departure on 30 December 2006. Effectively, Ellis is the first British actress to play the role of Elphaba. For this role, Ellis won "Best Takeover in a Role" at the 2008 Theatregoer's Choice Awards.
On 7 June 2008 Ellis temporarily departed the Apollo Victoria Theatre, where she was succeeded by Alexia Khadime. She transferred to the Broadway production of Wicked with performances starting from 17 June 2008. Ellis replaced actress Stephanie J. Block on Broadway, making her the first Elphaba to transfer from the West End to Broadway. For her run in the Broadway production Ellis won the Broadway.com Audience Award for "Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Female)". Ellis left the Broadway Company on 9 November 2008 and she was replaced by Marcie Dodd.
Ellis returned to the West End production on 1 December 2008 and completed her time with Wicked on 9 May 2009, when Alexia Khadime returned.
On 12 May and 13 2008, Ellis performed alongside Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Josh Groban in a special performance of Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Ellis performed her rock version of "Defying Gravity" at the Royal Variety Performance 2008 on 11 December at the London Palladium in the presence of senior members of the Royal family.
Ellis recently worked with Steve Sidwell to produce new recordings of the Wicked songs "I'm Not That Girl" and "No Good Deed". It was expected that a teaser CD of her forthcoming debut album, produced by Brian May in the time since Ellis left We Will Rock You and featuring drum tracks by Taylor Hawkins, would become available in June before she left for Broadway.
The teaser CD was released on 7 July 2008 as Wicked In Rock and features rock versions of Wicked songs "I'm Not That Girl", "Defying Gravity" and a remastered version of her We Will Rock You song, "No One But You". The CD is on sale in London musical shop, Dress Circle, at the Gershwin Theatre and is available on the British iTunes. A limited edition 12" vinyl has also been released to purchase from Dress Circle.
During her time performing as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway, Ellis recorded a song for Scott Alan entitled "Behind these Walls". This song is featured on his album Keys.
In January 2009, Ellis sang with Mazz Murray and Peter Johansson in the Champions of Rock concert at De Geerhallen in Norrköping, Sweden.
In March 2009, Ellis and other West End actors recorded songs for a musical treatment of Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind.
On 15th and 16th May 2009, Ellis performed with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra alongside Mazz Murray, MiG Ayesa and Ricardo Afonso at the Symphonic Queen Spectacular at the Bournemouth International Centre's Windsor Hall. She is set to perform similar concerts in Weybridge on 1st August and Romsey on 15th August 2009 plus possibly others around the country from July through to September.
During June 2009 Ellis performed 4 shows called "The Great British Songbook" at the Shaw Theatre.
Ellis performed with John Barrowman at the Henley Festival on 10 July 2009.
Kerry appeared in OK! magazine on 23rd June alongside Patina Miller talking about "The Great British Songbook" and her time in Wicked.
On June 20, 21, 25 and 26 June 2009, Kerry performed her first solo concerts at The Shaw Theatre, Euston Road, London. The Great British Songbook celebrated the work of many of our leading contemporary composers and lyricists, including Queen, Coldplay, The Feeling and Goldfrapp. The series was devised by Neil Marcus and the Arranger and Musical Director was Steve Sidwell.
Ellis has also done the workshops for Way Beyond Blue, written by Imogen Stubbs and directed by Trevor Nunn and the title role in Helen of Troy, directed by Gary Griffin.
Let It Go
Kerry Ellis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,
Not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.
The wind is howling like the swirling storm inside.
Don't let them in, don't let them see, be the good girl you always had to be.
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
Well now they know.
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand and here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fuse that once controlled me, can't get to me at all.
Up in here in the cold wind air, I finally can breathe.
I know I left a life behind, but I'm too relieved to grieve.
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand, and here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway(Standing, frozen, in the life I've chosen you will find methe past is well behind me, buried in the snow)
Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn my back and slam the door
And here I stand, and here I'll stay
Let it go, let it go
The cold never bothered me anyway, woah(na na, na na, na na na na) Na, na, you said, let it go, let it go, oooo
Let it go
These lyrics are taken from the popular song "Let It Go" sung by Kerry Ellis, featured on the soundtrack for the Disney film Frozen. The song is a powerful anthem about letting go of the past and embracing oneself. It's sung by Elsa, the main character in the movie, who is a princess and struggles with the fact that she has magic powers that she cannot control. Throughout the song, Elsa sings about the isolation she feels and the pressure to conform to society's expectations. The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen represents the fact that Elsa feels alone and isolated with her powers. She sings about the pressure she feels to hide her powers - Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know - but ultimately decides to embrace them - Well now they know. The line, And here I stand, and here I'll stay, is a declaration of Elsa's newfound freedom, and the repetition of Let it go throughout the song is both a refrain and a command to herself, urging her to let go of her past and embrace who she truly is.
Line by Line Meaning
Let it go, let it go
Release your troubles and let them go
Can't hold it back anymore
I can no longer suppress my feelings
Turn my back and slam the door
I am leaving behind my past and moving forward
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,
The setting is peaceful and serene yet lonely
Not a footprint to be seen.
I am alone in my thoughts and feelings
A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.
I am embracing my loneliness and taking control of my life
The wind is howling like the swirling storm inside.
My emotions are raging and I cannot control them
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried.
I have been suppressing my feelings for too long
Don't let them in, don't let them see, be the good girl you always had to be.
I have been living my life for others, pretending to be a certain way in order to fit in
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
I have been hiding my true feelings and emotions from the world
Well now they know.
I am no longer hiding and I am finally being true to myself
And here I stand and here I'll stay
I am taking a stand and will not be swayed by others
The cold never bothered me anyway
I am embracing the loneliness and the unknown because I know it is what I need to do for myself
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
Being away from my old life has given me perspective and helped me see things more clearly
And the fuse that once controlled me, can't get to me at all.
I am no longer being controlled by my emotions and past, I am in control of my own life
Up in here in the cold wind air, I finally can breathe.
I am free and able to breathe in the fresh air of change
I know I left a life behind, but I'm too relieved to grieve.
I am happy to leave my old life behind because I know this is what I need for my own wellbeing
The cold never bothered me anyway
I am embracing the unknown and will not let the cold and loneliness get to me
Na, na, you said, let it go, let it go, oooo
I am reminded to let go of my past and embrace the present
Let it go
I need to release my past and move on
Contributed by Riley T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.