Mario Frangoulis

Mario Frangoulis (Μάριος Φραγκούλης; born 1967) is a Greek vocalist and theatre actor, famous for his refined tenor vocals.

Born in Rhodesia, Frangoulis after his three-decade long career has established himself as a critically and commercially acclaimed recording artist and vocal performer in Greece and neighbouring countries.

His initial rise to international prominence came with his hit song "Vincerò, Perderò" and his rendition of the song "Nights in White Satin".

Discovered by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Frangoulis has made his official theatre debut as Marius Pontmercy in Les Misérables, and later performed in The Phantom of the Opera and the rendition of Grease.

He has recorded songs in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek, and is fluent in all five languages.

Frangoulis was born in 1967 in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

When he was four years old he was sent to Athens, Greece to live with his maternal aunt Loula and her husband George.

The couple adored him and Frangoulis considered them as his parents.

At the age of eight Frangoulis began singing in various choirs, and at the age of eleven he played the part of Issachar in a school production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Other school theatrical performances included the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, and Tony in West Side Story.

When Frangoulis was six years old, he started violin lessons, which he continued for twelve years, receiving a first prize when he was as young as fourteen.

He graduated from the Conservatory in 1984, and although he did not further his violin studies, this particular musical training assisted Frangoulis with his operatic studies later in life.

Frangoulis studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

In 1988, during his final year, he played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a production in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company for the Arundel Festival.

Frangoulis played the lead in the James McConnel/Kit Hesketh-Harvey musical Orlando, where he was spotted by Cameron Mackintosh who after an audition offered him the part of Marius in the West End production of Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre (1988–1989) under the direction of Trevor Nunn.

Also in 1989, Frangoulis, who had never studied classical singing, received the Maria Callas Scholarship for Opera.

After finishing Les Misérables, Frangoulis moved to Italy where he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi at the Verdi Academy in Busseto, graduating six months later.

After a successful audition with conductor Nicola Rescigno and the renowned tenor Alfredo Kraus, Frangoulis moved to Rome in 1990 and became Kraus' first private student, traveling with him around the world to study vocal techniques and repertory.

In 1991, Frangoulis was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to star as Raoul in Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater.

The same year, he appeared alongside Montserrat Caballé, Samuel Ramey and the British Youth Opera in the charity gala "Serenade to a Princess" at the Whitehall Palace, celebrating the birthday of Diana, Princess of Wales.

In 1992, Frangoulis moved to The United States to continue his operatic studies.

With his mentor's Marilyn Horne, suggestion and with the help of the Onassis Scholarship, he completed a three-year long program of vocal courses at the Juilliard School of Music, in New York City as well as studying with soprano Dodi Protero.

In 1992, Frangoulis also traveled to Liverpool, where he performed in an Opera Gala celebrating the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, hosted by Sir Peter Ustinov.

Appearing artists for this event were as well: Montserrat Caballé, Dmitri Hvorostowski, Julia Migenes-Johnson, Dennis O'Neil, Rita Hunter and the late Alfredo Kraus, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus conducted by Robin Stapleton, in the presence of His Majesty Juan Carlos of Spain and HM Queen Sophia, and HRH Prince Andrew of England.

In the summer of the same year, along with stars of the Greek National Opera, he sang at the Athens Concert Hall in an opera gala dedicated to the memory of Maria Callas.

In the summer of 1993, Frangoulis returned to the role of Marius as he starred in a touring cast of Les Misérables, at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.

In 1994 he was the first Greek to become a finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Competition.

In 1995, Frangoulis returned to London to play the role of Lun-Tha in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I during the Covent Garden Festival.

This highly acclaimed performance received great comments from a number of newspapers including the Times and The Guardian.

He also sang the title role in the musical Yusupov in Oxford as well as Johnny in "Sail away" (Savoy theatre in London).

In 1995 he participated in the recording of Bernard J. Taylor's rock opera Nosferatu the Vampire.

He also sang as a Les Misérables alumnus in the Tenth Anniversary Concert of the show at the Royal Albert Hall.

In the summer of 1996, Frangoulis made his debut at the theater of Herodes Atticus, by the Acropolis, in an evening dedicated to the great memory of Leonard Bernstein, with the Orchestra of Colours ( a symphony orchestra created by Greek composer Manos Hatzidakis), singing excerpts from musicals such as West Side Story, Candide, and Our Town.

The following September he returned to the Odeon to play the role of Orpheus in the Orpheus Liturgy, an oratorio that it was broadcast on Greek television.

This marked the start of his collaboration with Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos – also transcribed Giannis Markopoulos.

He reprised the role of Lun-Tha in a concert version of the musical with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wally Harper, with Barbara Cook and his 1996 return to the London cast of Les Misérables.

In February 1997, due to his mother's serious illness, Frangoulis returned to Greece.

There he joined Athens' theatrical scene, notably through his playing Billy Kracker in Kurt Weill's Happy End with the Karolos Koun Art Theater, directed by George Lazanis, the Lead Bird in Aristophanes' comedy The Birds, directed once more by George Lazanis which was performed in almost every major ancient amphitheater of Greece, such as Epidaurus, Sparta, Filippoi and many more.

In September 1997 he was offered the leading role of Danny Zouko in the musical Grease, directed by David Gilmore.

Once more, it was a great success with the Greek media and a great start of Frangoulis's popularity with the Greek public.