Christina Bennington
Christina Bennington is a Northern Irish actress and singer, best known for originating the lead role of Raven in , in various productions of the show from 2017 to 2019 in both the UK and North America.
Career
Theatre
| Show | Location | Role | Year |
| A Christmas Carol | Birmingham, UK | Marilyn | 2013 |
| Finian's Rainbow | London, UK | Sharon | 2014 |
| The Smallest Show on Earth | Mercury Theatre, Colchester, UK | Marlene Hardcastle | 2015 |
| Oklahoma! | UK Tour | Ensemble / cover Laurey | 2015 |
| Show Boat | New London Theatre, London, UK | Kim / Ensemble / understudy Magnolia | 2016 |
| ' | Derby Theatre / Mercury Theatre, Colchester, UK | Johanna Barker | 2016 |
| ' | Manchester Opera House, Manchester, UK | Raven | 2017 |
| ' | London Coliseum, London, UK | Raven | 2017 |
| ' | Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto, Canada | Raven | 2017 - 2018 |
| ' | Dominion Theatre, London, UK | Raven | 2018 - 2019 |
| ' | New York City Center, New York, USA | Raven | 2019 |
Bennington has starred as Raven in all English-language productions of Bat Out Of Hell The Musical since the show's launch in Manchester 2017, with the exception of the ill-fated 2018 North American tour, as this ran concurrently with the show's West End run at the Dominion Theatre, London.
The show's author / composer Jim Steinman is quoted to have said of her: "Christina is so petite but she's got an incredibly big voice and stage presence. She plays Raven with the perfect amount of youthful enthusiasm and coming of age curiosity. She's beautiful and strong."
According to one of the musical's producers David Sonenberg, the show itself has been "unbelievably profitable" and by August 2018 had played to over 500,000 people. It also broke box office records at the Dominion Theatre, taking £350,000 in its first day of ticket sales.
Discography
Bennington features heavily on the cast recording for Bat Out Of Hell The Musical in her role as Raven, singing the song Heaven Can Wait as a solo, duetting on the songs Making Love Out Of Nothing At All and For Crying Out Loud, and featuring as a lead in the songs It's All Coming Back To Me Now and I'd Do Anything For Love .In late 2018, Bennington joined two groups in recording charity singles - as one of "The Celebs" in a charity record Rock With Rudolph, a Christmas song which aimed to raise funds for the Great Ormond Street Hospital, and as part of the "West End Friends" recording the Carole King song You Got A Friend to raise money for Barnardo's.
Televised theatre performances
She also appeared as Raven in several televised performances of songs from Bat Out Of Hell. On UK television, this includes appearances on Tonight at the London Palladium, This Morning, Britain's Got Talent, and as one of the contributing acts in the 2018 Proms In The Park, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. And on US television, as part of the cast performing on The Today Show.Concerts
Bennington performed two sold out solo shows at The Crazy Coqs in London on January 7, 2019.Awards and nominations
Bennington was nominated for "Understudy of the Year" in the BroadwayWorld UK awards for Magnolia in Showboat at the New London Theatre in 2016.For her role as Raven in Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, Bennington received nominations for "Best Actress in a Musical" in two award ceremonies: the 2017 BroadwayWorld UK Awards, and the 2018 WhatsOnStage Awards. The show Bat Out Of Hell The Musical won The Evening Standard's "Best Musical" award in 2017, and Bennington accepted the award alongside co-star Andrew Polec.