Elinore O'Connell

Elinore O'Connell began a lifelong fascination with combining acting and singing while growing up in a musically-minded Irish Catholic family on the beaches of Santa Ana, California. The youngest of seven children raised by East Coast parents, Elinore fiddled away among her siblings at many a seaside campfire, framed by countless episodes of rigorous body surfing by day and long, inspirational walks by sunset. Her mother was a homemaker and writer, whose family for generations had been vaudevillians and singers; her father was a 30-year US Marine Sargent and Veteran of three wars. A steady, creative, inspired and tough product of the two, Elinore received great gifts that would well serve any actor and vocalist. As a child playing in the very bean field that later became The Orange County Center for the Performing Arts, her destiny has been no surprise. Elinore attended University of California, Los Angeles, where she received a Masters of Fine Arts. While a student, she won the Universities' most prestigious "Hugh O'Brian Award for Acting" before setting out to pursue her career in the performing arts. In Los Angeles, she was a guest Star on such TV shows as "General Hospital", "Murder She Wrote", "Entertainment Tonight". Her most pivotal role, however, arguably came to be when she was cast in the coveted stage role of "Fantine" in the original Los Angeles Company of "Les Miserables" (1989). As such, she was the 3rd woman in the world ever to play Fantine. Her award winning performance was directed and developed by the original Les Miserables creative team and it was during this period when Elinore O'Connell made a memorable performance on the "Tonight Show with Johnny Carson", where she sang "I Dreamed a Dream" and was interviewed . Elinore made her movie debut as Julia Robert's mother in the blockbuster feature, "Flatliners". Her New York City debut occurred when Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber selected her as his Broadway leading lady in "Aspects of Love", under the direction of Sir Trevor Nunn. Lloyd Webber subsequently bestowed upon her the honor of singing his most famous song, "Memory", for his ongoing World Tour in front of 10-20,000 fans per show. She went on to tour with many esteemed First Broadway National Tours. Elinore has recorded three albums including "A small circle of friends" with her sister Sheila O'Connell and composer Roger Nichols. In 1998, Elinore married Niall Kelleher, who since 2005 is a leading Organizer for the New York City Marathon, UPS division. The couple have one child. Elinore enjoys being a teaching artist and has been on the faculty of the world-famous crowd inside the "Actors Studio" school in NYC where she has taught voice for the actor. Presently Elinore is in studio with the highly acclaimed musical director Paul Bogeav, as they develop new interpretations of songs for the modern musical theater. Her current signature "Elinore Sings Jazz" concert series continues her scintillating flair, being received with great audience enthusiasm. Show less «