Kåre Conradi

Conradi already knew what he wanted to become when he was very young. He started acting at an early age, got small parts in local plays and was on TV for the first time when he was 16, where he tap-danced and sang. After he took his theatre education in Norway, he was offered a job at the National Theatre, where he had his stage debut in 1996. After being here for two years, he travelled to Troendelag Theatre where he did many great things, such as Tony in "West Side Story" and the role of Hamlet. While he was doing this, he decided to go back to school, and ended up at "The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art". When he had completed his studies, he went back to the National Theatre where he stayed for another year.In 2001 he and three other actors/actresses decided to try and spice up the Torshov Theatre (a part of the National Theatre), and had success with plays such as "Circus" and "I Hired A Contract Killer" where Conradi also sang "Love Is In The Air" - in Norwegian. In the summer of 2001, he spent a couple of months in London, England, and tried out for the Bing Crosby part in a West End production of "High Society". After several weeks of auditions, the choice was between him and an English actor. They used Winona Ryder's language coach to change his perfect English accent into American. They ended up choosing the other actor, as he already spoke American fluently. This is something he'll always look back on with great pride.It was not until the beginning of November 2001 that things seriously started happening. He and his colleague, Oeystein Roeger, decided to do "Stones In His Pockets", which has been done in both Ireland and London before. The two actors did almost ten parts each, and the show was sold out with several extra dates, in both January and May to June of 2002. When they later did "The Shadow" (originally HC Andersen) and "The Pianist", sold-out venues were to be expected.In the beginning of 2002, Conradi was asked to be best man at the Royal Wedding, taking place in May the same year. Because of this he was highly profiled, and from being someone only those who were interested in theatre knew, he became one of the most profiled actors in the country. He also did a show prior to the Royal Wedding, then with several European Royalties among the audience. At this show he read poems, sang, performed and was a host.Conradi always admired the likes of Sinatra and Davis Jr., something that can be heard in the second part of his career. Through the years he has done several smaller performances, recorded two songs for a Christmas album ("Let It Snow" and "Sleigh Ride") that was released for Christmas 2001. For the release of Robbie Williams's album, "Swing When You're Winning", he did a release-concert, where he proved to all those present that he sings these kind of songs brilliantly. As a follow-up, he did a jazz/big-band concert in early 2002, where he performed undying classics such as "The Best of Everything", "Summer Wind", "My Kind of Town", "Let's Face The Music and Dance", "My Way" and the unforgettable "New York, New York".In the summer of 2002 he and three other artists did a show called "Back to Broadway", which featured songs from the well known musicals such as "Phantom of the Opera", "Mama Mia", "Les Miserables", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Miss Saigon", "West Side Story" and "Chess". In the weeks the show was running, they never played to an empty seat.Lately he has been working on a concept album featuring old Norwegian songs, translated into English. These have all been songs that have a special meaning to him, some of which his father - who was in a famous Norwegian band called the "Monn-Keys" - did in his time. Show less «