After Dinner Speakers: Sonia, Austin Healey, Eve Pollard

Sonia has achieved, in 32 years, more than most people dream of in a lifetime Enrolling in drama school at the age of eight set SONIA on the path to becoming a professional singer and actress where she gained a LAMDA gold medal with honours. Her determination paid off, and shortly after leaving school she made appearances in the popular sitcom Bread as well as the soap opera “Brookside. She was only sixteen when she first entered the music business. Whilst playing the Liverpool club circuit, she was spotted by record producer Pete Waterman and an impromptu audition secured a recording contract. SONIA’S debut single You’ll Never Stop Me From Loving You was released in 1989 and shot to number one in the UK selling a staggering 350,000 copies. Numerous television appearances revealed her bubbly personality and natural enthusiasm endearing her to a large audience. Everybody Knows, her debut album sold half million copies and included a string of top singles such as Can’t Forget You, Listen To Your Heart and Counting Every Minute. In 1991 SONIA was able to develop her song writing talents and released the album Sonia. Further hits followed including Only Fools and Be Young, Be Foolish and a tour of Europe, The Far East and North and South America strengthened her already substantial following. She also presented Wetter the Better, a Saturday morning children’s TV show. Her next step clearly displayed her versatile voice and genuine love of performing as SONIA was invited by the BBC to be the UK representative in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest. Whilst she was pipped into second place by the Irish, her single Better The Devil You Know hit the UK charts at number 9 and her album, of the same name, entered the album charts at number 20. SONIA then entered the world of theatre receiving excellent reviews as she performed with Dennis Waterman in Slice of Saturday Night in London’s West End. On meeting the producers of GREASE, Sonia was once again signed on the spot for the lead role of ‘Sandy’. For twelve months, until April 1995, she performed to a full house and critical acclaim alongside Craig McLachlan and Shane Richie. After the success of GREASE, Sonia appeared as one of the major stars in the What A Feeling tour with Irene Cara, singing songs from the hit movies and musicals and travelling throughout the UK for four months. This proved to be so successful that a 2nd UK tour was arranged and also an overseas tour. Sonia’s pantomime credits include Dick Whittington at the Neptune Theatre in Liverpool; Cinderella at the Lyceum Theatre & the New Brighton Theatre and the title role in Peter Pan at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen; Belfast’s Grand Opera House; Cardiff's New Theatre and the 2002-03 season at the Playhouse Theatre, Weston-Super-Mare. . For the 1996 Summer Season SONIA appeared in Blackpool in The Lily Savage Show which again proved to be so successful that she was singing to a full house every night. This led to Sonia playing ‘Bunty’, the daughter of Lilly Savage in BBC’s Lily Savage Show. During Summer 2000, Sonia starred in John Conway/AMG Ltd's 80s musical Eternal Flame. In 2001she recorded some exciting new tracks for Hit Sound Records and spent time recording an album in Nashville with producer Stuart Coleman. In 2003, Sonia took part in Granada Television's major new project for ITV1, 'Reborn in the USA' , presented by Davina McCall. Sonia is constantly gigging around the country and often performs live with her band. She also regularly appears and performs on TV and has recently been seen on Trisha, The Eurovision Song Contest and the Top Ten series among others.