Siobhan Dillon

Siobhan Patricia Dillon, born September 1, 1984, is an English actress and singer whose Broadway credits include the 2017 revival of Sunset Boulevard at the Palace Theatre in New York City.

Dillon grew up in Lichfield, England, where her mother had worked as a drama teacher before running her own advertising business, and her father is Irish, originally from Dún Laoghaire. She began vocal training at age nine under singing teacher Richard Paul, continuing until she was sixteen. As a student at The Friary School in Lichfield, she participated in school productions and was a member of Lichfield Operatic Society, performing the title song from Whistle Down the Wind at The Friary School Theatre in October 2001. After broadcaster Michael Parkinson heard a recording of her singing, he invited her to perform at his charity cricket ball in 2003, where she received a standing ovation. Despite her early musical activities, Dillon did not initially pursue a performance career, instead enrolling in a BA Hons degree in Product Design and Development for the Fashion Industry, Accessories pathway at Cordwainers College, University of the Arts London.

Her path shifted in 2006 when she appeared on the BBC One television series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, a talent competition to cast the lead role in a West End production of The Sound of Music. Dillon was 21 at the time and had initially been eliminated during the selection process after an illness affected her voice, but she returned to the competition when finalist Emilie Alford withdrew, earning the nickname "Second Chance Maria." Over the course of the live shows she performed songs including "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!," "Chains," "Jump!," "Songbird," and "All That Jazz." Andrew Lloyd Webber selected her to perform "Truly Scrumptious" alongside children from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and after a sing-off in week five in which she and Aoife Mulholland both performed "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," Lloyd Webber kept Dillon in the competition, citing her vocal strength. In the final she performed "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "My Favorite Things," ultimately finishing third behind Helena Blackman and winner Connie Fisher. Following the competition, Dillon signed a record deal with Andrew Lloyd Webber's company the Really Useful Group, though an album she began writing and recording was never released.

Dillon made her West End debut in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre on July 25, 2007, initially playing Patty Simcox while also understudying the roles of Sandy and Marty. She returned to the production on January 25, 2010, this time taking over the lead role of Sandy from Emma Stevens, playing her final performance in that role on July 24, 2010. In July 2008, between her two stints in Grease, she was cast in the touring musical Can't Smile Without You, which opened at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on August 28, 2008, and ran through November 29 of that year. From late 2009 she took over the role of Sally Bowles in the UK tour of Cabaret, a role she reprised in a revised UK tour in 2013 alongside Matt Rawle and Will Young. On October 25, 2010, she joined the West End production of Legally Blonde as Vivienne Kensington at the Savoy Theatre. Beginning January 13, 2012, she replaced Caissie Levy in the lead role of Molly Jensen in Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre, closing out the production when it ended its run on October 6, 2012. On May 11, 2015, she took over the role of Ellen in the West End revival of Miss Saigon.

Dillon played Betty Schaefer in the English National Opera's production of Sunset Boulevard at the London Coliseum, which opened on April 4, 2016. She reprised that role when the production transferred to Broadway, making her Broadway debut on February 9, 2017, at the Palace Theatre.