Nicola Hughes

Hughes’ first principal theatre role was in The Who's Tommy, playing the Acid Queen at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1996. She followed this up by playing Donna Douglas in The Goodbye Girl at the Albery Theatre, and then Lola in Damn Yankees at the Adelphi Theatre, playing opposite Jerry Lewis.

Her most recent West End performance was playing Bess in Sir Trevor Nunn's The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, between November 2006 and June 2007, for which she was again nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

In 2015, Hughes joined the cast of the Sky1 show Mount Pleasant for Series 5, playing Jenna.

In the summer of 2014, Hughes again played the role of Bess in Porgy and Bess, this time at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London. The production ran from 17 July to 23 August.

From 1998 to 1999, Hughes starred as Velma Kelly in the West End revival of Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre, taking up the role from Ute Lemper. Hughes’ other leading roles in the West End include Zarita in Simply Heavenly at the Trafalgar Studios and Fosse at the Prince of Wales Theatre, for which she received her first Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.