Connie Fisher

Connie Fisher (born 17 June 1983) is an English actress and singer, who won the BBC One talent contest, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
On 15 November 2006, she opened to excellent reviews in the part of Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music in the West End, London on a six-month contract, which was extended until 23 February 2008. She resumed the role of Maria in The Sound of Music UK tour starting in July 2009.
Fisher has been in a recurring role as Amanda in the British medical drama series Casualty. She first appeared as a patient in early 2012, and returned as the same character in a recurring role later in the year. She left the show on 1 December 2012.
Fisher was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, and is the daughter of a Royal Corps of Signals major. Fisher lived in Dorset, England until the age of six, when she moved to a village near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. She attended Hayscastle Junior School, and then went on to Sir Thomas Picton School. She is a fluent Welsh speaker.
During her teenage years she was a member of Haverfordwest Operatic Society where she performed in The Pirates of Penzance and played Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. She was also a member of the Torch Youth Theatre where she performed in George Buchner’s play Woyzek. She successfully became a member of National Youth Music Theatre (1999–2002), where she played the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of Pendragon, and played the lead role, Morgan Le Fay, when the production toured Japan in 2001. From an early age Fisher was a member of Côr Newyddion Da (English translation - «Good News Choir»), which introduced her to the Eisteddfodic field and encouraged her to perform as a soloist. She competed annually in the Urdd Gobaith Cymru, National and International Eisteddfods. In 2002 Fisher won the Wilbert Lloyd Roberts Scholarship in the National Eisteddfod «Songs from the Shows» competition and the Milford and West Wales Mercury talent competition.
Fisher received her professional vocational training at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, winning a Dance and Drama Award to have her training fully funded by the Government. She graduated in 2005 with a First Class BA Hons degree in Musical Theatre, as well as the Gyearbuor Asante prize for the highest score. At Mountview she performed in Annie Get Your Gun, A…my name is Alice, Jerry’s Girls and played Julie Jordan in Carousel.