It’s 30 years since Willy Russell created the iconic character, Shirley Valentine and to celebrate that milestone Jodie Prenger is starring in a huge nationwide tour, which stops off at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells from Monday July 3rd – Saturday July 8th.
Jodie Prenger is perhaps best known for winning the role of Nancy in the West End production of Oliver! through the BBC television series I’d Do Anything. More recently Jodie has toured the UK in the classic musical Tell Me on a Sunday and also played the title role in the national tour of Calamity Jane. She has also starred in One Man, Two Guvnors and as the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot.
Jodie now takes on the role of Shirley, a Liverpool housewife. Her kids have grown up and left home and she makes chips and egg for her husband – while talking to the wall. Where has her life gone? How did she get so lonely? Out of the blue her best friend offers her a two-week trip to Greece and she secretly packs her bags. She heads off to the sun and starts to see the world, and herself, very differently.
I recently caught up with Jodie, in between shows, to ask her about the production, the iconic role and her extremely busy theatrical career…
So Jodie, another national tour!
I know, it’s extraordinary isn’t it. It’s a fabulous show and it’s 30 years old now. That’s a testament to Willy Russell that is. It’s such a warm and funny story and I am really enjoying it. Rehearsals were really tough though because I felt like I was learning a new language at times, because she is a true scouser, but it’s great it really is.
Following on from Calamity Jane and Tell Me on a Sunday I have to ask, do you seek out these iconic roles, or do the producers seek you out?
You know I am so grateful when the phone rings and it’s them coming to get me and with this one, that’s exactly what happened. I was on the phone with my agent and the minute she said Shirley Valentine I stood up and said yes. It took less than a second for me to decide and the reason that I said yes so quickly is that it’s not very often that you come across a role that is so honest, so funny and so poignant – so I just couldn’t say no. It’s just a wonderful piece.
And quite sad in parts too…
It is, yes, but I think that’s the moments when the warmth of the humour really comes out. It’s the times when she goes in and she questions her life and tries to work out what it’s all about. Shirley has this fire inside her, it’s what keeps her going, and she’s at a point where she has to let it burn or watch it go out. So she goes to Greece and that’s the turning point.
You know, we all get stuck in a rut sometimes, don’t we? Then you find that life is passing you by and that’s the thing that most people say to me when I meet them at the stage door. They say, “It’s really made me question my life” and, to be honest, I don’t think that Shirley Valentine could have come at a better time with all that’s been going on. Maybe we should get Theresa May round to watch it!
What is it that gives Willy Russell’s shows, like Blood Brothers and Shirley Valentine such longevity?
I think it’s because he gets really involved with the shows to make sure that they are just what he wants them to be. Both him and Glen Walford, the director of the original production, have been really instrumental in keeping this production very true to the essence of what it always was, and is.
Of course, this time, no singing for you.
No, no singing. Some people would leap at that chance, but it’s very different for me. I did meet a couple who had come along because they thought, as I’m the only one in it, that it must be a musical but sadly all they got to do was see me cook chips live on stage and talk to the wall! Luckily, they still enjoyed it.
Will we hear you singing again soon?
Well, yes. The day that I finish the tour of Shirley Valentine I will be embarking on a new musical, written by Kay Mellor, with music by Nicholas Lloyd Webber, son of Sir Andrew. It’s all new and it’s based on Kay Mellor’s award-winning TV series, Fat Friends, about the trials and tribulations of a group of women attending a slimming club. So that’s something very exciting to be involved with and I’m really looking forward to it.
Jodie Prenger stars as Shirley Valentine at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells from Monday 3rd July to Saturday 8th July with evening performances at 7.30pm and Wednesday and Saturday Matinees at 2.30pm. Tickets can be booked online on www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or in person at The Gateway, (open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm or alternatively at the Assembly Hall Theatre counter on Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm and from 90 minutes before a show’s advertised start time.
Age guidance: 14+