Stepping into the glittering world of musical theater, we find ourselves in the company of two remarkable talents, Owain Williams and Dakota Starr, who illuminate the stage with their performances in the West End's "Priscilla, the Party." Their infectious energy leaps through the airwaves as they recount the unique bond formed through live shows and rehearsals. Listen as they share their personal transformations and stage chemistry, offering an authentic glimpse into the highs and lows of show business—the laughter, the tears, and the cheeky post-show rituals that keep us all grounded.
Venturing behind the curtain, we get personal with Owain and Dakota, delving into the intimate connections they've forged with their characters. These roles aren't just about costume changes and line memorization; they're about identity, acceptance, and the dialogue across generations within the LGBTQ+ community. Dakota's candid reflections as a non-binary transgender person in the arts resonate deeply, as they discuss the empowerment felt on stage and its profound ripple effect on the audience. The heart of our conversation pulses with the camaraderie of a diverse cast, celebrating the vibrant queer community that encircles the production.
The episode wouldn't be complete without a whirl through the quirky side alleys of theater life—from unusual superstitions to dream casting of our own biopics (I'm looking at you, Jonathan Bailey!). These candid exchanges, peppered with audience testimonials, reveal the magnetic allure of the West End and the unforgettable experiences it promises. As our guests describe themselves in just three words, we're reminded of the show's essence: a dazzling celebration of individuality, wrapped in the joy and love that life, in all its forms, can offer. Join us, and let "Priscilla, the Party" whisk you away for an episode of laughter, reflection, and unbridled joy.
Book your tickets today!
https://www.priscillatheparty.com/
Stepping into the glittering world of musical theater, we find ourselves in the company of two remarkable talents, Owain Williams and Dakota Starr, who illuminate the stage with their performances in the West End's "Priscilla, the Party." Their infectious energy leaps through the airwaves as they recount the unique bond formed through live shows and rehearsals. Listen as they share their personal transformations and stage chemistry, offering an authentic glimpse into the highs and lows of show business—the laughter, the tears, and the cheeky post-show rituals that keep us all grounded.
Venturing behind the curtain, we get personal with Owain and Dakota, delving into the intimate connections they've forged with their characters. These roles aren't just about costume changes and line memorization; they're about identity, acceptance, and the dialogue across generations within the LGBTQ+ community. Dakota's candid reflections as a non-binary transgender person in the arts resonate deeply, as they discuss the empowerment felt on stage and its profound ripple effect on the audience. The heart of our conversation pulses with the camaraderie of a diverse cast, celebrating the vibrant queer community that encircles the production.
The episode wouldn't be complete without a whirl through the quirky side alleys of theater life—from unusual superstitions to dream casting of our own biopics (I'm looking at you, Jonathan Bailey!). These candid exchanges, peppered with audience testimonials, reveal the magnetic allure of the West End and the unforgettable experiences it promises. As our guests describe themselves in just three words, we're reminded of the show's essence: a dazzling celebration of individuality, wrapped in the joy and love that life, in all its forms, can offer. Join us, and let "Priscilla, the Party" whisk you away for an episode of laughter, reflection, and unbridled joy.
Book your tickets today!
https://www.priscillatheparty.com/
Welcome to another exciting episode of KevJet, the podcast. I'm excited to introduce to you this week's guests Owen Williams and Dakota Starr, better known as Tick slash, Mitzi and Bernadette. And the West End smash hit Priscilla, the Party.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, can we put that on the poster, Kevin?
Speaker 1:Kevin from.
Speaker 2:KevJet said it is the party in London. Amen to that.
Speaker 1:They sit down with me to tell me all about this smash hit Priscilla, the Party in the West End, but first they explain how much fun they're having and how the cast has all become a great big family.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, we are having an absolute bore and I'm going to speak on behalf of Dakota, myself and the whole cast in that. We've been having a bore since the beginning of rehearsals, haven't we? Yeah, it's been a blast. I keep saying to people I'm living the dream, literally.
Speaker 3:It's been a wild ride, hasn't it? It's been really exciting.
Speaker 2:They wanted to de-butch me. Wow, can you believe that I cannot?
Speaker 1:No, it's been really exciting.
Speaker 2:They wanted to de-butch me. Wow, can you believe that I cannot? Nah, well, I'm so butch, apparently. So they wanted to put me in heels, and they put me in Jason Donovan's heels.
Speaker 1:Dakota opens up about coming out and the fear that their acting career might have been over.
Speaker 3:It's a dream of a role, yeah, and as a non-binary transgender person, it's. Yeah, it's just such a gift. You have a moment where you come I came out of 41, and there's a moment where you come out and you think, well, that might be the end of my career, I might be done. They don't write parts for people like me. There's a lot of moments where Bernadette relates to one of the other two drag queens and either has to lift them up or or hold them while they're down and low, and that's that's really hit for me. I'm sort of inspired to to come out in some ways by watching things like Drag Race and seeing these young queer performers who were so In touch with their identity that they would say oh, I'm a native Canadian two-spirit you call it gender fluid, our community call it two-spirit and I like to perform as a woman, but I don't want to live as a woman and having these gradations of knowing themselves so intricately was wild to me.
Speaker 2:Owen tells us in great excitement how he truly feels about playing Mitzi slash Tick. They'd be doing a big ensemble number and the three of us would be free for a couple of hours. So we just kind of hang out and gel and get to know each other. And it was really reassuring actually that you know, because we had the original Australian creative team putting this together and they'd comment saying, oh, they could see our chemistry developing and anybody who's listening, who wants a career in the arts and their parents tell them, hey, maybe it's a good idea to have a backup, don't listen.
Speaker 1:The show is loud and fabulous, but immersive. How does the audience react?
Speaker 3:Fair to say, the audience had started early and had started drinking started daily drinking before our opening night. So when the show started they were already wild and by act three it was off the reservation. Things were going a little bit silly and there were a few times where the moving platforms very nearly squished a drunk middle-aged person between three drag queens on a moving podium and the stage on which they were about to dance, the immersive element.
Speaker 2:That's something you can't rehearse really until the audience are there, and actually every audience is very different. Sometimes they're more akin to a traditional theatre audience. Sometimes it's a lot of people out for a good time, so you just never know, and that really can affect the energy of the show. Oh, that's a good question, people out for a good time, so you just never know, and that really can affect the energy of the show.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's a good question. That's definitely a good question, so let's not investigate that too closely.
Speaker 1:We discuss how Priscilla remains relevant in today's queer community.
Speaker 2:The young queer kids, man, they get dressed up, they are loving, they are celebratory. You know, some of the reviews kind of questioned, whether questioned, the relevance of telling this story. You know, because it's from the 90s, it's a bit dated in places, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah sure, like any period piece right. But when you see these young, you know tween 20-somethings with their mates, exploring their identities and getting it, because I think that that theme of self-celebration, self-acceptance, interconnectedness and love, I mean that's timeless. And when I see their response I'm like this most definitely has an important and relevant place in today's society.
Speaker 1:I ask Dakota how it feels to transform into Bernadette each night.
Speaker 3:I have this incredible moment where I look in the mirror and the makeup artist doing my makeup is a wonderful girl called Carolina from Portugal, and she goes. She's bad oh wow. She's doing it and I look in the mirror and go, yeah, there she is. And there's this moment of sort of yeah, elation.
Speaker 1:How do they unwind after a round of applause and standing ovation?
Speaker 3:We'll go right now. I'm just a queer in Claire's walk of tube and you know it can be a bit of an anticlimax. You deal with the funny looks on the tube home, as I do every day, and that's okay, that's life.
Speaker 1:Owen goes through affirmations on the tube home, but they're not exactly what you think.
Speaker 2:One of them is actually a bit rude. It's a Maria Margulies affirmation that I don't know if I'm allowed to say in. Kevin. That's an exclusive for you. I've not told anybody else that. Kevin, the press office is going to be delighted we shared this out.
Speaker 1:Favourite podcast host you've ever met.
Speaker 2:Kevin from the Kevjet the podcast here here I second that.
Speaker 1:So why should you buy that ticket to Priscilla the Party? They'll tell you why.
Speaker 2:You won't see anything else like it on the West End at the moment. It's got amazing award-winning costumes, it's got a story that has so much heart and the music is killer and there's a dance floor for you to dance your socks off on.
Speaker 1:So put on that frock, light up that disco ball, dust off those ping pong balls and get ready for an entertaining conversation. Welcome Owen Williams and Dakota Starr from Priscilla the Party.
Speaker 2:G'day Hi.
Speaker 1:Welcome to KevJet.
Speaker 3:Thanks so much for having us.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to have you guys. It's such a great party. It's the party in London right now. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Can we put that on the poster, kevin?
Speaker 1:I thought it was Kevin from.
Speaker 2:KevJet said it is the party in London. Amen to that.
Speaker 1:Whatever Kevin thinks should be what London thinks, I think.
Speaker 2:Are you talking on behalf of the whole city?
Speaker 1:Of course I'll take it. Yeah, how much fun are you having?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, we are having an absolute ball and I'm going to speak on behalf of Dakota, myself and the whole cast in that we've been having a ball since the beginning of rehearsals.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been a blast. It's really as much fun as it looks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you've got all the campery, all the costumes, the heart of the story, the craziness of being in an immersive production. I'm sure you can hear in the background now that this is a live working venue. In the middle of Soho there are bands rehearsing upstairs for other events. We're downstairs performing this amazing show. The audiences have been so receptive. I mean I keep saying to people I'm living the dream, literally.
Speaker 3:It's been a wild ride, hasn't it? It's been really exciting.
Speaker 1:What was your first thought when the script came through?
Speaker 2:Well, I saw Priscilla, queen of the Desert, the original musical in the West End when it was on with Jason Donovan playing the role that I'm now playing, and I absolutely loved it. Like the movie has got such a cult following but I'd never seen it, so the musical was my first experience. So I was very, very excited, uh, when the audition came through and to be up for the role of tic slash mittie, which was a role I saw it originally. I would have been too young to play, but now I'm in my daddy era, kevin.
Speaker 1:I like how you threw that in yes, exactly.
Speaker 2:Whereas now you know, I'm in my daddy era, I've grown up a bit and um, and a fun story for you in my final audition they wanted to butch that, they wanted to debutch me. Wow, can you believe that I cannot? Now I'm so, I'm so butch apparently, so they wanted to put me in heels, and they put me in Jason Donovan's heels, so I took that as a very good over there's a sign yeah, I was like going well, the Priscilla gods want me, the magic happened yeah, and I was very much the other way around.
Speaker 3:I knew the film quite well but I'd never seen the musical and had no idea what songs were in it and just knew, knew sort of nothing about the stage show really. So it became a very rapid googling when I got the audition through to find any clips of the south korean version, just to see what it looks like. Um, that was fun uh. And yeah, this is the first time I've auditioned for a trans part in in the room. I've done a couple of self tapes in the past for things uh, and just sort of nervously sent those off into the ether and hope they landed on someone's uh desk who was kind and discreet. Um, this is the first time I've auditioned in the room for a, for a part that sort of authentically close to so and you're playing for an adept.
Speaker 1:I mean, what else could you ask for?
Speaker 3:yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a dream of a role, yeah, and as a non-binary transgender person, it's. Yeah, it's just such a gift. You have a moment where you, when you come I came out of 41 and there's a moment where you come out where you think, well, that might be the end of my career, I might be, done. They don't write parts for people like me, and then this falls in your lap, you know, sort of two years later.
Speaker 1:So it's been pretty wild, amazing, amazing and so.
Speaker 3:I guess you can see yourself in this character. Yeah, there are echoes. I mean, she's a trans woman, which I'm not, so obviously there are limits to which I relate, but seeing someone essentially getting a chance to portray someone who grew up in a body that they don't feel they belong in.
Speaker 1:That's what I was getting at.
Speaker 3:Yeah, not comfortable in that presentation is really chimes with me and has chimed with me more. As we've gone along and as my sort of closeness to the character I'm playing has developed and my understanding of her has has developed, it's become even more sort of significant to me.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's been, it's been really exciting do you get aha moments while you're on stage?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, yeah, we really do. Yeah, there are moments of it's.
Speaker 3:For me, it's a lot of the heartbreaking moments to be honest there's a lot of moments where Bernadette relates to one of the other two drag queens and either has to lift them up or or hold them while they're down and low and that's uh. That's really hit for me because I've grown up in a very sort of cis heterosexual sort of adolescence and world. I didn't grow up in a in queer community, so I don't sort of feel that I have that. Prior to this, I hadn't really felt that I had that connection to a lot of queer people and being able to play the matriarch figure holding someone through their crisis moment has been really eye-opening for me.
Speaker 2:There's been something really cool in, really cool in the generational gap between the three parts. Not that I'm pulling Dakota, oh, I'm just saying it's very interesting that there's well, in early rehearsals I called us mother Dakota, bernadette, father me, tick, and then baby, which is the marvelous Reese Kerridge carriage who plays adam slash felicia. So there's these three representations of different generations, of course, and actually I think the three of us have a strong connection to our characters off stage as well. And there's been this real I don't know about you, dakota, but I'm really relating to what you're saying in that I've learned through Tick's journey stuff about my own acceptance of you know I identify as a gay man, so I've been learning about my own acceptance of my queerness and you know bits of shame that I still hold around that, the internalized homophobia that you know I've done work around, but it still exists and I'm learning because this is a very queer space.
Speaker 2:Actually, a lot of the cast are part of the rainbow, a lot of the crew, the creatives, so it's been such a wonderful place to learn. And not only have I learned from and I use this with love my elders people who've been around longer than I have, such as Dakota, but also from the young queer kids. You know who's like. This is their first West End gig, but they're so much more advanced in some ways with their self-acceptance.
Speaker 3:It's been they're very secure in themselves, which is so admirable and so inspiring.
Speaker 1:I had this conversation last night with a podcast guest, an actor in Hollywood, and we had this exact same conversation where the younger generation are just so free and open and our generation we're kind of still. I still have those moments where I meet somebody new and you have to tell them you're gay and it's almost like coming out again. So every time you meet a new person it's coming out and if you had any hard feelings during that time in your life, that sort of comes back each time you meet a new person.
Speaker 3:You're sort of picking a scab every time you have to have that conversation. Sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think it's.
Speaker 3:it's a wonderful thing to see with the younger generation wonderful thing to see with the younger generation and it's I was sort of inspired to, to come out in some ways by watching things like Drag Race and seeing these young queer performers who were so in touch with their identity that they would say oh, I'm a native Canadian two-spirit. You call it gender fluid, our community call it two-spirit, and I like to perform fluid, our community call it two-spirit, and I like to perform as a woman. But I don't want to live as a woman and having these gradations of knowing themselves so intricately was wild to me and really admirable. So that started a lot of conversations for me, which was nice.
Speaker 1:I bet it has, maybe if we just quickly hear a little bit about your history, your career history. So let's start with Dakota.
Speaker 3:Sure. I graduated from Lambda, which is a drama school A fancy one, a very fancy one A very fancy school in 2008.
Speaker 3:So I've been out for a minute, but it turns out and I was always told when I graduated you you're going to need to tread water until you're about 40 and then you'll start working. So, like, keep trying to build, keep trying to sorry for the time, um, keep trying to, uh, build a career, but essentially you're I've looked like this since I was about 16, so it was like you look older than you are, you carry yourself older than you are, like your casting is going to come, but hang in there. So so I did really. I did theater jobs and bits of TV and little, little jobs here and there, really, and lots of regional theater, just to try and stay alive and build a career.
Speaker 3:And then got very lucky getting a being someone who didn't train in musical theatre and was very uncomfortable singing in audition rooms and in public. I then got a job in Calendar Girls, the musical which came out of the blue, which was fun, and that was my first sort of foray into the West End and last, actually, until this job. So let's not investigate that too closely.
Speaker 1:I did read you were in Doctors, is that correct?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I've done Doctors and Emmerdale and I did a film with Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren. That was fun. I had three lines in a film and I didn't know when I went to watch it in the cinema whether I'd been cut or not but, I had not.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, a film called the Duke that I've read. Can you give us one of the lines now?
Speaker 3:no, I can't. I'm really drenched because if I misquote it we'll get letters. So no, I won't. Although the director of that film was a lovely man called Roger Michelle, who's since passed away, sadly and we did, he made me feel incredibly welcome. It was one of their last days of filming and we turned up and did a read through of the scene around the table before, like in a side room, before going into this courtroom and doing the actual scene. And he turned to the rest of the cast after we read it and said now, thank you all very much. Now we must all thank Dakota very much, because Dakota has the worst art in the entire film and you're doing such a wonderful job of it, but it really is a waste. So I replied well, if you have any other worst parts in films, I'm the actor, yeah, but yeah, he was incredibly charming and kind and disarming, so that was lovely.
Speaker 1:Amazing Owen. Let's hear a little bit about your history.
Speaker 2:So I went to law school first, because I thought I might be a lawyer Near within the first week I hated it, but I persevered and completed my law degree. That was a three year hard, hard slog, let me tell you. And anybody who's listening, who wants a career in the arts, and their parents tell them, hey, maybe it's a good idea to have a backup. Don't listen, don't listen um. Do what you want, follow your dreams. Um, anyway, I, whilst I was at university, I went to warwick university, which has a thriving um musical theater and theater um scene. Fun fact you know operation mincemeat. That's just like cleaning up at all the award ceremonies.
Speaker 2:I was at university with some of the creators of operation mincemeat. We were in the same musical theatre society as each other. So Warwick University was a great place to kind of find myself, despite not wanting to follow the career path that I was studying. So I went from Warwick to London, to the Royal Academy of Music to study musical theatre and I started out my first job was in phantom of the opera, as a little baby I was 21, 22 years old, um, and from that went on to les mis, which is my favorite musical of all time. So that was such a buzz.
Speaker 2:Ah well, I I got to do the 25th anniversary production, which was the version now that's in town. So we were the directors Lawrence Connor and James Power were redirecting, you know, and that's kind of like reinventing the wheel, right, redirecting limits but it was such a buzz as a fan of the show to get to be a part of that creative process. We got to tour around it with you know, to Paris and to the Barbican and finish off the O2 Arena, so it was pretty epic. I did other bits and bobs of theatre but then I spent the majority of the next decade presenting television, mainly children's television. And you know, I got to do lots of like red carpet interviews with a-list celebrities. I've got to do crazy stuff like skydiving and wing walking and diving with sharks and everything else that a children's tv presenter gets to do.
Speaker 2:Um, and the highlight of that was being nominated for a children and young people's BAFTA award for best presenter. Um, that was just amazing. I did lose to the Blue Peter presenter, but hey, if you're going to lose to anyone, it might as well be be one of them. Um, and then I hung up my my children's TV presenting shoes last year, last April and I said I really want to get back into theatre, like I missed it so much and I go to see a lot of theatre, and I started to feel the bug of like I just want to be in it. So, yeah, I started to go back to class, back to acting class, back to singing lessons, dance classes, got an agent again. I was like sign me up, baby. And so this is my, this is my great return.
Speaker 2:How amazing is that, honestly, I pinched myself every day because you know I said I wasn't coming back with any expectations about oh, the West End's been waiting for me. You know they've all been waiting with baited breath. When will he return? When? So, to actually land a principal role in a show that I love so much? Bonus, I get to work with nice people as well. It's just wow, what a buzz.
Speaker 3:There are so many jobs that when you're in them you don't realise that they're special and you look back on them later and think, god, that was a really happy time, or they were a really lovely company, or they were that was a great gig. And on those jobs where you know that at the time and I'm enjoying every day of this job and relishing the people we're with all the time- Was it easy to gel Like?
Speaker 1:was it easy for the cast to gel together Incredibly?
Speaker 3:so I thought I'm waiting for.
Speaker 1:Owen to go no. I hate them all. He's speechless.
Speaker 2:No, it really was. I mean, you know, like before starting I had a real hope because none of us knew who else had been cast. But of course you hope when you're part of a, of a, of a trio like Bernadette, tick and Adam, you hope. Well, I hope the other two are nicer than we get on as a trio and we really do, don't we? And like there'd be times in the early rehearsal days where they'd be doing a big ensemble number and the three of us would be free for a couple of hours, so we just kind of hang out and gel and get to know each other. And it was really reassuring actually that, you know, because we had the original Australian creative team putting this together and they'd comment saying, oh, they could see our chemistry developing and you go, well, they've seen it a bazillion times. So that was really nice to have that Amazing.
Speaker 1:So the show is very immersive. The dance floor it's constantly moving, audience moving, the stage is moving, actors everywhere. Has there been any mishaps?
Speaker 3:Ooh, has there been any mishaps? Oh well, the opening preview that we did. We had probably 400 odd people in, something like 300 odd people and, uh, fair to say, the audience had started early and had started drinking started daily drinking before our opening night, so when the show started they were already wild and by 3, it was off the reservation. Things were going a little bit silly and there were a few times where the moving platforms very nearly squished a drunk middle-aged person between three drag queens on a moving podium and the stage on which they were about to dance and it was like you really, really, really need to move that woman. And no one got hurt, good lord, there were a couple of close calls early on, is it?
Speaker 2:it makes it all very exciting, like if you, I think, if you choose to view it as exciting is it distracting at all for you guys like I?
Speaker 1:do you find it really distracting if you pick someone out in the crowd and you're like, oh, I'm gonna have to watch this one?
Speaker 3:yeah, we. We now have a traffic light system where we can alert the uh, the in-house stage management and security if we see someone who is becoming a worry, and they will then keep a little eye on that person and make sure they don't stray too far from the beat of track.
Speaker 2:You just make me like talking about that first preview Cause so much of this I keep saying to Dakota more will be revealed, because there have been so many uncertainties and unknowns in this job, because the immersive element that's something you can't rehearse really until the audience are there and actually every audience is very different element that's something you can't rehearse really until the audience are there and actually every audience is very different. Sometimes they're more akin to a traditional theater audience. Sometimes it's a lot of people out for a good time, so you just never know and that really can affect the energy of the show. But in the first preview, you know there are these. I mean the choreography of the moving platforms is so cool but we'd never rehearsed it with a full dance floor, people with a sea of people.
Speaker 2:And the first move is when my character is being moved towards dakota's character because there's a funeral, because dakota's character's husband has died. So I'm getting changed into my funeral outfit on this moving platform and it's not reached the other platform in time where I would usually enter beautifully as choreographed. And in a moment of madness, kevin, I thought it was more important that I arrived to the bit of music that I'm supposed to arrive to. So I jumped. I jumped like a proud gazelle from my moving platform into the funeral. I was like, oh my God. And afterwards I was like now, where was the? As an actor? Where's the truth in that? When would you ever drop and roll into a funeral, unless you're Indiana Jones? So yes, there's been a learning curve.
Speaker 1:What is your definition of a perfect crowd? Because, that's a good question. That's such a good question?
Speaker 3:yeah, because we've had nights that are super rowdy, sort of very drunk hen night round here than this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, wherever the band is upstairs rehearsing.
Speaker 3:They are having a whale of a time so we have had nights where the audience have gone sort of a bit too far really and it's been a bit heckly and a bit too debauched and a bit too drunk. Typically a Saturday night tends to turn out like that. And then you have other nights where the audience are incredibly polite and really reserved and very respectful, like they're sitting in a normal theatre watching a normal show. Somewhere in between is probably the ideal crowd where they're loose enough to have some fun and dance along and join in the party, but not so hammered that they're, you know, vomiting and shouting at actors in the middle of a quiet scene for me, there are two.
Speaker 2:there are two things that really stand out, where I've seen older audience members who I assume members of the LGBTQ plus community, and they are there in the finale with tears streaming down their face and I'm going thank you, thank you, thank you, because this story means so much to people and you know, I've heard from some people this is the first time that they've seen a representation of themselves on a big screen. You know that it wasn't like a kind of niche underground, oh my god. You know that priscilla was big, it was an oscar-winning movie, of course, and so so there's something about that that means a lot to me that I get to perform this story and also that the young queer kids, man, they get dressed up, they are loving, they are celebratory. You know, some of the reviews kind of questioned, whether questioned, the relevance of telling this story.
Speaker 2:You know, because it's from the 90s, it's a bit dated in places, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, sure, like any period piece, right. But when you see these young, you know, tween, 20 somethings with their mates, exploring their identities and getting it, because I think, I think that that theme of celebrate self-celebration, self-acceptance, interconnectedness and love, I mean that's timeless and when I see their response I'm like this most definitely has an important and relevant place in today's society, in in the past and the future, which is so exciting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we've had, you know, people who had a glorious, beautiful person who was dressed up to the nines in drag on the opening night uh, opening preview and I happened to leave through the audience exit that night and bumped into this person, uh, and I said I just wanted to say we're not allowed to say when we're on stage, because we're in character and we're not, you, we don't, we ignore the audience, we're not, we're not supposed to know you're there. So I wanted to just like look at you and go yes, because you know, you know part of the show. And this person turned to me and said I haven't gone out of the house dressed up since 1997. Something terrible happened tonight. Well, I don't want to talk about it, but something terrible happened.
Speaker 3:I haven't left the house, you know, in drag, ever since and so we had a hug and we had a little cry and you know, and these moments that you go wow this is really, really connected with some people. Goosebumps yeah, it's wild.
Speaker 1:I love those moments, great moments. What?
Speaker 3:does it feel like to?
Speaker 2:transform into your character each night. I love it, I love it, so you've got more of a transformation than I have. Yeah, I mean it's incredibly special.
Speaker 3:We have an incredible wigs, hair and makeup team, otherwise known as WAM WAM team, led by Jackie Sonderkock, who is our makeup supervisor and wig supervisor, and she designed the sort of Bernadette face that would work on me, you know, and transform me. And I get to see that happen every night and have this incredible moment where I look in the mirror and the makeup artist doing my makeup there's a wonderful girl called Carolina from Portugal and she she goes, she's bad, she's doing it and I look in the mirror and go, yeah, there she is. And there's this moment of sort of yeah. Elation that hits me every night. It never gets old.
Speaker 1:I love that. The other part to that question would be how do you wind down after the show?
Speaker 2:I was actually talking to. Oh my God, this is going to sound so showbiz but I was talking to a life coach about this are we in?
Speaker 2:la, I was literally like it's been an issue, like it's an issue for me. I, because I'm so stimulated like and it's a happy, fuzzy show and we're in soho, know, it's like the place is bouncing and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is the time I'd usually go to bed, but I'm wound like a top. So I tend to go to Sainsbury's and buy a family size pack of onion ring crisps and I munch them all whilst watching TV. But I want to change this, kevin, and now I'm saying this publicly. So the life coach and I made an agreement that very showbiz anecdote got real, non-showbiz, real and now the glamour when I'm there with my onion rings Like Gollum, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So tonight we're changing the routine. Tonight, when I get on the tube, I am going to listen to calm, meditative music and I'm going to write a list of things that I'm grateful for.
Speaker 3:Wow, I just get the tube home and watch TV and then go to bed.
Speaker 1:Do you find that it's like a huge comedown, like you walk out of the theater after the madness of applause and such a fun night and you're like make your way to the tube.
Speaker 3:You sit down on the tube and you're like, hmm, the night's over, it's a bit of an anti-climax at times, to be honest, yeah, when you leave, especially when you, when you scraped off everything, had a shower and you leave and the audience maybe there's a few stragglers, but the audience are basically gone yeah, so go. Right now I'm just, uh, a queer in flares, walked to the tube and you you know it's. It can be a bit of an anti-climax and you deal with the funny looks on the tube home, as I do every day, and that's.
Speaker 1:OK, that's life. Welcome to Soho.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I do have to say I've passed Tottenham Court Road Station when you've had matinees, and when the crowd come out during the matinees it's very entertaining.
Speaker 3:It's a real moment in London's life, isn't it?
Speaker 1:It's a real moment in London's life isn't it, and it's usually the middle-aged group of women that are coming out hilarious.
Speaker 3:Tackling and howling Stumbling being poured out of the venue.
Speaker 1:Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Speaker 3:You're a creature of ritual, go on no, I, I do affirmations, pilot actually.
Speaker 2:So I am when I'm sitting during the opening number and I'm the second number, so I'm sat backstage. I have puppets in my opening number, so I'm sat with my puppets and my blue dress and I'm saying affirmations uh, out loud, like, um, some of them. One of them is actually a bit rude. It's a maria margulies affirmation that I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, kevin, so I won't you.
Speaker 2:There's no filter on my show really, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Well, basically, dakota showed me this video of Maria Margulies doing a cameo for somebody and she was encouraging this woman to Can you say it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, she was encouraging a woman to not be scared of aging. It's a woman who's having her. You know, I don't know 60th, 70th, a later birthday, and she was saying it's ridiculous. If you don't know 60th, 70th, a later birthday, and she was saying it's ridiculous, if you don't be old, you'll be dead. You've got to go out there and enjoy life with rings on your fingers and bells on your toes and diamonds in your cut. Oh, I inhaled that and then wrote it on his mirror in lipstick.
Speaker 2:And that's what I'm repeating to myself. That's an exclusive for you. I have not told anybody else that Kevin Pull back the curtain. The process.
Speaker 3:You're talking about popping diamonds in your country.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's what you should be thinking about on the tube on your way home tonight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the press office is going to be delighted. We shared this on the show, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Just to let you know, kevin, it's almost time for us to go to warm up and the rest of the cast are descending upon the dressing room, so let's wrap it up. Let's go to the. Do you have those quick fire questions you want?
Speaker 1:to do.
Speaker 2:What reality show would you turn down? That's such a good question. Dancing on ice for me, dancing on ice because I think, if I fell over on it, that that like I'd be a bit scared of that one, even though I really want to ice skate professionally really well I, I think I'd be scared of that one yeah, strictly, I would turn down in a heartbeat.
Speaker 3:I love watching strictly, uh, but I I would humiliate myself and break ankles. No, that's not good.
Speaker 1:It isn't good. No, Silliest fear you have.
Speaker 2:Silliest fear.
Speaker 3:Oh, I've got one the sound of someone running their fingernail along the teeth of a comb. That noise Makes me want to vomit.
Speaker 2:Gross, that is such an invitation to do it. I'm going to say bats, not like baseball bats, bat bats. I saw a picture today of some bat that has a wingspan of six feet, Like that is some freaky stuff that I don't need to know exists.
Speaker 1:Who would be the worst person to be stuck in an elevator with?
Speaker 2:In the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 3:Donald Trump, donald Trump, dead, naming me repeatedly. That'd be low. Be a low moment in my life and a short moment in his life what song always puts you in a good mood?
Speaker 2:can't stop, can't fight the feeling.
Speaker 3:Justin Timberlake, I have to be see, yeah, um I, I, I love me by megan trainer the banner oh, love that.
Speaker 1:Do you believe in aliens?
Speaker 3:yes, yes, statistically probable. So like, yeah, I don't think they're here, but yeah, sure they exist somewhere favorite podcast host you've ever met heaven.
Speaker 2:From the kev chat, the podcast here here.
Speaker 1:I second that who would play you in a film?
Speaker 2:I want to say but for ulterior motives Jonathan Bailey or Zac Efron, just so that I could come onto set and meet them.
Speaker 1:I wasn't sure where we were going with that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, come on hi, you're playing me. I wasn't sure where we were going with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, come on. Hi, you're playing me. Hello, what a privilege.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I have no idea who played me.
Speaker 2:Some poor, unfortunate soul Describe yourself in three words Energetic S, sensitive and thoughtful.
Speaker 3:Sensitive, funny and irritable. That laugh tells you that's accurate.
Speaker 1:What makes you happy in life?
Speaker 2:My dog, alfie, is a French bulldog and he's yeah, he's amazing and always makes me smile and makes me feel loved.
Speaker 3:Hello, I'm Simblevane. My kids make me very happy. They make me feel loved, so that's nice.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, why should people come and see this show?
Speaker 2:Because you won't see anything else like it on the West End at the moment. It's got amazing, award-winning costumes, it's got a story that has so much heart and the music is killer and there's a dance floor for you to dance your socks off on.
Speaker 3:I grew up with a lot of cis straight male friends. I went to a boys' school and a lot of them have come to see the show because they're still friends and they're very supportive and kind and without exception they have hugged me afterwards with the biggest smile on my face and gone. That was so much fun. That was so much fun and it's to me been uh sort of lovely reassurance that it's like this isn't just a rainbow show for a rainbow audience, this is really a show for everyone and it is so much fun and the story is just timeless, as you said yes, yeah, and still heartfelt and still relevant amazing.
Speaker 1:I loved our conversation thanks so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much I'm sorry for the indie band that's uh sound checking upstairs as you can hear, this top of the range venue at here at outernet and tottenham court road has a killer sound system. That's another reason the noisy dressing amazing.
Speaker 1:Thank you for your conversation. I'm gonna come out I'm gonna come out and see the show again. I've seen the show once. I'm coming again and I'm bringing friends oh yeah, that's what we want amazing thanks so much.