INTERVIEW Frances Ruffelle

WHEN it comes to a career in entertainment, it’s fair to say that Frances Ruffelle has had a go at most things. Perhaps best known for her portrayal as Eponine in the smash hit musical Les Misérables, for which she won a Tony Award, her glittering career has seen her make a name for herself on the West End stage playing the leads in a variety of musicals including Chicago and Starlight Express.

She’s also made a successful transition to TV and in film with roles in The Bill and Bird’s Of A Feather, has released albums of her own music and has even taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest.

But now she is back on the stage playing the lead in Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party.

Directed and choreographed by 2016 Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie, it is the debut production at The Other Palace, formerly St James Theatre.

Set against a backdrop of Manhattan decadence and 1920's excess, The Wild Party tells the story of Queenie (Frances) and Burrs, a Vaudeville showgirl and a Vaudeville clown whose relationship is marked by vicious behaviour and recklessness. 

In an attempt to salvage their toxic union, they decide to throw a party to end all parties. The guests are a vivid collection of the unruly and the undone - a cocaine-sniffing bisexual playboy, a washed-up boxer, a diva of indeterminate age, a fresh-faced ingénue, and a handsome Valentino who catches Queenie's roving eye. 

The jazz and gin soaked party rages to a mounting sense of threat, as artifice and illusion are stripped away. But when midnight debauchery turns into tragedy, the revellers must sober up and face reality. After all, no party lasts forever.

Chatting to Frances in a break from rehearsals I tell her it sounds like a riot.

“It really is,” she laughs. “It’s based on Joseph Moncure March’s narrative poem that was banned in many countries as it was so raunchy!

“It is set in 1929 at a time when people couldn't drink as it was illegal and so they held these parties, many of which were pretty wild.

“The people in this story are pretty crazy characters and most of them are Vaudeville performers, so you can imagine what would go on back stage! You might arrive with one person but you’d probably go home with another. It’s quite dark, incredibly emotional, but a lot of fun.”

And it seems that Frances has had her eye on this show for a number of years so when it came along she couldn’t say no.

“About 12 years ago I heard the soundtrack to the piece,” she says. “I was really excited by it as it’s utterly brilliant and beautifully written. I describe it as more of a jazz opera in style and I absolutely loved it when I heard it.

“I know that a lot of West End producers had wanted to get the rights to put it on but hadn’t managed to. However at one of my solo shows composer Michael John LaChuisa was in the audience and we were introduced after the show and we talked about The Wild Party.

“We were chatting away about it and he just said I was his Queenie and I was thrilled. So to be here now, it really is a dream come true.”

Fortunately, Frances, whose mother Sylvia Young founded the famous theatre school at which she trained, and whose daughter is singer songwriter Eliza Doolittle, is nothing like her alter ego in character. What they do have in common is a love of the stage and singing, but Frances insists that’s as far as the comparison goes.

“Queenie is wild and crazy, a girl who wanted to make it big but it didn’t happen to her,” she laughs. “She got in to Vaudeville rather than Broadway, has hardly any money and mixes with people who drink and do drugs, have sex and anything that can make them happy so they don’t have to face up to reality.

“None of them have got what they want out of life and for Queenie she didn’t get to be the theatre girl she always wanted to be, so they are a bit of a sad crew. I’m sure there will be people who come and see it who will understand what that feels like in some way.

“But you get to see Queenie go on a journey of discovery, realising that she needs to be happy and see the light in her life rather than the drugs or alcohol.”

Despite it being a dream role, Frances says it’s not without its challenges. Portraying someone with many elements and layers to their character she says has stretched her as has getting the music’s rhythm right. But she says it’s been “great fun” to get her teeth into such a role.

“It’s been demanding and tough at times in rehearsal,” she admits. “There are so many elements to Queenie to get across. She is a survivor, wants to look gorgeous and look like she’s happy but she’s also of course incredibly vulnerable and completely unfaithful to her lover.

“It’s because she is so insecure though. She realises she has to come through and that life can be OK.

“So it’s a challenge to get that across and hopefully get the audience on her side.

“But it’s been an incredible experience for me, there is a lot of dancing and movement to get right as well as the music, elements of ballet too - the music has an unusual rhythm in it - Michael doesn’t write things that are easy to learn so it’s quite difficult but then I like doing things that aren’t easy and that stretch me.

“I have sung a lot of jazz in my time and love that odd rhythm but don’t find that it comes easy. One of my albums had more of a jazz focus to it. However this is something else! We are rehearsing one number now which is so tricky it’s a real killer!” she says cheerfully.

“But that’s what is so interesting - he writes like no one else and when you come and see it you will see what I mean. I’ve never been in a piece like it.

“The cast and creative team are also a joy to work with, there is so much energy and such a good feeling in the room which is very rare. So it is a joy, it’s fresh and exciting and we are loving it.”

Frances says she is also looking forward to coming back to the theatre in which she stared her career so many years ago.

“It used to be the St James Theatre which was where I had my first West End job when I was just 16,” she recalls. “I hadn’t thought about it till today but it’s like it’s come full circle.

“I always knew this was the career for me and at the time I got my first job I was 16 and thought I was earning a fortune! I’ve been a very lucky girl since then.”

And so she has with roles in several West End shows including the famous Eponine in Les Miserables.

She acknowledges its place in her history with a genuine warmth and affection saying it opened up many doors for her. But it’s clear she’s just as proud of the rest of her extensive body of work.

“Les Miserables changed my life,” she says. “I’m lucky to have had such an incredible role that was so successful and opened doors. 

“There are times when I think ‘oh God just go away’ because it was 30 years ago and I’ve had 30 years of it but then I realise what it gave me and embrace it and am grateful to have had that experience and chance. I can’t ask for more.

“In fact it’s lovely when I hear people talk with such warmth and affection for Eponine and the show in general. I still get such lovely letters and emails - it’s so nice!

“But now I’m doing something else that I hope will excite people just as much - so see you at the party!”

The Wild Party is on at The Other Palace in Palace Street, until Saturday, April 1. Tickets cost from £10. Visit www.theotherpalace.co.uk or call the box office on 0844 264 2121 for full listings.

FOUR STAR REVIEW Twelfth Night, National Theatre

There seems to be a bit of a thing about gender bending in theatre at the moment. And for the record, it’s no bad thing. Especially when you see a production as strong as the National Theatre’s Twelfth Night.

In this glorious staging by director Simon Godwin, the wonder of love and how we should grasp it with both hands is very much the focus.

But there is also the wonderful mixing up of characters so we have a female Malvolio - here it’s Tamsin Greig as Malvolia - and Doon Mackichan as Feste the clown sporting some rather fabulous sparkly boots.

There is also more than a suggestion of same sex pairings with Daniel Rigby’s hipsterish Sir Andrew clearly in love with Sir Toby and Antonio enamoured of Sebastian. Even the Duke Orsino is not averse to kissing Cesario and, when confronted with the truth at the end, gives Sebastian a tender kiss.

The story is played out on the Olivier’s revolve stage which features a pyramid shape that splits during the opening storm scene in which the twins, Viola and Sebastian, get separated. It then opens out to reveal staircases, rooms and plenty of water - from a fountain at which Malvolia reads the letter supposedly from her mistress Olivia to the plunge pool in which Olivia tries unsuccessfully to seduce Cesario. 

The revolving set also allows for the characters to spy on each other, peeping through the holes, and cavort freely not to mention letting Olivia, supposedly in mourning for her dead brother but now totally in love with Cesario, to climb the stairs and rock out to her favourite music when she thinks no one is looking.

The cast is excellent, from the dapper and rather louche Sir Toby played with swagger by Tim McMullan who is thankfully not so completely drunk he falls over all the time and loses our respect, to Greig’s Malvolia with her straight and severe bobbed hair cut and black attire. She also manages to interact beautifully with the audience and her transformation with the yellow stockings cross gartered is a sight to behold. Wearing a pierrot frilly white jacket she rips it off as part of a strip tease complete with twirling nipple tassels as she descends the stairs to the bewilderment of Olivia. Her ridiculing and subsequent humiliation are painful to watch.

But for me it was Daniel Rigby as Sir Andrew who stole the show. With his long hair fashioned in a top knot and his hipster attire he transformed the part brilliantly and made it his own.

Bonkers and wonderful in equal measure, this production is a real tonic and made me chuckle all the way home.

Twelfth Night is on at the National Theatre until Saturday May 13. Tickets from £15. Visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 020 7452 3000 for full listings.

FIVE STAR REVIEW Promises Promises, Southwark Playhouse

FIVE STARS

IT may be cold and gloomy outside but I guarantee a show now on at the Southwark Playhouse will warm the cockles of your heart and leave you with a glow.

Based on the screenplay The Apartment, Promises Promises features the wonderful and uplifting music by Burt Bacharach.

It tells the story of Chuck Baxter, a junior executive at a New York insurance firm, who is invisible to all around him, in particular the lovely Fran Kubelik.

Despite his best endeavours to impress his boss, JD Sheldrake, Chuck never seems to get noticed. However, a visit to a bar after work one night alters his fortunes. On hearing that he has a mid-town apartment, he suddenly becomes not just noticed by the executive bosses but extremely popular.

And so begins the lending out of his apartment to the various men who use it to entertain their lady friends, in a bid to gain promotion.

To begin with things run smoothly and Chuck eventually is summoned to Sheldrake’s office. It seems Chuck will get the promotion he wants if he allows Sheldrake the exclusive use of his apartment. Little does he know that Sheldrake is using it to woo Fran, with whom he has been having an on off affair for a while.

Of course Chuck finds out about the affair and seeks solace in a bar where he comes across Marge. The two have a hilarious scene where they flirt with each other and get drunk to ease the pain before heading back to Chuck’s apartment.

Fran meanwhile has had just about enough of Sheldrake and his broken promises and takes drastic action to escape.

It is a lovely, bitter sweet romantic comedy with fabulous lyrics by Hal David and of course the gorgeous music by Bacharach and the production here is a toe tapping, joy.

Beautifully directed by Branagh Lagan, it has a top notch cast with Gabriel Vick as Chuck Baxter, who displays more than a passing resemblance to Jack Lemmon who played the character in the film version, and Daisy Maywood as Fran.

It is a delightful pairing and their rendition of I’ll Never Fall In Love Again was heart meltingly good.

Other stand outs include John Guerrasio as Dr Dreyfuss and Alex Young who puts in a scene stealing performance as Marge, the lush with whom Chuck meets in the bar.

Promises Promises is a real treat and will leave you with a warm and fuzzy glow for days to come.

Promises Promises is on at the Southwark Playhouse, Newington Causeway until February 18. Tickets cost £25. Visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk  or call the box office on 020 7407 0234.

INTERVIEW - Gary Barlow and Tim Firth talk about The Girls

Tim Firth and Gary Barlow. Pic credit Matt Crockett

IN 1999 a group of women from Rylstone WI in Yorkshire stripped off to create a nude calendar which they hoped would raise enough money to buy their local hospital a sofa to be used by patients’ relatives

They had been inspired to do so by the death of their friend Angela Baker’s husband John of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma the year before.

However, nothing could have prepared them for the way it took off. In fact, the 2000 calendar featuring the women, and with the eventual blessing of the WI, was an instant hit selling out in the first week. Thousands more were ordered and printed, all of which sold out raising much more money than they had ever hoped for. 

To date the ladies have been instrumental in raising almost £5million for charity Bloodwise, and they are still actively fundraising.

Their story captured not only the imagination of the country at large, but also that of the film industry. And in true fairytale style it was eventually adapted for the big screen in 2003 by Tim Firth, with a stellar cast including Julie Walters, Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie.

The award-winning Calendar Girls then inspired a stage version of the story in 2008, again written by Tim, which was also received with critical acclaim.

But Tim wasn’t done yet and five years ago he approached good friend and Take That singer songwriter Gary Barlow to see if he wanted to join forces and turn the story into a musical.

Since then the pair have been writing, re-writing and workshopping it as well as staging performances at the Lowry and in Leeds, not to mention in the village hall in Burnsall, Yorkshire, where the idea for the calendar was born.

Re-writes and revisions have followed each stage, all with the feedback of the original ladies. It has changed quite a bit in the five years since its inception and Gary and Tim now feel the time is right to bring to audiences and so it will be heading to the Phoenix Theatre in London where it opens for a three month run on January 28.

The cast, which includes Joanna Riding as Annie and Claire Moore as Chris, are busy rehearsing and it is during one such rehearsal that I meet up with Gary, Tim and some of the cast to find out more about The Girls. 

“We have known each other for so many years and always flirted with the idea of working together,” Tim tells me when I ask what inspired a further exploration of the story.

“When the idea came up to do it as a musical I resisted initially because musicals can be the best and worst kind of theatre. They can be really good or they can be awful and they are a tricky beast to get right.

“However I took Gary to see the stage version of the show to see what he thought and if there was room for song in it as it struck me it was a story we should be writing. Fortunately he was keen.”

Gary says he was in no doubt about the idea.

“I could hear the music straight away,” he smiles. “It was brilliant and I went home and immediately started thinking about songs that would complement the words and played about with melodies.

“It’s been fantastic as it’s a completely different process to writing a pop song so it’s also been a chance for me to learn new skills, be part of the rehearsal process, working with this amazing company and I’ve absolutely loved it.”

We chat in the studios where the cast has been gathered to do four of the numbers to select audience which includes journalists as well as the original calendar girls themselves. 

And not only can you sense the obvious passion everyone involved has for the project, not least Gary and Tim who have invested the last five years working on it, it is also a very moving experience. Some of the songs are extremely emotional, reducing many of us to tears.

“It’s one thing writing the songs but when these amazing actors put the emotion in it it’s incredibly moving,” agrees Gary, nodding.

“In fact it moves me every time and I look around and see that we are all touched by it. But the story is incredible and true and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to be part of this. What these ladies did and continue to do is absolutely at the heart of everything and touches you on so may levels.

“What’s fantastic is that here we are surrounded by the ladies who started it all off, and the incredible actors and actresses, it’s a gorgeous company.

“Another reason I wanted to be involved was that after having seen the stage version I fell in love with theatre.

“As a songwriter to be offered this opportunity is fantastic and for me and it has been a real honour to be involved.”

However with the film and the stage play both having been hugely successful, both Gary and Tim were keen that the musical should be distinctly different, and not just by the addition of music.

As a result, The Girls delves deeper into the lives of the women, bringing their families and the effect it had on them all, to the fore as well as showing how it all happened and how the women achieved something extraordinary.

“This is a completely different beast,” smiles Tim. “This has been a chance to write what I’d call a village green musical.

“You create a small group of characters in a village where nothing really changes or happens and then this extraordinary thing happens.

“It’s a quality time you have with these characters. You are allowed to spend time with them, their husbands and kids, where you hear the fathers talking to their kids, about their work and so on - these are the new elements that weren’t in the play or film. It adds another layer.”

But for those who are fans of the story, Gary and Tim say the central part of it, that of the ladies making the calendar, is all still there.

“In creating the calendar these ordinary women did something that had never been done before and it was such an extraordinary endeavour,” says Tim. 

“I think it’s that that captured peoples’ imaginations. And it’s now been copied by other groups all over the world - but these ladies were the first.”

Perhaps because of the provenance it has taken a long time - five years, countless corrections and 112 songs in fact, to get it where it is today.

“It’s changed a lot since we started out five years ago,” laughs Tim. “In fact it’s about 25 per cent changed as we workshopped it and took it to Burnsall to get opinion from the people who matter - the community in which the story began.”

“It was really special to do that,” adds Gary smiling. “We have gained so much from these wonderful women and yes it’s been a long time to get this far but we had to get it right, to do the story justice and be faithful to their astonishing achievement.

“I’d also never done anything like this before, never written a musical, so Tim said to me ‘don’t go and watch anything in the West End’. He was right of course. 

“So I just sat down and put the music to the words and made a mini album of songs for him. He then took them away and moved some of the songs, the words or the sections around before sending them back to me. It became a patchwork quilt of songs and we built it all like that. It was really clever and a wonderful way of working.

“So now, when we sit down and hear that it’s right, it’s wonderful.”

And Tim agrees.

“Sometimes for example the songs came in quite up tempo and I would put them in but then I remembered the story and realised that although it’s a fast song, something in it is crying out for it to be slower,” he explains. “So things got changed quite a bit.” 

“It was and is an emotional journey,” admits Gary. “It’s inspired by a true and incredible story so writing about something that has happened was a big responsibility.

“And while it’s obviously quite sad and emotional in places it’s also very funny. As a musician, to be able to write about the strength of these women in the face of adversity is incredibly uplifting - and then watch your graft translate on to the stage, it’s brilliant.

“We can’t wait now for it to get to the theatre and just hope audiences love it just as much!”

The Girls is on at the Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road, between Saturday January 28 and Saturday, April 22. Tickets from £29.50. Visit www.thegirlsmusical.com or call the box office on 0844 871 7629 for full listings.

PREVIEW - Vault Festival

It may be cold and miserable outside but venture underground this winter and a warm, artistic glow awaits thanks to an annual arts festival.

Yes, the VAULT festival is back for a fifth year in its regular home in the tunnels under Waterloo station from next week and it promises a wealth of cultural and artistic talent.

Starting on Wednesday, January 25 and running for six weeks until March 5, the venue will once again play host to this ever popular event which features a myriad of pleasures - from comedy to theatre, dance to film, including weekend events for the youngsters in the family that feature storytelling and mini raves.

As in previous years there are also DJs, bars and food and a series of late night parties to ensure there is something for everyone.

Put together by Mat Burt and his team, this year VAULT has also expanded to include satellite venues of the Network Theatre and Morley College.  

It is, he tells me, partly as a result of demand for more events and an increase in applications by individuals and groups to perform.

“The Network Theatre is such a lovely space that many people don’t know about, but should, so they have very kindly allowed us to be there which is fantastic,” he says. “As well as encourage people to get to know them better, it also means we have been able to programme more into the festival.

“We’ve also got access to Morley College so it feels more of a community event.

“The festival itself seems to keep growing and this time we had about 700 applicants wanting to perform which is incredible.

“Our goal is to give everyone an opportunity so we have a mix of groups and individuals - some of whom we have worked with before and are perhaps well known, but others who are here for the first time, and who we believe will be the big names of tomorrow. Some have come back but are doing something different this time so it’s really exciting.

“We have also expanded it to six weeks and feel we have a really cool mix in the programme which will appeal to a wide range of people - whether they have been before or are new to the festival. 

“With a total of 200 performers, it’s shaping up to be a fantastic six weeks.”

This year Mat says the underlying theme to it all is the future in general and sci fi and space in particular, in part due to what emerged from the submissions by the applicants.

“We’ve made PROXIMA V - a carefully selected strand of sci-fi and space experiences designed to make you think about where we’re all headed, what’s happening next culturally and in a cosmic sense and if we really are all in it together,” he says.

“Everyone had a bit of a bummer of a year last year and so some of the events look at what we can do to rectify things and how we do that as well as what we can achieve, especially culturally.

“Some of it will be very silly and funny such as with Superbly Theatre who are coming back to VAULT with Mars Actually, but some of it will be really reflective. It will feature film, theatre, comedy and astronomy and it looks really exciting.

“Of course there is also plenty about what’s happening today with social issues including feminism and equality. We are really pleased with what we’ve got on offer this year.”

Although Mat is coy when it comes to choosing his highlights, he does allude to award-winning company The Flanagan Collective who will immerse audiences in decadence and excess with their production of The Great Gatsby.

It will be performed across multiple spaces within the venue’s complex giving people a unique theatrical experience.

He’s also excited about Ventoux, a restaging of the epic rivalry between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani on the fearsome Mont Ventoux in the 2000 Tour de France as well as the MMORPG Show from the makers of Knightmare Live, which he describes as an epic, sprawling show entirely of the audience’s devising comprising improv and table top gaming.

“I spend my free time playing board games so this is right up my street,” he laughs. 

He also points to comedy from Adele Is Younger Than Us and the VAULT Comedy Festival which promises a fresh line-up stepping up to the mic.

And then there is the weekly VAULT Film Festival which premiers numerous shorts and features, including dark_net staring Johnny Vegas and Love Comes Later, a London premiere staring Sarita Choudhury.

Elsewhere he says he’s excited about verbatim show Carry on Jaywick about a seaside gem of the Essex coast which has fallen on hard times. Four cast members tackle 30 characters in the show which is full of dark comedy.

Written by Tim Foley, Astronauts of Hartlepool tackles Brexit Britain, the North/South divide and immigration when two strangers meet on the headland and Summer Nights in Space is a one act musical that follows an Astronaut responding to an attractive astro-nette distress call, with a reluctant crew in tow. Produced by Hannah Elsy it is a heartfelt look at the meaning of modern life in space.

A collaboration between Subtle Paws and The Cockpit, AgRave Tale features dancers alongside a live DJ, real news and documentary footage which take the audience back to 1989 and the second summer of love, and set against the backdrop of Cornwall’s many second homes, writer Marietta Kirkbride stages The Long Trick, a new play about one man’s private protest against gentrification.

And if that’s not enough, when the curtain comes down the band starts up offering a chance to dance the night away every weekend at huge themed parties including the Valentine’s Ball and Mardi Gras party.

“The breadth of work we have on offer this year is huge so it’s really hard to pick favourites,” says Mat diplomatically.

“As in previous years, much of it is work that you may not see anywhere else - something that we feel has contributed to the success of the festival in general.

“What’s heartening for us is that the festival itself has really captured peoples’ imaginations, making it a popular and a real cultural and fun event in the heart of London. 

“Last year we had 40,000 visitors, the year before it was 32,000 so it feels like a real endorsement of what we are doing.

“It has allowed us to grow it year on year, expanding the programme each time as well as adding to the number of performers and incorporating the food and bars. 

‘It’s been a real journey for us but one we are really proud of.”

Mat and the team are also aware of how expensive it is to stage work especially for those just starting out on their creative and artistic career.

To that end they help not only with advice and support in marketing and staging but also by offering an increased percentage from the box office sales.

“We want VAULT to be as socially inclusive as possible,” he says. “There is so much talent out there from all backgrounds that it’s important to us to be able to show it. 

“It’s very expensive to stage work in London so we try and help out where we can - it’s especially beneficial for those just emerging from drama or art school and who want to try things out.

“There has to be a balance obviously but if the festival was just for our mates or those who are already established it wouldn’t work.

“There is tonnes to see and do and as we try and keep our ticket prices as low as possible, we feel people can come along and try something out that they may not have thought about before.

“And with great food, the bars and late night entertainment people can also come in for free and just enjoy the atmosphere.

“Ultimately though we are really proud of this year’s event and feel it’s going to be a fun and really cool place to be for the next six weeks.”

VAULT is on between January 25 and March 5. Visit www.vaultfestival.com for full listings.