Kerry Ellis

But while that is off for now (it looks likely to be resumed next year), her work with May has, fortunately, picked up again. When we catch up on the phone, she is on her way to meet May to record some new music, including a Christmas song called Just One Day.

“We were in the studio before lockdown, two-and-a-half songs into a new album,” she says. “Then lockdown hit and as Brian is in 70s and has had health issues over the years, he isolated. So I am going into the studio to pick up where we left off.”

And the music is likely to feature in future concerts, when Ellis is able to go on the road again.

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Q&A Kerry Ellis

What was your first non-theatre job?
I worked in a newsagent at the age of 13 and that was the only non-theatre job I’ve had.

What do you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?
Be prepared and be brave. And don’t take it personally. You will get loads of nos but the yeses will outweigh them.

Who or what was your biggest influence?
I love Liza [Minnelli] and I grew up watching Cabaret. I love, love, love her. I met her once and could not speak. I also love amazing vocalists such as Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand. My dad was a big rocker, and I think that is where some of my other influences comes from.

Do you have any theatrical superstitions or rituals?
I try not to get into routines, because then you get fixated on being like: ‘I’ve not put my left shoe on first today’ or ‘I’ve not walked through that door at that specific time’. That can ruin your show.

Balancing work with family

Touring with space between dates is easier for her than committing to eight shows a week in a musical, she says, because of her family commitments.

Ellis has two young sons and the life of a musical theatre star makes being there for them tougher. “Committing to eight shows a week is difficult with young children, as I would have to leave them every day,” she says. “A tour means I am away for a shorter period of time. I am still away but it’s not continuous or every day.”

She adds: “I don’t think I engineer it that way, it’s just about what is around and what is right at the time. It’s not about thinking I should step away from musicals.”

Ellis will always be associated with musicals. It’s a genre she has appeared in since drama school. Brought up in Suffolk, with parents who “weren’t theatrical” – her mum worked in social services and her dad was a policeman – she went to a local dance school before auditioning for Laine Theatre Arts after leaving school at 16. The school had a strong emphasis on dance and gave Ellis an education in musical theatre.

She left at the age of 19 and went straight on tour with Dave Willetts and Marti Webb in The Magic of the Musicals, going on for Webb when she had to miss a number of shows due to illness. Ellis then worked on a cruise for nine months before coming back and landing My Fair Lady.

‘I am relatively resilient and positive, and from nowhere I had this little breakdown’

As a swing she covered 13 tracks, and understudied Eliza. “When you are younger you take all that in your stride,” she says. “But if I was to do that now I would be overwhelmed. I was 20 and just breezed my way through it, not even thinking about it.”

After McCutcheon’s much-publicised absences, Ellis was called on to play the lead role on many occasions. She is diplomatic when discussing McCutcheon’s time in the show, only saying; “She came out of the production a little bit early, and so Alexandra Jay and I did most of it for a while.”

But one of her lasting memories from that production was when the theatre was required to tell audiences that McCutcheon was not going to appear. “They would say: ‘Tonight the role will be played by Kerry Ellis’ and everyone groaned. But as a brazen young person, it made me go: ‘I am going to prove you are going to enjoy the show and I will make you enjoy it.’ It gave me the oomph I needed.”

Asked if understudies are given enough credit, she acknowledges that it can be hard on performers who step into cover roles. “But then that is your job,” she continues. “You know taking on the role that is your job. You are cast because you are good, but you’re there to keep the show going. No one is bigger than the show. The show is the star and we are all there to make it work. It’s better to have an understudy who can do the show than to cancel.”

After My Fair Lady and We Will Rock You, Ellis went into Miss Saigon, playing Ellen. “I loved it, loved it,” she says. “It was a small role but poignant.”

Miss Saigon was followed by Les Misérables, and it was then that she became aware of another musical by the name of Wicked. “One of the guys in the company was singing the songs from it and saying: ‘You should do this’,” she says. “I didn’t pay attention, but then the auditions came round and I remember buying the CD and listening to the score and thinking: ‘This is hard’.”

Like We Will Rock You, she had seven auditions – one of which fell on the same day as a Les Mis matinee. “I went in, sang Defying Gravity three times, and then went off to do the matinee,” she says. “It was insane.”

It paid off, however, as she landed the role of Elphaba in the London production, becoming the first British performer to play the role when she took over from Idina Menzel. But the gig wasn’t easy: “The energy required, the vocal stamina. Then there’s the physical stamina needed, the expectations of the role, the commitment needed to it.”

She adds: “But I loved it. I will forever remember it and it took me to Broadway too. I did a year in the West End and then six months in New York.”

And how did she feel about being painted green for the role every night? “I didn’t mind the green,” she laughs. “The mud in Les Mis was harder, because that didn’t come off. The green felt part of the preparation, and it’s such a transformation that I just embraced it. I liked the green. But because I am blonde, it soaked into my hair, and I had a green halo for a very long time.”

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Ellis on…

…social media
I don’t like the pressure there is to be on social media and to have a presence. That should not reflect on whether you get a job or not, or whether you are considered for a role. I know from experience that having followers does not equate to ticket sales. They just don’t. It gives people an awareness of what you are doing, but it doesn’t convert to sales. Auditioning people based on the number of followers they have is tragic. If you go down that road, you might be missing out on some young talent nobody knows about. And to add that kind of pressure to people is unnecessary. Social media could all go away – then what would we do?

…being a parent in the arts
When I started in theatre, the chats didn’t seem to be as open about what parents need and there wasn’t the press about it that there is now. That’s not to say there haven’t been working parents before now. Look at Ruthie Henshall, she’s a prime example. She has two kids and a phenomenal career. And she did it when nobody was even talking about it.

…looking after herself
I am conditioned, when I do a job, not to go out and not to drink. I am more healthy now I have hit 40 than when I was in my 20s. You abuse yourself a bit in your 20s because you can, you bounce back quicker. I am more respectful of myself now. I am more aware of my health and my body and I think that reflects better in
my voice.

Wicked fans

It’s no secret, either, that fans of Wicked are some of the most fiercely loyal in the world of musical theatre. They will wait at stage door to catch a glimpse of the show’s stars, and Ellis is appreciative of their support.

“It’s amazing that they want to come and see you. You’ve done a show and they want a bit of your time,” she says. “The tough thing is you might see the same faces over and over, but then you remember they are there supporting the show and without them you would not be there. You should have time for people if you can.”

However, she admits times have changed somewhat with regards to the demands that fans can make. When she starred in Wicked, social media was not as prolific as it is now. Where people used to want just a signature, now they want photos – and that takes longer, she says.

But she’s thankful for the time she had working on the show, even if she says she’s too old to appear in it now. She would be interested if there was a role for her in the upcoming film, however. “I would love to walk across the set at some point, just to see it,” she laughs.

For now, her focus is on the little bits of performing she has been able to do during the pandemic. She was able to do some outdoor concerts, and was recently asked to headline some shows with cabaret venue Proud Embankment, in London. On Friday nights throughout October and November, she headlines a “circus-cabaret spectacular”, appearing alongside Cirque du Soleil acts.

She admits it was emotional walking back on stage, in an indoors venue, after such a long break. “It was electric. It was like I had not been on stage for 10 years and I was so excited to be back. I felt I had been starved of it for so long,” she says, adding: “Just walking into the dressing room – the things you take for granted – I was overjoyed.”

But even though she is able to do what she loves, she’s aware of the thousands of others in the sector who aren’t, and says she fears for their well-being. “I worry about people’s mental health. I have been doing this a long time, and you build up a bit of a reserve, so I have a house and family and a bit of security,” she says. “But what frightens me is the younger people starting out, with aspirations and dreams, and they may not survive because they may not have the support to get through this. So they may have to find another route.”

She adds: “Our industry is difficult enough and early on people spend time in and out of work and they have to find work, in restaurants or a bar, while they wait for their next job. But this is going to hit in a very different way and hit people mentally and that is going to be the danger. I found it difficult not knowing when it will start again or what the future holds and that is really difficult.”

Even when things are good, Ellis knows luck can turn, and quickly. She has been involved in a few high-profile shows that were either cancelled midway through or never got off the ground at all.

One of these was the tour of musical Wonderland, while a show called Heaven on Earth was pulled three weeks before it was due to open. “Those kind of things are tough on a company,” she says. “It’s better that it happened to me later on in my career rather than earlier. With Heaven on Earth I felt for the company and the young people. For many it was their first job and first experience of theatre. So to have their confidence knocked like that is hard.”

She adds: “I now have my own experience of putting on shows and know what it is to produce them, and how expensive and how difficult it is. That’s not to say it’s right, but I have an understanding.”

She wonders whether more could be done to protect actors and crew from sudden, unexpected closures. “In any other job you would get a notice period, or some kind of compensation, as a company would have insurance,” she says, adding: “There should be something in place to protect young people, who are on their first jobs. I think there should be some kind of security – some kind of insurance maybe.”

Given her focus now appears to be on her own music and the touring circuit, it’s difficult to imagine Ellis could be lured back to the West End and its eight-show-a-week culture. “But if something presented itself I would not rule it out,” she says.

There’s the chance of appearing in plays, too. Despite making a name for herself in musicals, Ellis made her first non-singing role in a tour of The Importance of Being Earnest in 2018. It was daunting joining a cast of actors from TV series including Downton Abbey, but she says she enjoyed the whole experience, even if it was hard on her voice.

“There are no mics in plays, so you are projecting all the time, and you don’t have to do that in musicals,” she says. “That was a different experience.” And she says making her entrances in the play were notably different from coming on stage in a musical. “It’s weird,” she laughs. “You can hear your own footsteps. It’s so odd and just the weirdest thing.” Not that it’s put her off. “I loved it. And I would do another in a heartbeat.”

CV Kerry Ellis

Born: Haughley, Suffolk, 1979
Training: Laine Theatre Arts
Landmark productions:
• My Fair Lady, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London (2001)
• We Will Rock You, Dominion Theatre, London (2003)
• Les Misérables, Queen’s Theatre, London (2005)
• Wicked, Apollo Victoria, London (2008); Gershwin Theatre, New York (2009)
Awards
• WhatsOnStage award for best takeover in a role for Wicked (2008)
• Broadway.com audience award for favorite breakthrough performance (female) for Wicked (2009)

For more information go to: kerryellis.com