BWW INTERVIEWS: Joanna Riding Of BILLY ELLIOT

Hi, Jo, and welcome to BWW:UK. What's it like going back into Billy Elliot after your maternity leave?

Well, I'm back in right now! I signed for six months, so I'm definitely there till May, with an option to continue. My baby is only four months old, so not sleeping through the night yet, and my toddler is two and a half and she's up all night sometimes. I do have a nanny working with me for some of the week, and at this moment in time the in-laws are here and entertaining them while I talk to you. But by and large I'm surviving on five hours of sleep, and I find myself thinking, "What am I doing?"

It's crazy, but it's almost like when I get to the theatre, it's me-time. This is what I do. And it's definitely easier than being a mum! I love my role in the show, and because I'm going back to it, it's physically easier than it might have been if I started a new role. I do have a tea-bag for a brain now! The show has a huge impact on the audience, and if you just go with it, the audience has such a strong reaction and that energy comes right back at you. That's the magic of theatre.

You say you've got a tea-bag for a brain now - I guess it must be easier going back to a part you know than having to learn a new one with mummy-brain!

Yes, it's bizarre. The rest of the day I muddle through, but it's different at work. It's quite refreshing! Of course I'm still physically and mentally tired, but it's been great to come back to the job.

Did you expect the show to have as much success as it has done when it transferred to Broadway?

I don't think anyone did. In previews, it seemed like the American audience weren't quite getting it - and was it any wonder, really? It's so steeped in British history, and it's a very Geordie tale. But the bottom line is that it's a Cinderella story, and it's full of heart. When press night came and it got such critical acclaim, it took everyone by surprise, and the awards - which it deserves - it was just a whole new mentality. It was incredible.

You've not had chance to see it on Broadway yet - do you like seeing other people play "your" parts?

Well, this isn't "my" part, really - although for a lot of my career I've had the chance to be the first one to play a role. After I had my first baby I was thinking about what I could do next, and I went to see Billy Elliot - usually going to the theatre is a bit of a busman's holiday, but I switched my critical faculties off and it was a totally blinding show. I found myself thinking, "I wonder if this role's likely to become available..." And I asked, and it was, and so I asked if I could audition - the first time in my career that I'd asked that! I actually gave the worst audition I think I've ever given in my career - I was embarrassed! But they still offered me it. [laughs]

Are there any parts you still want to do?

There's one part I'd like to do again - after I finished My Fair Lady, I played Maggie in Hobson's Choice at the Royal Exchange. It was such a success, and we were supposed to transfer to the Garrick in the West End, but it fell through, which was really sad. I loved that role. I'm a Lancashire lass and I grew up knowing Maggies, so I'm not finished with her yet! I must give [director] Braham [Braham Murray] a call...

Billy Elliot plays the Victoria Palace now.

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