BWW Interviews: Ashley Day On OKLAHOMA! UK Tour

After a couple of years in the West End with The Book of Mormon, Ashley Day is heading out on tour with Rachel Kavanagh's new production of Oklahoma!

"I haven't toured for seven years - since High School Musical," he says. "Now I'm older and more set in my ways, but I'm driving now, thank the Lord! That'll make touring life much easier."

Not that he has all his digs for each venue sorted out yet.

"If all else fails I'll be sleeping in my Ford Fiesta..." he laughs.

Day is playing Curly in the epic Rodgers and Hammerstein show and is clearly loving the challenge.

"There's a lot to it, it's a huge marathon of a show. The first scene is 25 minutes long!" he points out. He's quick to observe that it's also very carefully constructed, with nuances of light and dark.

"'Lonely Room' goes into the ballet - there's a huge contrast," he says. "Jud finishes his song, and then you hear girls' laughter. It's so clever."

After singing a very modern score during his tenure as a Mormon missionary ("My first show as Elder Price was three days after press night!"), he's also enjoying the contrast of an old-fashioned melody or two.

"I love it," he declares. "When I was auditioning, I sang that song [Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!] for them, and as soon as I started singing, I thought, 'It's so nice to sing this big, proper old-school musical theatre number!' Singing the score is amazing."

And he's full of praise for his new colleagues.

"Charlotte [Charlotte Wakefield, playing Laurey] and I have got on since we met at our auditions - we got the jobs six months ago so we've spent a lot of time texting each other! We're really grateful that we have that connection. Belinda Lang [playing Aunt Eller] is just a joy, a really lovely lady. Everyone's really great."

It's just as well - they'll be spending a lot of time together as the tour goes round the country.

"We're away for six months," he says. "But Rachel makes sure she casts a show with people who all get on - she has a knack of doing that."

And as for the burning question - how's he going to achieve that famous mop of hair

"There's no perm, I'll tell you that! My hair is quite wavy anyway, so I don't have to do too much to it! But definitely no perm."

Ashley Day plays Curly in the UK tour of Oklahoma!

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