BWW Interviews: Caroline Sheen, As She Releases RAISE THE CURTAIN

Hi. Well, I have always had the idea that I may record an album some day, but I didn’t just want to do an album of all my audition songs. I think new musical theatre is developing in a really interesting direction so I wanted to bring the new writers of today into a bit of a spotlight.

I had the idea when I was working in Leicester on The Light In The Piazza. It was such a special experience and such an honour to work with Adam Guettel that I felt the need to save some of it for posterity. It was then that the idea came to me about showcasing new writers of musical theatre and it all stemmed from there.

So it was a conscious decision not to choose the well-known musical theatre songs that people would be able to recognise just by reading down the CD cover? Aren’t you concerned that there are people that won’t buy the CD because of this?

I think, that even though I have tried to highlight new writers there are still names that people will recognise, it’s not an undiscovered writers album. Maybe that will be my next one!

There are some songs on it, which are completely new and unrecorded which I am really proud of. I’m especially pleased to have a song on the album that was originally written for my character in The Witches of Eastwick, but was cut after the fourth preview.

That’s the song Isn’t This What Every Woman Wants?

That’s the one. It’s a very sweet song, but was at the wrong place in the wrong part of the show so it had to go, but that’s showbusiness! I’m so pleased to be able to revisit it on the album, and I have Sarah Lark and Jasna Ivir on the song playing various Townswomen, so it was a bit of a reunion for us as well.

Were there any songs that as soon as you decided to do an album that you knew you wanted on there?

Yes. I definitely wanted to put The Light In The Piazza on there. I also wanted to do Carrie Makes a Decision, which is a song by Grant Olding from a musical I did of his called Three Sides. Once I started with a couple of ideas the rest just slotted in. I mainly started with writers I liked and then chose the material from there. I have sang with Jason Robert Brown and Georgia Stitt at concerts they have done in London, so I put the songs they chose for me to sing on there too.

You have your husband duetting on one of the songs with you. Did you always know that you wanted him singing with you or did you choose a song and then decide that he’d be a good choice to sing with you?

He was pretty much forced into it! We went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels together in New York and laughed ourselves silly. I was trying to think of a duet we could sing together that wouldn’t be too soppy and this seemed ideal. We had fun recording it and thought it could be nice as a little bonus tracks – if only for our mums!

Going back to the start of your career when did you decide that you wanted to be on the stage? Was it something you wanted to do from an early age?

My parents were involved with the local Amateur Dramatic Society and I grew up watching them in various productions including those by Gilbert & Sullivan and Rogers & Hammerstein. Then I began to play child roles in shows like South Pacific. The bug bit me badly and I found out it was something you could do as a grown-up job, so I did everything in my power to try and do it.

Which of your roles did you consider to be your big-break?

I was very lucky to be chosen straight from college (Guildford School of Aacting) to play the role of Marty in Grease and then went on to work at the Donmar on Into The Woods and then into the original cast of Mamma Mia, but I think my big break was The Witches of Eastwick. It was amazing to create a role from scratch and to be part of an original Cameron Mackintosh production.

So the process of creating a role and bringing it to the stage for the first time is something that you enjoy doing?

Definitely, although I have been lucky when I have taken over roles in productions as the directors have always allowed me to have my own ‘take’ on the character.

It’s just been announced that you are joined the US touring production of Mary Poppins as the lady herself. How did you get that role?

I was offered the role a few months ago. I did the tour of the UK in 2008 which I had a lot of fun doing. Then they just asked me to take over from Ashley Brown on the tour, which is a real thrill. It’s an amazing opportunity to travel around America and see the whole country, and I’m getting paid to do it as well!

Caroline's album 'Raise the Curtain' is available to buy from www.carolinesheen.com where you can also find details about both her Facebook & Twitter pages. The album will also be available to buy from Theatres where Caroline is appearing as Mary Poppins from 7th February 2010.