BWW Interviews: Janie Dee - Cabaret, Young Vic, MRS HENDERSON!

Janie Dee is in rehearsal today for Ah, Wilderness! at the Young Vic. It was a late night after her cabaret at the Crazy Coqs - and now it's an early start. That doesn't dampen the spirits of one of the cheeriest and hardest working women in musical theatre.

"Last night was the kind of cabaret you hope one day you'll have - so full of fun, surprises, spontaneity, colour and joy," she enthuses. "I went to bed with a smile on my face, exhausted but feeling it was so worth it. It was a full house and everybody played their part."

Last night's special guest was Damien Humbley ("Hearing him sing, it just melts me, he has such an amazing range and something in his voice that's so incredibly affecting") and there'll be plenty of other star names turning up to perform during this week's run - although she's keeping the names close for the moment so as to surprise the audience.

She'll be bringing her cabaret to the South Bank with a Jacobean twist in May - courtesy of the venue, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse - and then she's got another engagement this summer, the casting for which hasn't yet been publicly announced.

And then she heads off to the Theatre Royal Bath to play the titular role in the new musical version of Mrs Henderson Presents.

"I'm very glad to have read the script - it's superb from Terry Johnson," she says. "It's about a woman who surprised people - that's what I like about her. She doesn't behave how she looks like she'd behave."

Of course, this impresario-of-a-sort was played in the film version by Dame Judi Dench, but Dee won't be allowing that to affect her interpretation.

"I haven't seen the film yet: I don't know if it'd be a help at this point," she confesses. "I know Judi Dench - she directed me in Romeo & Juliet many years ago - and I can imagine what she might have done. But you try and take yourself to it and create something original."

That originality is something that excites her about the role.

"New musicals seem to be something the world is embracing," she says. "I'm so glad to be doing something new - although playing an established part is equally enjoyable. But it's special to be able to originate a part - it's like opening a present!"

Janie's cabaret runs until Saturday 14th March; Ah, Wilderness! runs at the Young Vic from April; Mrs Henderson Presents opens in Bath in August.

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