BWW Interviews: Kerry Ellis!
By: Liz Cearns Jul. 28, 2015
Kerry Ellis will soon return to the West End stage with Sweet Charity at Cadogan Hall. Kerry took the time to discuss some of her wealth of experience, her latest project and what she loves about the industry.
Q: What did you take from your training? Do you feel your time at Laine determined your career in any way?
A: I think training is part and parcel of it - I think it's a really good basis for a career and it kind of helps you to gain experience. It really sets you up for the business; I think training is hugely important. A lot of schools do similar things and I think because you're so young when you go, it's a just a good basis. I think they're all much of a muchness - there weren't so many colleges when I went to college whereas now there are a lot, of different varieties. Now there's something for everything whereas before they were quite generic and they kind of covered everything. That they covered a bit of everything was really useful for me.
Q: In your early career you made quite a jump in genres, starting with the fairly classical Merrily We Roll Along and My Fair Lady - how did you get from that to We Will Rock You?
A: I know, it's quite different! It was down to Brian, really. Brian came to see My Fair Lady and I was actually in it, and he said, "I'd like you to come and audition", and that was it! I don't know how he saw that rocky edge in me from My Fair Lady because it's a completely different genre, but he did. And thank God he did, because Rock You was an amazing opportunity; I got to create a role. To go on into a massive new musical was huge.
A: Yeah, he knew! It wasn't thought through or calculated on my part - it just happened, which I'm really grateful for.
Q: When starting out, did you have any "interesting" day jobs?
A: Not really, I was pretty lucky that I went straight into the business. I worked in a hotel singing for a bit while I was at college, which I think was really important, because it gave me an eye into the industry - it was really interesting, to not just be at college and be told about the industry, but to actually be there in the thick of it and really experience it for myself. I think that was part of my training, really, and I'm really grateful to the hotel that took me on.
Q: When understudying there can be a certain expectation to emulate whoever you're covering. When you took over from Idina Menzel in Wicked, was it liberating to be Elphaba in own right?
A: With any part I always try to look at it like it's a new role so that I'm not taking on anyone else's ideas. I think that's hugely important, whether you're doing a new role or whether you are taking over, I think you have to bring some of yourself to it. That's always really important to me and I always try and make sure that I do that. I try not to watch the person prior to me do the show so I don't have their ideas, 'cause you can't block that out of your brain. I try to steer clear of it.
Q: What's the funniest thing to have gone wrong while you were onstage or in rehearsal?
A: Oh, there's so many! I've been in this business quite a long time now, so there're loads of things that have happened to me over the years. Costumes have gone wrong or lines have been forgotten - or pieces of set haven't come on. People haven't come on! It's just endless: too many to think about. One of my funniest ones was when my broom snapped in half in Wicked in the West End. They get a lot of wear and tear and they are pretty hard, but it literally just snapped in half and I was pretty mortified. But it was brilliant, because the audience could see and so they laughed along with it. It wasn't just an onstage joke - everybody could get involved with it, which was perfect.
Q: Do you tend to suffer from nerves? If so, how do you tend to deal with them?
A: Not necessarily. I obviously get nervous, and I think nerves are a good and important part of doing a show, doing a performance, because I think it means you care. The minute I stop getting nervous, I will stop doing it, because I think they're a part of adrenaline. They're a good source of energy and I think they're really important. I think a lot of people wonder how you control nerves or tame them; I just see it as an excitement as opposed to something terrifying.
Q: What do you listen to?
A: All kinds of stuff! I've got a real eclectic taste in music and I think that comes over in what I perform if I'm doing my own shows. I think that comes from the diversity of the musicals I've done and what I've listened to over the years. I love current stuff as well - I'm a big Ed Sheeran fan. I love Beyonce because I think she's just a phenomenal talent. I like to listen to the radio - I like to listen to whatever's on at the time. I really like to see what's around, see what people are liking and embrace that.
Q: Hideous question, but do you have a favourite song? To sing or listen to?
A: Oh, that is slightly hideous! But yeah, I really like doing No One But You, mainly because of my connections with Brian and We Will Rock You and it has such a story behind it, so I really treasure performing that. I also like new challenges - I like to perform new songs. I got to go out to Disney in Hong Kong quite recently and they asked me to sing Feed the Birds, which apparently was Walt Disney's favourite song, which I never knew. So to learn that was really great, and something different, a new challenge. So that was really good.
A: I think they half choose you. A lot of stuff is what's available at the time. You're sent for an audition and it really is how you get on with the script and the songs. I think sometimes it really does choose you. Obviously if I got to choose anything, the roles that I've played have been fantastic. I've played some amazingly strong women and really diverse women. Like obviously Fantine in Les Mis has a really rough ride whereas someone like Elphaba has a really strong, magical journey. I've been really fortunate to play the women that I've played.
Q: In 2012 you auditioned for The Voice. Given the longevity of your recording career as opposed to that of most reality TV contestants, do you now feel that this really was a missed opportunity or perhaps a lucky escape?
A: The whole reason I went on there was for an opportunity. I spend my life auditioning - it's part of what we do. The difference is it's not done in front of people. When The Voice came up, it was the first year they'd done it and I got a call and they asked me to go on the show. That was kind of it - I didn't really think into it much more than that: I just took it as an opportunity. You have to keep reinventing yourself in this industry and taking opportunities. To me that's what it was - it wasn't a big "I want to change my career" or do something completely different. It was literally an opportunity and I thought "Why not?" Also, our industry is full of that now, so we kind of have to embrace it. I've been in the industry a long time and that hasn't been the case, but now it is - it's very much the case, so I think we do have to embrace it a little bit.
Q: Have you seen Miss Saigon and, if so, what do you think of the changes made to Ellen's role?
A: I liked it, actually. It's obviously a completely new song, which I think is great. I think it's good of the producers to put out something new, not to just put out the same show. Not that that wasn't brilliant; I'm a big fan of the show - I love it and think it's wonderful. But I think it's really good of them to try something new and put something in. Yeah, I liked it - I thought it was good! It told the story; it worked.
Q: I know you recently took part in a concert for the Youth Music Theatre: UK Orchestral programme - do you any advice for the members of YMT:UK, or any young musicians or actors?
A: The beauty of this industry is that it constantly changes. Auditions are changing, the way people get into the industry is changing, so I am still finding my own way. I'm flattered when people ask me my opinions, 'cause I'm still doing my own little journey. I'm still learning - on every job I'm learning. Somebody said to me once, "Never stop learning"; never stop embracing new things, never stop trying new things. I think that's quite good because it just keeps your mind open, wherever you are in your career.
Q: Do you have a preference for musical work, recording, concerts?
A: The thing I love about what I do, especially at the moment, is that I do have diversity and there is a lot of variety in what I do. I love that, and for me, that's really important. I don't really have a favourite area as such, but I love the fact that I get to do all different things.
Q: I noticed you've done a lot of work for organisations promoting animal rights; is this something that's particularly important to you?
A: Yeah, hugely. Brian and I worked together with Virginia McKenna from the Born Free foundation, which is something I'm hugely passionate about - I love working for her and I'm a big supporter. Brian also runs his own charity called Save Me, which is to support our own animals in this country, which again I'm a huge supporter of. I'm just an animal lover, I think, and try to do what I can. I use my voice where they can't.
Q: I imagine being an actress and parent must be a struggle between professional opportunities and time at home. How have you found the experience of balancing a freelance career and parenthood? Is there anything you feel could be changed to improve things for acting parents?
A: Our industry is so tough - it's a real challenge. It's brutal, you know; there's always somebody younger and fitter behind you. It is brutal. However, I love what I do and I'm so passionate about what I do - but I'm also passionate about being a parent. I think you just learn to juggle it. Where there's a will, there's a way. The hardest thing, and I'm sure most parents would agree, is time management, dividing your time up between the two. However, you actually probably get to spend more time at home than most working parents because of the hours we do. I might go and do a couple of concerts and be away for a couple of nights, then I might have four or five days at home. It really does depend on what I'm doing. I just feel really lucky and really blessed that I get to do both and long may it continue! Yeah, it can be a bit of a struggle sometimes and I get a bit less sleep, but it's a small price to pay.
Q: How important do you feel it is to bridge the cultures of popular or chart music and musical theatre?
A: To me good music is good music. It doesn't actually matter where it comes from or what genre it's in. The older I get, the more I appreciate that. When I was younger I think I was more conscious of trying to go to the normal charts and wanting to be recognised as a music artist, whereas the older I get, I'm kind of more content with what I've achieved, what I can achieve and what I create. Now, to me it's more about the creation of the music and the quality of the music that I'm doing, as opposed to where it ends up and where it goes.
Q: What are you most looking forward to about Sweet Charity?
A: I'm excited, absolutely! I'm not doing a great deal; I'm playing one of the friends, which is great. Denise Van Outen's doing the main bit of it all, so she's got lots of work to do. However, I think it's going to be really exciting. Kimberley's great - we had a little meet and greet the other week, so that was fun. Yeah, I think it's just going to be great fun. We'll have a good laugh and yeah, I'm excited!
Q: What do you think has made Sweet Charity so popular over such a long time? Is there anything you think might be tweaked for a contemporary audience?
A: I think with all musicals, good story and good songs are the basis for any good musical. It's the same with new musicals and I get asked the same thing: "Why is it popular? Why is it doing so well?" and I think it's literally that - good story, good songs. It's basic! This version is going to be a concert-esque version anyway; it's not the whole play. It's a version of it, so I don't know what it's going to be like yet - we've literally got the script and the songs and I'm waiting to start!
Q: In the future, what role would you most like to play and why?
A: Ooh, that's tough 'cause there's so much I haven't done and so much I'd love to do, but I'd love to do something new. There's stuff I'm too young to do at the moment but I would really like to do something new and develop something, create a role. To me, to put your stamp on something and have that excitement is the ultimate. To work with the directors and create something is what I'd like to do.
Q: Is there anyone with whom you would particularly like to work?
A: Oh god! A new writer? Somebody up and coming, maybe.
Kerry Ellis will be performing in Sweet Charity at Cadogan Hall from 19 August to 22 August 2015 at 7:30pm, with 2:30pm matinees on 20 and 22 August.
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