BWW Interviews: THE SHOWGIRL WITHIN, Caroline O'Connor

It's get-in day for Caroline O'Connor's The Showgirl Within at the Garrick Theatre - and it's not been the most successful day in the office. "No-one mentioned the pest controllers were coming in today," she sighs as she clutches a tub of honey. "I went out to the stalls and thought what is that taste in my mouth. I looked down and there were two dead mice. I suddenly realised the honey wasn't going to work on my throat today. Still," she grins, "that's showbusiness."

The Showgirl Within is the latest in a series of one-person shows promoted by London-based producers Speckulation, who have already put on shows by the likes of Alan Cumming, Megan Mullally and Lynda Carter. O'Connor has done similar shows previously, beginning ten years ago in Australia with Stage to Screen, a tribute to actresses she admired like Shirley MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Chita Rivera and Gwen Vernon. "I love to hear the way they phrase things, and their tone, and how they can move you," she says. "That was my education - watching movies, and then learning from directors and choreographers on the job."

The Showgirl Within is cabaret on a large scale, with songs and stories and, as one would expect from her, energetic dance routines with a backing chorus ("four DELIGHTFUL, gorgeous dancers!" she exclaims). "It's a killer, and ten years on, I'm like - what have I done? Everyone else who's done their show here at the Garrick has done an hour - I'm doing two hours and two acts!"

So perhaps the size of her poster outside the theatre is justified - the headshot beams across Charing Cross Road, much to O'Connor's shock. "I saw my big head outside the theatre and I just thought... I never wanted to see my big face like that! I would have thought the producers would never have chosen a head shot like that!"

She tweaks her show according to her audience - American crowds are intrigued by her Australian upbringing. "I think they find us quite exotic and curious!" she laughs. "My accent has got thicker and broader over the past few years!"

And of course she has a lot of material to pick from - including Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely, Piaf, On The Town and Chicago. She's collaborated with her MD Daniel Edmonds for a long time, and has brought in choreographer Andrew Wright for her London shows, having worked with him on Mack and Mabel and the Night of a Thousand Voices previously. "Within the show, I can touch on all my different memories," she says. Looking back on Mack and Mabel she refutes all the accusations that the book is flawed. "It's FANTASTIC," she declares. "She just dies really young. There won't be a happy ending. And for the past decades we've had shows about the Vietnam War, the French Revolution [sic] and an ugly man trying to have his way with a beautiful young girl. It's a brilliant story."

We in the UK have had the pleasure of seeing O'Connor in action for 25 years now. "Me and My Girl was a biggie for me," she recalls. "I remember Frank Thornton teaching me how to do proper military marching in the wings, and comedy faces! Robert Lindsay was so brilliant too. It was a great start. Nobody was going to give me a break, and finally I did get a break."

O'Connor understudied several leads at the start of her career as well as featuring in the ensemble and taking on the role of dance captain. Unlike some other great leading ladies, though, she has never minded being in the chorus line. "I just love being in shows," she explains. " I sing in my kitchen and I'm happy. My husband will be reading the paper and I'll say to him, ‘Look at me! Look at this step I just made up!' I'm a showgirl."

The Showgirl Within runs at the Garrick Theatre from Monday 27th September.

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