Picture: Vivienne Vincent
Already an award winner for her own performance in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, LUCIE SHORTHOUSE has this week been celebrating the critically-acclaimed show’s strong presence among the nominations for the Olivier Awards 2018.
The actress and musician whose first professional role was in the 2015 workshop for Sheffield Theatres’ musical is now well into her first West End run.
A Cambridge graduate whose early small screen credits include the ITV show The Sound of Music Live! and series four of the hit BBC crime series Line of Duty, Shorthouse has already appeared on stage at Shakespeare’s Globe in The Comedy of Errors and Stratford East in The House In Between.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is her biggest break to date, taking her from the initial workshop to the crowd-pleasing production in Sheffield and its current transfer run at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End.
Musical Theatre Review’s Tal Fox caught up with Shorthouse to discuss her role in the hit show and her hopes for her blossoming career.
Tell us a bit more about your character and your role in the show.
Pritti is Jamie’s best friend and they seem like outcasts and that they wouldn’t fit, but we all know those best friends where you’d go, ‘I’d never put you two together but you just work’. She’s very supportive, she’s the friend I think everyone wishes they could have. She holds him accountable when he’s going too far, but also galvanises him to take action and really inspirits him as well. She’s the one who encourages him to have the confidence to go to the school prom in a dress so she actually has quite an active part in him making the decision to own who he is.
The show has received some incredible reviews, why do you think it’s such a crowd pleaser?
I don’t know anything about drag queens, but it’s not about that. Everybody’s got their own version of going to prom in a dress, whether it’s I want to do this class or I want to do an open mic night, everyone’s got that thing where they have to get over their hurdle, and I think people can relate to that.
Also, the mother and son dynamic, that unconditional love, that you know it’s really tough and it’s quite scary to encourage him to be who he is in a world that may not be so accepting, everyone can relate to that. It’s very universal and it’s just a feel-good show, one minute you’re laughing, the next you’re crying and I think it’s something new. It’s homegrown and it’s so British, it’s a British story so let’s champion that.
John McCrea (Jamie New) and Lucie Shorthouse (Pritti Pasha) in rehearsal for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Picture: Grace Wordsworth
How have audiences responded so far?
They’ve really been behind it and I got that feeling in Sheffield as well, but then coming here you never know how it’s going to be received, but at the end during the encore the audience is on their feet. The gift of the story is with us all the way and it’s like a bit of a party at the end. It has been really lovely.
Has the show changed much since Sheffield?
Slightly, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve how we tell the story. We’ve had a few cast changes and there’s been some more songs added, especially in Act II, but I think that just adds to the story a bit more. Not too many changes.
The show has been compared to Billy Elliot, would you agree?
Yeah, it’s a lovely comparison to have as well. I think again it’s a working class, Northern story, and again it’s about a young boy who is going against the grain who we all champion in the end, so I do get the comparison. I think it’s quite a fitting comparison as well, it’s a compliment.
How does it feel making your West End debut in such a successful musical?
It’s a dream come true in every single way. It was a bit scary and intimidating, but now it’s such a joy to think that this is my job, it’s incredible. Also, the show itself and the character I get to play is just so beautiful and she’s an absolute joy to play. The fact that I’m playing a Muslim girl as well, I’m playing a part in bringing a little more diversity and visibility to a character that’s seldom seen on the British stage or any stage, it’s exciting to go on stage every day as her.
The story was influenced by the BBC documentary about Jamie Campbell, how similar are the two stories?
My character is fictional but when you see John who plays Jamie and Jamie [Campbell] together it’s just very special. They do look quite similar and John’s really not studied his mannerisms as such, but you can tell that he’s observed him and thought: ‘Let me work out how to embody him as a tribute to him.’
Jamie and his mum Margaret have been part of the story the whole way through so they’ve attended our read throughs and just been part of the process for a long time. It’s lovely to tell their story, they’re just such lovely people, they’re so grateful that we’re telling their story.
In terms of the documentary, there’s something about being 16 that’s very dangerous, and fresh and effervescent and I feel like the documentary captures that so it’s really important for us. We’re not 16, we’ve got people ranging from 19 to 30 playing the school kids, so it’s about how you would capture what it was like to be 16. And the idea of prom and what it means and what comes after prom and all that sort of thing, so we’ve been working on capturing that and I think it’s really shown in the documentary as well. There are some lines in the documentary like, ‘It boils my piss’ that we borrowed, so I think we made a nice compromise between the documentary and making it a stage show.
John McCrea and Lucie Shorthouse in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre. Picture: Johan Persson
What message should audiences take away from the show?
Sitting in your own truth and authenticity. Just that ability to be yourself at 16. I’m 26 and I don’t know who I am yet, I’m finding that out but at 16 to say this is who I am, I’m going to claim this space in the world no matter if I face a bit of backlash, this is who I am.
Just embracing your own truth really. It’s not a political piece, but in terms of what’s happening in the world it seems like it’s been a car crash over the last two years and the resonance that this show now has, in the world that we’re living in, in terms of allowing people who want to go against the grain to be themselves, I think it’s so important.
Would you classify the show as a ‘coming of age’ story?
Yeah, definitely. I love coming of age stories and I never get tired of them, but I think it definitely is that. I think that it’s a slightly new take on it because it’s not traditional.
It’s not a coming out story either, it could be anything that he wants, it could be my character wanting to be a doctor, it’s just allowing yourself to have the space to go, ‘this is what I want, this is my dream and I’m going to go for it’. So, it’s coming of age but slightly newer, I think.
The characters are mainly teenagers so is there something older audiences can take from it too?
In Sheffield we did a Q&A and there were all different ages and it was quite interesting to have older people who might come with a bit more of a stigma attached or couldn’t understand. It’s not an educational piece, but I feel like I’ve also learned a lot about how back then it was harder for someone to express who they wanted to be.
I think all ages can learn from this. When you look out into the audience, there are so many different creeds and ages, and it’s quite lovely that at the end they’re all together and celebrating Jamie. I think it’s a universal story, I think that young people should see it, like six or seven years old, to learn you can be whoever you want. If you want to wear a dress, wear a dress, and also older people can get an insight into what it’s like to be 16 now and how we want to move forward in the world with acceptance and tolerance.
The main stigma in this story is homophobia, what other issues does it tackle?
There’s the homophobia and just the idea of not understanding gender neutrality and gender roles. My character says: “So do you want to be a woman?” “Is it a sexual thing?” And those questions I ask are also serving a purpose for the audience who think: “What’s your motive?” I think you don’t have to understand it to accept it, so I guess there’s that stigma as well of exploring gender roles.
There’s a Muslim character as well. People might think: “Maybe she’s a bit more conservative, maybe this will conflict with her faith” in terms of supporting her friend, but she says: “No, I wear my hijab because I want to and that’s who I am and if you’re saying you put a dress on and that’s who you are, that’s fine.”
I think that it is important that we have another perspective in terms of my character and her faith and in terms of Islamophobia and things like that. I’m not playing a Muslim girl, I feel like I’m playing a girl who just happens to be Muslim, and I think that’s really important and I remember that when I’m about to go on stage. She’s not a stock Muslim character or ‘let’s just put a token in, let’s try make a statement’, she just happens to be Muslim.
You have a very impressive background, what advice would you give a budding actor?
First of all, I wanted to enter acting when I was really young and my dad said get your education first. As much as you really want to go for it, I think it’s really important to have a backup that you find equally rewarding. Because, who knows, this could be my last job, and I’ll want to find something that still fulfills me.
Have faith in yourself and absorb the whole industry and do the research. You’ve got to do the work and you’ve got to understand why you want to do it. I don’t want to be photographed, I don’t want to be in a magazine, I don’t want to be famous, I love being in the rehearsal room and I love watching people doing their scenes and I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of that, so just know what your reasons are for doing this. Make sure it’s a pure reason, not just it seems glamourous or you want to be on a film set. Understand it’s hard work and lots of actors are out of work, so it’s a privilege to be able to tell a story. Take it seriously, but I do love this job, so for anyone who wants to do it, just go for it.
What other projects would you like to do next?
I just want to keep working, keep challenging myself and keep learning. I know it sounds really corny but I don’t have a dream role as such, I just want to keep growing as an actor. On this job I feel like I’ve learned so much and I just want to keep having jobs where I learn something and I want to tell important stories. I know that won’t always happen with my career, but I feel like this story is important and it’s important for now and for our generation and particularly in Britain in terms of what’s gone on here as well. So I just want to keep telling stories that matter. Hopefully it keeps going up and up.
Sell the show in five words.
Joyous, fun, fresh, necessary, celebration.
Tickets for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie are available HERE
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