West End star gives advice to actress
One has appeared on the West End and the other will soon be treading the boards at Theatre Severn but Jodie Prenger and Debbie Owen had something in common - they will both have played Nancy in the hit show Oliver!
For Jodie, who played the role of the loveable rouge in the Cameron Mackintosh revival of Oliver!, caught up with Debbie before stepping on stage this week to perform in her sell out show, Shirley Valentine.
Debbie, from Sambrook, near Newport has been cast as Nancy in Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society's interpretation of the hit show which will be performed next March.
Only days after auditioning and hearing she had got the part, Debbie said she was over the moon to have the opportunity of a chat with Jodie whom she has admired enormously for her role in the West End having won I’d Do Anything in 2009 and been cast as Nancy by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
She was given a tip or two from Jodie who told her: “Enjoy the role and have fun. I had so much fun with the kids with whom I laughed and played games.
“I was so happy to be working with a bunch of lovely people – it was so enjoyable and the experience was amazing. The music, especially the overture, gave me goosies.
“I was always petrified before going on, but once on stage, I felt completely at home. Nancy, deep down, is insecure, but one thing I learnt was if you can sing from the heart Nancy shines.”
Debbie said their chat had been most inspirational and she would take the tips she was given into the show.
“It’s surreal meeting Jodie who is an inspiration and I am looking forward to rehearsals and playing the part with immense enthusiasm," she said. "It is my first show with Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society and I always wanted to come over to Shrewsbury to perform a role.
“It is one I feel I can connect with which makes it important to me and I can’t wait to get on stage.”
Debbie, who has been performing as a singer and dancer since the age of eight, gained a degree in performing arts in London and runs her own children's-youth theatre group in Newport, taking classes in dancing and singing.
Director Rik Pover, for whom Oliver! is his first as a director of Shrewsbury Amateur Operatic Society said: “It is a pivotal role in the story because Nancy brings out all the emotions of the other characters."
