WASHINGTON actress Elizabeth Carter is triple value when it comes to musicals about the late 1950s and early 1960s because she’s starred in the three shows put together by impresario Bill Kenwright, Dreamboats And Petticoats, Save The Last Dance For Me and, lately, Dreamboats And Miniskirts.

Carter is reviving the role of Laura from Dreamboats And Petticoats and takes up her story three to four years later.

“I’d worked with Bill on Save The Last Dance and he knew I was keen to do another show,” she says.

“It’s a pleasure and really nice to be asked back by the Kenwright family. When I was finishing the tour of Save The Last Dance I heard a lot of hype about Dreamboats And Petticoats, but the company does like to keep these things under wraps. I went off to play Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz for a couple of months and then the offer came along.”

As a result, Carter is probably one of the most knowledgeable young performers in the country concerning the Swinging Sixties. She laughs at the thought and says: “I just think the music is amazing and the melodies are written beautifully and the band on stage is among the best. So, we just get to love the 1960s every night on and it’s an absolute pleasure. It’s pure enjoyment for the audience,” she says.

So would Carter take on a fourth? “I love being in them. Laura is such a joy to play that I really wanted to play her again a few years on. The first show was set in 1959 and then this new show moves things on to 1962 and 1963,” says Carter.

A strong part of the appeal for cast members is that fact that successful TV sitcom writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran have again penned the script, which means that all three are far more than the typical jukebox-style musicals that are often seen on tour.

“This is my favourite plot so far because the scriptwriters have been really kind to Laura and she gets to make it in the music industry and she sings some cracking songs. I also get a fabulous haircut halfway through the show and these are such easy scripts to learn. They write the characters’ words so naturally,” she says.

Carter is less forthcoming on the subject of whether her singing partner from the first show, Bobby, also achieves his dream of chart success.

“You’ll have to come along to find out. I can tell you that Laura has got things sorted out after three years,” laughs the actress, who has been on the road for just over a month with Dreamboats And Miniskirts, which plays Darlington Civic Theatre until Saturday.

“I’ve been waiting for Darlington because all my friends and family are coming. I can’t say officially say if I’ve been offered the tour next year (which takes in Newcastle Theatre Royal in January) but I hope so. I cried at my curtain call for Save The Last Dance at Newcastle because it was my ambition to perform at the Theatre Royal. It’s also my first appearance at Darlington, so I’m looking forward to that as well,” Carter says.

Next on her North-East theatre “bucket list” is Sunderland Empire. “I did sing on stage there when I was 15. So, I have technically been there, but not as a professional,” she explains.

Her songs for Dreamboats And Miniskirts includes Stay, You Don’t Own Me, Groovy Kind Of Love, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Lover’s Concerto and It’s In His Kiss. The trouble for anyone putting together a show dedicated to early 1960s music is that you run into the The Beatles’ hit singles which are notoriously difficult to gain royalties for.

“We do feature a band from Liverpool. They just sing different songs,” jokes Carter, who suspects that this is the only way that Dreamboats can move past 1963.

As for the miniskirts aspect of 1960s life, Carter confirms that she’s a big fan and is delighted “because I get to wear some right cracking outfits. I’m not a fan of the PVC white boots I get to wear. They always get a great reaction from the audiences.

There are obviously a lot of memories attached to those. Away from the stage I don’t wear too many skirts to be honest and I do love the wig I wear, but it is a bit drastic. It’s great fun, but I don’t think I’d be brave enough to have my hair cut like that for real. A fairy comes into my dressing room each day and tucks all my hair under the wig. It’s amazing.”

Her contract finishes at the end of November, and Carter has then decided to cancel her panto booking in Yeovil because she hasn’t been home to Washington for Christmas for the past four years. “I’m stopping at home during the week at Darlington, although we can be a bit like ships who pass in the night because my family work during the day and I go off to work at night. I’ll go back to my old school as well and see my drama teacher. I enjoy meeting young people who are interested in the theatre. I was put off a lot as a child because I was told you had to pay all this money to go to drama school.

I don’t think that’s always true and I’m spreading the word about doing drama at university,” says the actress, who studied at Bretton Hall, Leeds.

“It’s a more academic route but I was lucky enough to find an agent after I qualified because I wrote off to about 128 agents.

Luckily, I got an offer and stayed with the agency which was based in Sheffield and built up my reputation as an actor in the North. Then I changed agents after four years and then I got the first Dreamboats and I’ve had a nice run with Kenwrights over the past few years,” she says.

Carter originally set her sights on being an actor, but “as long as I’m working in musicals I’m not complaining. I believe in the right-place-right-time opportunities to experience something else, but if I don’t I won’t be sorry because I love what I’m doing,” says the performer with her sights firmly fixed on a chance to make her name in the West End.

For now, Carter’s Dreamboat is firmly afloat.

  • Dreamboats And Miniskirts, Darlington Civic Theatre until Saturday. Box Office: 01325-486-555 or darlingtoncivic.co.uk n The run continues next year to Newcastle Theatre Royal, January 20-24, 08448-11 21 21