My extra Beauty
12:43pm Thursday 20th March 2008
Performer Ashley Oliver talks to Viv Hardwick about returning to the role of Belle in Beauty And The Beast and reveals who she thinks will be BBC1's Nancy
ASHLEY Oliver admits that one reason she's returned to another year-long tour of Beauty And The Beast is that she couldn't bear someone else to take the lead role of Belle.
Having arrived this week in Darlington, after a seven-week break from last year's tour, the 25- year-old Scot jokes: "I vowed after last year not to have so much luggage, but I've still turned up with six bags. Last year it became the biggest job I've ever had and I don't think I could bear to see the show going on tour again with someone else in the role of Belle.
"I suppose I enjoy having this on my cv and there's also that thought of being off work for a long time if I didn't take on a show that works so well for me."
Launching the tour from the region's Civic Theatre does create one interesting dilemma for Oliver, given the right circumstances she'd loved to have had a crack at auditioning for the role of Nancy in BBC1's I'd Do Anything.
"I feel split about the way this is done. Most of the finalists are not newcomers and have been in the industry for a while, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about being shoulder-charged aside by someone who'd moved themselves up the queue by appearing on a TV show. I feel I've worked hard to get where I am.
"If I was put in a situation where I was asked to understudy for one of these people I don't think it would work out because I'm not sure I'd be happy understudying for someone who was there after an overnight success. I'm content to keep grafting away as Belle and hoping that my chance arrives to play in the West End."
The performer realises that there is a positive side to theatre using the power of TV to find candidates to play roles like Maria, Joseph and the leads in Grease.
"I do see that running the auditions on TV attracts people back to the West End and theatres after a period when the threat of terrorists kept audiences away. I worked front of house at Les Miserables so I know the importance of attracting audiences to the West End and TV is meeting a demand at the moment," Oliver adds, revealing that she's appeared in a show with one of the current crop of TV Nancies.
"She's actually called Nancy, she's from the East End of London and a really good singer so I think that must make her a strong candidate to win. I'm actually going out to put a bet on her. So I hope I can get to a bookmaker before this article appears when's it going in?"
Her own route to stardom in the touring Disney show includes a scholarship to attend Mountview Theatre Arts and emerging with a BA honours before landing roles in The Wizard Of Oz and Mad About The Musicals on stage and Disney Cruise Line entertainment work.
"I've done all the waitressing and temping side of this business, which is why I feel so blessed to have been chosen as Belle. I take the role very seriously because a lot of children arrive at the theatre with expectations of how my character will look and act. There is a responsibility with becoming a Disney princess. When children are involved there is no question about the level of the performance dropping. I think that's why Disney puts nearly as much investment into a touring show as it does into the West End version.
"It worries me sometimes, because I'd red-headed, when children at the stagedoor start looking for a dark-haired member of the cast because she must be Belle and there I am in my jeans and jumper. I can say that I always get a great reception," says Oliver who frequently stays behind in costume to meet special needs children on stage at the end of Beauty And The Beast.
"It's important because some of the children are so desperate to meet Belle and get an autograph. I also wear my costume for hospital visits, although it can be a little weird climbing into a taxi dressed like that."
Asked about the impact of appearing alongside Matthew Cammelle, who takes the mostly unseen behind make-up role of The Beast, in such a big show she says: "I'm glad Matthew decided to take on the tour again as well because we have a really good understanding.
"The one thing I'm looking to change is the impact of touring on me. I was often the person who had to go home early, instead of going out, to ensure I got enough rest. I got close to becoming a person who only worked or slept and didn't have time for anything else. I want to plan my days better and I'm going to go to the gym more to build up my stamina this time."
Well, it isn't Sleeping Beauty after all!
■ Beauty And The Beast runs at Darlington Civic Theatre from today until March 29. Tickets: £22- £32.50. Box Office: 01325-486-555 ■ Also Sunderland Empire from Tuesday, October 7 to Saturday, October 11. 24 Hour Box Office: 0844-847-2499