Viv Hardwick talks to Lee Mead about switching from the West End stage and Wicked to his debut tour which is heading to the North-East next year.

LEE Mead admits that he’s been incredibly busy in the past 12 months and not just because he now has two ladies in his life, well-known fellow performer and wife Denise van Outen and daughter Betsy.

“Our daughter is now seven months and while I know work is important, balancing family life is more important really. It’s funny, when I was a single man before, you make your career your life because you’re trying to build yourself up.

Most parents will say the same thing, when you have a child it’s the number one priority,” says Mead, who is aware that both of them are in the public eye.

“We both work in the business but we’re the least showbizzy couple you can meet probably, we’re both very down to earth. But, like any couple, it’s all about balance.

“My father’s a postman and he’s been doing that for over 30 years and when I was around seven or eight years old he was doing 70-hour weeks and occasional weekends but I think 90 per cent of the population try and balance working and giving their kids a good life. We would only see my father once or twice a week but it would be quality time. I’m quite lucky in that I usually start work at 6.30pm so I’m free most days to play dad and be at home.

“I’ve been working in theatre for about ten years and I’ve used to getting back at 11pm and then winding down and being in bed by 1 or 2 am.

I used to wake up at 9am-10am but now I’m getting up at 6-6.30am so it’s a big learning curve. Most nights now I get in and try and get some sleep,” Mead says.

“It’s my first tour and I’ve tried out four concerts with my band but then it turned out to be 25 dates which means that it’s virtually every Sunday and I can’t wait to come up to The Sage (on February 22). For the past seven or eight years when I started off in musicals I played p r e t t y m u c h every theatre but there were a few places that I haven’t played yet. In hindsight it will be nice to keep my tours separate from starring in West End shows, because it’s been quite hard to take on both.”

Is he happy to go back to his Joseph days to keep his concert fans happy? “It’s been three years since I finished and that time has gone really quickly and it’ll be quite nice singing songs from the show now.

Close Every Door is the classic ballad and Any Dream Will Do is just right for a song-song. Doing eight shows a week of Joseph, which ended up as 600 shows in a year-anda- half and those two songs now have taken on a new meaning for the tour.”

His set list for Gateshead will be a selection of songs from his first and second albums which include some he’s co-written, covers and some of his favourites from musicals.

“It’s quite nice because I do work in theatre and make records and I act a little as well.

“I thought it would be silly to just have a show of pop songs or ones just from musicals.

“I’ll also be talking about my career to date and about my life. I’m so used to playing characters for years that it will be nice to go there and chat and be myself,” he explains.

Before his debut one-man tour, Mead is starring in arguably the West End’s best musical, Wicked.

“It’s a great show and four or five years on it’s still selling out most nights. The theatre holds 2,500 and even last night (during the really cold weather) there was 2,300 in midweek.

In terms of new musicals there are very few that go beyond a year, which is sad because the company and casts are very talented, but that makes Wicked really special,”

says Mead who is contracted to appear until February 5.

“Originally I signed up for nine months. I was asked to extend for a second year but I’m going to try a few new things next year hopefully and move forward. I’ve had an amazing time being the Prince (Fiyero) in the show, but I want to keep learning.”

Part of the learning curve was taking the lead unexpectedly in the Oscar Wilde play Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime having turned down four musicals after Joseph.

“As a young boy all I wanted to do was act. I didn’t start singing until I was 18 when I toured in the musical A Slice Of Saturday Night. I got the bug then and really fell into musicals,”

says Mead who spent a couple of months studying film and acting in New York before being cast in the West End play for four months this year.

“I think I’m looking forward to a week off in January,” says Mead who has to field another question about him and van Outen doing a show together one day.

“We’ve been offered a few things, various shows and programmes where we could sing together. You can never say never and it might be the right thing for a charity-based event but the second you start working together that’s when things become a bit blurred and what we both want as a couple is to come home as husband and wife and not be talking work, themes and scripts.

“It’s important to come home and switch off and to be discussing work as well as being husband and wife would be too much really. Perhaps one day if the project was small enough then we might,” says Mead, who was taking part in charity fundraisers long before that decision to try to win Joseph’s multi-coloured coat.

Did Mead keep the coat after all his exploits on TV and in the West End?

“Yes I did. I’ve got the first coat from the TV, the winner’s coat from Any Dream Will Do and the coat from the production. So I’ve got three coats folded up in this dusty box that I will show Betsy one day when she’S older. That will be quite nice.”

■ Lee Mead, The Sage Gateshead, February 22, Tickets: £24.50-£27.50.

Box Office: 0191-443-4661 thesagegateshead.org