Lucie-Mae Sumner's coming back to Dublin to play the lead role of Ella in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman musical I Should Be So Lucky. John Byrne catches up with her ahead of her SAW-tastic return to the Emerald Isle.
When you see Lucie-Mae Sumner’s name on the credits of a musical, you know you’re in for a treat.
A graduate of the UK's Royal Academy of Music, she also attended the National Youth Theatre before embarking on a career that's encompassed Ballad, Choral and Contemporary singing, in a variety of shows such as Mary Poppins and Chicago, as well as concerts such as Sondheim at 80 and West End Proms.
She even popped up on Channel 4 cult sci-fi series Humans. But for Irish theatregoers, her most recent gig here was in the Titanic musical last year at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. This girl's good.
And she's got a fantastic head of red hair that would've done Maureen O'Hara proud.
Now she's coming back at Dublin's premier theatrical venue, in a completely different show. For this one, you’ve got to think Mamma Mia! but with the music of Stock Aiken and Waterman rather than Abba.
The title's a dead giveaway, eh?
Featuring the Stock, Aitken and Waterman soundtrack of a generation with music from Kylie Minogue (I Should Be So Lucky), Rick Astley (Never Gonna Give You Up), Jason Donovan (Too Many Broken Hearts) and Bananarama (Love In The First Degree) and Mel and Kim (Respectable), the code word is catchy.
In total, I Should Be So Lucky: The Stock AIitken Waterman Musical (to give it its full title) features no fewer than 10 Number 1 singles and over 25 songs from the Hit Factory, whose relentless march on the music charts pretty much defined an era.
The show opens here on Tuesday May 7 and runs until Saturday May 11, so you've got to catch it quickly, and the story is as straightforward as could be, as a disastrous wedding turns into a joyous ensemble honeymoon.
Ella and Nathan are a young couple who are hopelessly in love and about to take the biggest step of their lives – marriage. That is, until destiny takes a bow. Will they be together forever, or will he make her cry and say goodbye?
As a bonus, the production also features a digital Kylie Minogue who plays a fairy-godmother type role throughout the show. More of that in a moment. We’ve got to say hello first . . .
John Byrne: Hello Lucie-Mae! I remember interviewing you last year for Titanic. This is something quite different.
Lucie-Mae Sumner: Hi! Yeah, it’s great to be coming back to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. It’s such a lovely theatre and the audiences are brilliant.
Back here again so soon - you're obviously one busy lady.
Yeah, I mean it's all temporary in this business but I try and be grateful in the moment.
I have to say that creating a Stock, Aitken and Waterman musical just seems such an obvious a thing to do. How the hell did this not happen a long time ago?
Yeah, I am surprised it hadn’t happened earlier and I honestly don't know the answer to that. But I'm glad we're doing it now because it means Kylie Minogue herself can be involved. You know, she is part of the show. And that's really exciting as she appears on stage. Oh, well, digitally.
And of course, she did turn up for the show during rehearsals, didn't she? Can you tell us a bit about that?
Yeah, she did. She came in to rehearse with all of us to get all the angles right and everything for all of her filming. And then she and I filmed together for about, gosh, maybe 12 hours I think on the Saturday.
She works very hard and she looks sensational on screen as well. Of course, you know, she was a screen actress wasn’t she? It was interesting watching her work.
She just has that magnetism . You know, that's quite rare. It's as though the camera can't let her go. You can't keep your eyes off her and it's amazing really.
Yeah, and there were a couple of moments during filming, where she's not necessarily thinking and she's just dancing. There was no choreographer. They literally were there - the choreographers were there, but they just kind of went, ‘Kylie, do your thing.’
And it was one of the strangest moments of my life just sort of singing at her - and they wanted me to sing at her so she could get the right vibe. Singing at Kylie while she danced, it was the strangest thing I've ever done in my life. But thrilling too!
I would imagine there’s a happy beginning, middle and ending here with these tunes? I mean, I Should Be So Lucky is probably an opportunity to create the ultimate jukebox musical, considering the songs at its disposal?
It’s a bit of a roller coaster really. After all, it starts in quite a sad way - though I can’t give too much away as to what happens.
Of course! No spoilers here! What about the involvement of the guys behind the music? Pete Waterman and co?
Pete Waterman was in rehearsals a lot with us, and he was he was like, ‘Oh, there's this great song that you might not know Lucie, but this will really fit into this scene.’
And obviously they have the whole back catalogue in their heads. There were more songs than I thought there might be. Not necessarily throughout the show, but there are some really lovely ballads that I had no idea even existed.
But yeah, there's a lot of highs and lows in the story. It's not just a constant barrage of like, upbeat moments and tunes, because as the story unfolds you have to earn those moments. You have to earn the upbeat and then by the end, everyone's on their feet, which is brilliant.
It's really nice to be in something where people want to sing along with the songs. It's really cool.
Stock, Aitken and Waterman used to get a lot of stick back in the day from musos and the 'serious' music types – but these guys had a great ear for a catchy tune or a hook.
Yeah. And, like I said, with some of the ballads, when we slowed them down and you sort of mess with what people expect and turn the original song into something else, you then find the lyrics more poignant in that way.
It's quite interesting to see what they've done story wise with all the songs.
And of course, the best musicals are the ones where each song moves the story along. It's not just a pause for a musical interlude.
Yeah. One of my teachers used to say if you don't end up somewhere different by the end of the song then there's no point in the song. And certainly, I think our musical does that as the music services the plot. It's not just there just as a karaoke. It's all grown together to tell a story.
I Should Be So Lucky is on at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre May 7-11 and tickets are available now from Ticketmaster.
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