The international award-winning musical Chicago returns to the Congress Theatre ,Eastbourne from 11th to 16th April, and stars John Partridge (West End and Eastenders) as Billy Flynn, Hayley Tamaddon (Coronation Street) as Roxie Hart and Sam Bailey (2013 X-Factor winner) as Mama Morton.
Based on real life events back in the roaring 1920s, the era of prohibition, nightclub singer Roxie Hart shoots her lover and along with cell block rival, double-murderess Velma Kelly, they fight to keep from death row with the help of smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn. Each of the characters is a performer and the girls vie for notoriety, constantly scheming to stay front page news.
Roxie plans for a future solo vaudeville career until a turn of events shows her that five minutes of fame doesn’t constitute a lifetime of happiness.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s sexy, sassy score includes All That Jazz, Mr. Cellophane, Cell Block Tango and Razzle Dazzle. With six Tony, two Olivier, one Grammy, two Bafta and six Academy Awards, Chicago has been described as the “sharpest, slickest show on the block.”
During some rare “downtime” in her, currently very hectic, schedule I was able to talk to Sam Bailey about keeping your feet on the ground when fame beckons…
What does it feel like to be up there on stage?
It’s great, I really enjoy it, but you have a lot more freedom when you are doing you’re own show because I can talk when I want to talk, and stuff like that, but there is so much more concentration required when you’re playing a role like Mama Morton.
You have the script, with specific lines to say, and everything has to be totally on point, perfect and pristine so it’s very different I would say and my concentration levels are heightened somewhat when I’m doing Chicago.
It’s such a iconic show.
Oh yes, playing the role of Mama Morton is amazing. I went to see Chicago way back in 2002, I saw it in the West End, and I never thought for one second that I would be here. If someone had said to me “You’re gonna play that role”, I would have said “No way, never”, but here I am.
It’s a great role for a powerful singer like yourself.
Thank you. Yes, I have a great song, quite an iconic song, to sing at the beginning. It’s a very well known song that the audiences really like and there’s a bit of a “good note” at the end of it so hopefully I’ll impress the Eastbourne audiences with that one.
Three years ago, when you won X-Factor, would I be right in saying that you wanted to win on your terms?
Umm, yes. I didn’t want to change. I like the fact that I can still go down the shops to get a pint of milk, and to just do normal stuff like that. Winning a competition that is as high profile as that, I was worried that it might change me so I literally forced myself not to change. I didn’t want anything to go to my head because I’m quite a normal person really.
So, the first thing I did when I came home after I won was to go shopping. It was just before Christmas and we needed all sorts of food and stuff so off I went. No, it’s not changed me. I’m glad that I’m not one of those people who have become majorly successful. I have become successful how I want to be successful and I love the fact that I can still go down the shop in my slacks, and with no make up on.
I don’t think I could have handled having to move, or having security round me all the time and stuff like that. I’m still approachable, and people still feel like they can come up to me and have a chat, which is really nice, so yes, I did win it on my terms.
It must be so nice to still have a normal home life, even with all your other commitments.
Oh yes, although we’re touring at the moment it’s half term and the kids have been with me for two weeks and we’ve done a lot of day trips and stuff so, during the day, I’m playing Mum and then in the evening I’m playing Mama!
We all went to a theme park yesterday and we spent the whole day going on all of the dizzy rides so when I got to work last night I had a bit of a headache, and still felt a bit dizzy, from all those upside down rides that the kids love.
Today I have my youngest here with me and the other two have gone off to the cinema with Daddy to watch Batman v Superman so, with a bit of precision and teamwork we’re making sure that the kids have a great half term break before they head back to school on Monday.
It’s so nice to hear an X-Factor winner talking about such “normal” things.
Well, I think that’s why people like me, I would imagine, because everything I do is pretty normal. I got back last night and my youngest was wide awake and things like that happen every day to people and they just have to deal with them, and so do I.
I’m just a normal mum with three very normal, grounded, kids who go to normal school and we still live in the same house that we lived in before X-Factor, the only difference is that we have an extention on the house that I earned from all the hard work that I put into doing my best on the show.
And what about Sam Bailey the singer on her own, what’s coming up in the pipeline?
I’ve got a single called Sing My Heart Out which is due to be released in June and then the album will come out at the end of this year and then, in 2017, I’m doing a tour, the Sam Bailey – Sing My Heart Out Tour, which, whilst I am on that tour, I have decided not to have a regular support artist.
Normally, when you have a support act, they have to pay you to be on your tour and I don’t want that this time round, I want to be able to give something back so I’m currently running a competition in all the areas that we’re touring, for people to send in videos of them doing their act, singers, comedians, whatever their talent is.
It doesn’t matter what they do, but they have to come form the same sort of club circuit that I came from and then I will choose one from each area and they will get press coverage and they will come along and perform a 25 minute – half an hour spot before I go on, and get to experience what I experienced and then, hopefully, get a bit more exposure and maybe some more work out of it.
This is not for people who have been on TV or anything like that, this is for the people who live in their own little local bubble but who are just too good to be stuck in that bubble. They need to be shown to the public and this will be a great opportunity for them to get up on stage in front of up to 2000 people in a theatre and just get to show off what they can do.
It sounds like you’re having a very busy time right now.
I am having a very busy old time indeed, not just with Chicago and with all the preparations for the single, album and tour but I was also just voted Celebrity Mum of the Year by Closer magazine so I’m having to do some work there as well. Even as I’m talking to you now I’m laying on the bed, tickling my daughter’s feet and she’s giggling away like mad and it’s times like this when I really love being a mum.
Catch Sam Bailey, John Partridge, Hayley Tamaddon and the whole sexy, sassy cast in Chicago at the Congress Theatre from 11th to 16th April. Tickets, priced £18.50 – £37.50, are available from eastbournetheatres.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01323 412000.
