Why Crissy’s hitting those high seas hitting those high seas
SHE became a firm favourite on our TV screens in Benidorm before winning the hearts of audiences everywhere when she went to the jungle with I’m A Celebrity and cooking up a storm on Masterchef. Now no-nonsense Liverpudlian Crissy Rock is Ireland-bound with a new sequel to one of Ireland’s favourite stage shows.
Menopause The Musical 2 — Cruising Through the Menopause catches up with the same four characters from the original show hitting the high seas for some adventure as they continue to deal with everything life throws at them
Crissy is joined on stage by Rebecca Wheatley of Casualty fame, former Eurovision entrant Nicki French and West End star Susie Fenwick for the continuing tale of true friendship with a lot of laughs for the audiences, along with some parodies of classic tunes that has already had audiences rolling in the aisles.
For Crissy, getting asked to play the part of Earth Mother, first came as a shock and then turned into a bit of a revelation.
‘I’d done plays and stage work but I had never done a musical before,’ she explains. ‘They came to me and asked if I would be interested but I had to say to be honest I am not a singer.
‘And when I found out Rebecca is a great singer, Susie was from the West End and Nicki had been in Eurovision I was panicking as they all sound like angels and I thought “I’m going to sound like a Hell’s Angel here.”
‘But I had three singing lessons and my teacher said: “you CAN sing.” So it was probably because I had never really tried so I didn’t know that I could. And I can’t actually believe it myself.’
The cast had a tight time frame — just two weeks — to learn everything from scripts to songs to dances but the joy of being back on the road and back working, outweighed any long hours they had to do.
‘We were stuck in for nearly two years and you think is my brain still working? But that showed me it is. During lockdown I was in a better position than many people — my husband paid the bills — so I was quite fortunate. The second one was
the worst out of all three of them because I think that affected people mentally more. So I am delighted to be back working.’
Menopause the Musical 2 has just started a tour round the country and will be at University Concert Hall Limerick tonight and tomorrow night before hitting The Royal Theatre Castlebar on Sunday. The show is hitting all arts and part of Ireland, finishing in Belfast on May 25.
The cast have already been touring in England and have received ar apturous response from audiences there, striking a chord with female members of a certain age.
‘So may women tell us ‘I have that, that happens to me,’ or ‘I feel that way’ after the show. We get a great response, the show is hilarious and the songs in it are fantastic.
‘I am so proud to be a part of the show — we have been together 24 /7 and we all get on fabulously so it is like one big, happy family and it makes the job so perfect.’
The cast are going to enjoy seeing some of the Irish sights in their downtime but for Crissy, being on stage is like a holiday, the reason she loves acting so much.
‘You can forget about real life,’ she says. ‘My real name is Christine Book but when I am on stage I am Crissy Rock and she doesn’t think about anything other than what she is doing in that moment. You can be anyone at all, depending on what role you are doing. That’s what I love about it.’
For full tour dates around the country see menopauseireland.com.