I was in London and it was sad walking past the empty theatres
Lucie Jones has gone from X Factor to West End star. She talks to MARION McMULLEN about lockdown and her upcoming album
You were starring in the West End when lockdown began. How have you been managing since theatres closed?
I LOST my job when lockdown began. All of us on the musical, Waitress, did. I’ve been teaching acting and singing and I’ve really enjoyed it, especially when people say to me the session has made their week.
I was in central London at the weekend with my Waitress co-star David Hunter and we walked to the Adelphi Theatre and it still had our faces outside. Waitress is a very special show for us both and it was sad walking past empty theatres. You have be creative as much as you can. That’s in me. That’s what I do. I’m no good at sitting still and I miss the live interaction with people.
We did a live streaming show at the weekend that was seen by lots of people around the world. It was me, David, the pianist and about seven crew. It was the most people I had been in a room with for months.
Tell us about these “bad idea” dares, if you would?
(LAUGHS) There is a song in Waitress called Bad Idea and David and I came up with bad idea dares for each other.
He dared me to sing Waitress in Waitrose and I dared him to take one of his theatre posters around town and just love himself – and he is so not that kind of person.
You recorded your forthcoming album Live At The Adelphi before lockdown happened. How did it come about?
IT seems like a different lifetime now. We did it live, so we did not have to spend a lot of time in the studio. There was a huge set list to choose from – Moon River, She Used To Be Mine, Bring Him Home – and the deluxe CD features some rehearsals as well because I could not bear to let them go.
The album is me and my two great friends John Owen Jones and Marisha Wallace and we recorded with the London Musical Theatre Orchestra. We managed to get it all down, but if it had been two weeks later then it might have been very different and the virus might have stopped people from coming.
Where did you love of performing come from?
MY Mum did English and drama at university and went into teaching for a while, then moved away from it entirely into human resources. She had a passion for the arts and would take me with her to see shows, plays and ballet. We would go to London to see shows and queue up for returns. We didn’t have a lot of money or anything, but that’s what we would spend our money on. I credit my mum for that interest in theatre and English and the creative side of things. I went to Stagecoach (the theatre arts school) and was part of every club.
(Laughs) I was that kid.
Then I appeared in Annie in New Theatre in Cardiff and that was it. It is still one of my favourite musicals.
You’ve represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest and starred in shows like Legally Blonde, Wedding Singer, Ghost and Les Misérables. What have been some of your personal career highlights?
THE highs are really high and the lows are really low. There is rarely anything in between.
My personal life and home is my absolute saviour. I can come home and switch off. My favourite moment is appearing in Waitress, which I absolutely love to do, doing Legally Blonde, going to Asia and doing these wonderful shows and seeing my parents in the streets of Kiev when I did Eurovision. Amazing moments.
I’ll also never, never forget meeting and singing with Whitney Houston on the X Factor. I’ve been so lucky.
Was the X Factor a big turning point for you?
I DID athletics at school and was a fair sprinter but it was very clear that between that and music it was always going to be music. I still doubted myself though and I remember having a conversation when I was 16 with a friend, who is now a producer – we grew up together in Cardiff. I remember saying ‘I’m not talented enough to play leads, but I want to give it a go.’ When I told my wonderful parents what I wanted to do they said ‘we’ll do whatever it takes’.
It’s expensive to go to drama school and they were talking about re-mortgaging the house, but I didn’t get anywhere... and then I auditioned for X Factor and that was my introduction into the industry.
It’s been a lot of hard work, but I have also been very lucky.
Did you pick up any new skills during lockdown?
NOT really. Although I did buy a bottle cutter and, when we drink a bottle of wine or bubbly, I’ve been cutting off the top and turning
them into candle holders.