‘The X Factor was a great exp
USUALLY the rodents that haunt West End theatres come in three-piece suits. Not in Waitress at the Adelphi where the real food in the American diner set attracted a smaller variety. “I was aware of something moving on stage,” Welsh singing sensation Lucie Jones tells me. “It was a mouse. I didn’t think it was there to watch the show.
“It froze for quite some time. Then it scampered off and sat in the wings. I like to think that it enjoyed it...”
Tsk. It wouldn’t have happened at St Martin’s, home of The Mousetrap.
Exuberant Lucie, 29, is arguably the greatest talent The X Factor has discovered. She also starred in the ITV show’s most laughable moment – when the judges kicked her out in favour of Jedward, which says more about the failings of modern talent shows than Lucie’s undoubted ability.
Yet the rising star of musical theatre hasn’t got an ounce of bitterness about losing out to a pair of clowns. “To this day I get people telling me, ‘You were robbed!’” she says. “But The X Factor was a great experience. I’m happy with how it went. It gave me my career.”
And it also gave her husband of three years FrenchAmerican chef Ethan Boroian, who also appeared in that 2009 series.
Lucie’s subsequent jobs have ranged from representing Great Britain in the 2017 Eurovision – our finest contestant since Katrina – to a string of leading theatre roles including Cosette in Les Mis, Maureen in Rent, Elle in Legally Blonde, Victoria in American Psycho, Meat in We Will Rock You and Molly in Ghost.
Waitress was her finest hour. She played Jenna Hunterson, pregnant and trapped with a violent husband while carrying on with her doctor. Think Eastenders with songs.
“The show is about reality, down-toearth people in a gripping story – an abusive relationship, pregnancy, the affair. It’s not an easy part and you’ve got to be careful. After every show someone wants to talk about their own abusive relationship. They say it was cathartic.”
In January, Jones had six weeks out when US star Sara Bareilles – who wrote the score – played Jenna in the London production, and she put the time to good use.
“I wanted to do an album, but not a studio one – it isn’t my style. So instead I got a 100-seater venue which escalated to a 1,500 seater; I booked an orchestra, the 22-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra... and then I woke up and thought, ‘Oh my God what am I doing? Who do I think I am?’”
Despite her misgivings, Lucie sold out the Adelphi Theatre in February for her first solo concert.
“It was the most wonderful night of my entire career,” she beams. “It was great to know the audience were there for me, to hear me sing and listen to my stories. I got to be Lucie on the stage rather than Jenna.”
The orchestra was conducted by its bright young leader Freddie Tapner, who also acted as her musical director. It was a mighty long way from the first solo she sang in a theatre, as part of Cardiff’s
Scout and Guide Gang Show.
The result is a stunning live album packed with old classics and modern hits.
Lucie was born in Pentyrch, eight miles northwest of Cardiff. “It’s a very small friendly village,” she says. “It has a shop, a hairdressers and a school. It was a beautiful place to grow up.”
Her father is a self-employed painter and decorator; her mother worked in HR for the Royal Mail.
“I was a bit of a nightmare,” Lucie admits. “I was into everything, every club, every activity. I loved music. I was in the choir group. I wanted to learn how to write songs. I acted. I was into sport – I was in the sprinting team for Wales – and I’m still the same.
“I’ve never gone down one avenue. I’ll give anything a go. It’s the same with my career. I’m not just in musical theatre, or pop or acting. I love them all.”
Drive and a strong work ethic are her best qualities but also, she says, her worst.
“I sometimes go all out for something an then complain that I’m knackered. Ethan wil say, ‘Well, you organised it’.”
They enjoy each other’s company. “My husband is such a goo she laughs, those dark eyes twinkling. “We’r together. It’s great. We small stuff. We laugh
The biggest laughs like the time when, as Blonde, Lucie ran acr stage in her underwea
“I thought there wa place,” she giggles. “T
HIGHS AND A LOW: Lucie in Waitress, the moment she was dumped from The X Factor in favour of Jedward in 2009 and, inset, as our 2017 Eurovision hope
make it worse, 90 per cent of the cast were there in position for the next scene, all facing towards me as I ran! I was mortified!”
Lockdown has been less traumatic.
“We live in West London and I’m near a canal path so it’s easy to go on walks. It would have been different if I lived in a high rise. I feel for those people.
“I’m lucky that I can teach online, if I didn’t have that I’d be struggling. Lockdown has been great for telly too. Thank god for Netflix! I don’t normally get the time.”
Lucie writes songs and listens to music most days. Her favourite live performance, perhaps surprisingly, was Oasis and the Foo Fighters at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2005.
“My dad and I both have eclectic tastes,” she says. “Now we’ll share a bottle of wine and I’ll say, ‘Have you heard this one, Dad? Have you seen this on Youtube?’ We still do that.”
The public are usually friendly. “I’m always surprised when someone in the street says ‘Hello, are you Lucie?’ because I’m unrecognisable 98 per cent of the time. At shows they’re lovely. Although occasionally you get people who love the
musical and give you ‘notes’. Elderly people tend to say things like, ‘I don’t like that dress you wore tonight, Lucie’. I always thank them for their input.”
The one thing rattling her cage is the Government’s lack of support for the arts during the Covid crisis. “It’s infuriating. Theatres are so important for tourism, so we need some sort of support for when tourists come back so they’ll have something to go to.
“The whole sector is full of selfemployed people who are all affected and all looking for jobs. It’s dark and it’s hard.”
Lucie would have been in Waitress until July 4, but had no plans in place for her next role.
“It’s funny working in theatre. Six months into a job you’re looking for the next job for the next year. I’ve had really cool jobs but Waitress was such a special one and it really connected with people.”
She does have a big job for 2021. “It’s very exciting,” she says. “But I can’t tell you what it is. Watch my Twitter stream – the cat will be out of the bag soon...”
Let’s hope it catches the mouse.
HAIR-RAISING: Lucie with Rita Simons in Legally Blonde The Musical