‘I'm having singing lessons’ - Sheridan Smith tells Chris Evans about starring in new musical, Opening Night

Virgin Radio

18 Dec 2023, 15:03

Sheridan Smith spoke to Chris Evans about preparing for her role in an upcoming new musical.

Joining the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch ahead of the launch of her new Paramount+ series, The Castaways, the actress and singer also looked ahead to 2024. “So, Castaways is Boxing Day. And then, in January, I start rehearsals for a new show called Opening Night, which is with a new musical by Rufus Wainwright,” she told Chris.

Last month it was announced that the Gavin & Stacey legend would be starring as Myrtle in the new Rufus Wainwright musical, which opens at the Gielgud Theatre in London in March. Adapted from John Cassavetes' 1977 film, Opening Night follows a famous but troubled actress, as she attempts to stage her comeback. However, the drama soon spills offstage when Myrtle encounters an obsessive teenaged fan.

Telling Chris, “I don’t start until January,” Sheridan informed him: “I'm having singing lessons for it.” 

When Chris expressed surprise that a singer as good as Sheridan would require singing lessons, she explained: “It's really high and Rufus Wainwright's music’s really quite tricky!”

Chris asked the artist, who has released two albums, what her vocal range is at the moment, she replied: “Barry White! I’ve got to go super high.”

Sheridan, who has also appeared in theatre productions of the likes of Funny Girl and A Midsummer Night's Dream, was also in the West End earlier this year, in one-woman show Shirley Valentine. “I was like, ‘I’ll never do a one-woman show’, she said, before adding: “I like a challenge.”

Ahead of starring in Opening Night, Sheridan is conquering her fears in new five-part TV drama, The Castaways, which sees her character Lori struggling for survival after a plane crash.

Speaking more about her career, and how she has “got that kind of imposter syndrome-y thing,” she told Chris: “Sometimes people go, ‘I smashed that take. I smashed that,’ and I think I would do 5,000 takes and still never think I’ve smashed it.”

On what else lies ahead after The Castaways and Opening Night, she said: “After the show next year, I'm doing an ITV drama in Newcastle.

“[Opening Night] finishes [at the] end of July and then two days later I start in Newcastle. And that’s three months in Newcastle.”

Read what Sheridan told Chris about how she goes from “this wallflower to this warrior” in The Castaways here. 

The Castaways premieres on Paramount+ on Boxing Day.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.