“I Adore Musical Theatre”:
An Interview with Ross Andrews (Clive Nolan Musicals)
What roles do you play in "She and “Alchemy”?
Ross: I am playing Billali in “She” and I am also the Captain in “Alchemy” as well as Greaves. Billali happens to be a very efficient priest who goes telling people what to do and ordering people around and singing as low as I possibly can in a bass register, which means it’s extremely difficult. In “Alchemy” I am Greaves, who is the evil henchman, who goes around slapping people about and killing them. And I am also the captain, who goes on with a huge book and starts singing in a bass register blasting the notes everywhere I possibly can.
Which is your favourite character in Clive Nolan’s musicals?
Ross: I’d like to say that Billali is my favourite role because he’s only got short amount of words to learn and, more importantly, I haven’t played this role yet, so, it is an interesting one.
How did you get involved with the Caamora Theatre Company?
Ross: I originally got involved because the original director of “Alchemy” when it first went into the Playhouse, Chris Longman, is a friend of mine from years ago and we have been in many shows and bands with him. So, when this cropped up he said “I know somebody who’d be perfect for that part, but that person was unavailable so, he asked me to do it instead.
What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Caamora Theatre Company?
Ross: One of the things I really enjoy about being a part of this company is working with Ian Baldwin. Partly because we’ve been working together for 25 years and for the last couple of years we haven’t happened to work on many projects, so, it’s fun being bullied and directed by Ian again. But there is nothing better than being in brand new musicals and I absolutely adore musical theatre. So, I’d be on stage in as many parts as I possibly could if Clive would let me.
What are your musical and theatre background?
Ross: Many, many years ago I started off as a tap dancer at the age of 4 and the story could go on for a very long time until we get to the point where I was performing in lots and lots of musicals. I’ve done lots of plays in my time, but musicals are always my favourite. I’ve played very strange roles from “Fiddler on the Roof” and these kind of musicals, all the way through the rock musicals like “Rocky Horror Show” type shows and appearing in fish nets and high heels.
When I’m not on stage performing musicals, you will find me playing and being the lead singer in Frankenstein’s Lobster, which is world’s only rock ukulele band. And at this time of the year we tend to go all over the world or all around the country to play in festivals and basically entertaining a lot of drunks in tents all over the country.
Interview by Magdalena Grabias
August 2015
Photo by Neil Palfreyman
