Jane McGowan meets star of stage and TV Jane McDonald ahead of her new stage show Making Memories, coming to the G-Live September 16. The former Loose Women presenter could barely contain her excitement for the new show...
Jane McDonald Making Memories
When I catch up with Jane McDonald she is bursting with excitement. Preparations for her new stage show – Making Memories, which hits G-Live on 16 September – are well under way and Jane is over-brimming with passion about everything from the frocks “they’re spectacular” to her backing performers who are “unbelievable – I can’t stop turning round to watch them,” she exclaims in genuine admiration.
“This show is wild,” she laughs. “We’ve done a preview and I’ve never had a reaction to a show like that before. We’ve thrown everything at it.”
Jane is a proper old-school grafter. Born in Wakefield in 1963, she describes herself as a “really pathetic child” who was “very much a loner”. Her escape was her music and she learned to play the piano aged seven. “That was the thing that filled my days and nights,” she says. “While the family were all watching Coronation Street, I was in the back parlour with me piano.”
By the time Jane hit her 20s she was a regular on the infamous Northern club circuit. “I call it ‘Clubland RADA’, she laughs. “I learnt my craft playing to four drunks in a pub one night, then 2,000 sunburnt faces on holiday in Skegness the next. I certainly learned how to work a crowd.”
But it was her appearance on BBC documentary The Cruise in 1998 that catapulted Jane not only into the nation’s homes but into their hearts as well.
“I embrace The Cruise,” Jane says proudly. “Everyone knocks it but I would never have been where I am today without working on a cruise ship. I am very grateful to that industry.”
Since then she has appeared regularly on TV, most notably as one of the ‘dream team’ on ITV’s Loose Women which included the late Lynda Bellingham.
“It was the best time,” she says. “We had a blast, we were all great mates. It was hugely sad losing Linda but that’s one of the reasons you have to live life and grab the opportunities.”
And Jane is certainly true to her word. Last year when supposedly on a break from performing she was asked by Andrew Lloyd Webber to take on the part of Grizabella in Cats for its run in Blackpool.
“It’s not every day you get a call from Andrew Lloyd Webber – I was like, ‘yer what?’ - I thought it was a joke. But it was one of the best experiences of my life. There’s a Cats segment at the end of the show,” she says. “Oh but that’s a secret,” she adds howling with laughter.
But this year she is back in her comfort zone for the 19-date tour that promises to be bigger and brighter than anything she has done before.
“It’s a very emotional show,” she says. “And if you don’t come out of the hall feeling something, I haven’t done my job.”
The more Jane talks the more excited she becomes and I leave her squealing, “Flamin eck, I can’t wait to get on!”
Making Memories is at G-Live September 16 and at the New Wimbledon October 5. For tickets visit jane-mcdonald.com
Check out our Theatre Section for more great local theatre stories like our interview with X-Factor and musical theatre star Rhydian
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