Pop princess Sinitta is starring in NOW That's What I Call a Musical at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. She tells John Byrne all about it and reflects on her lengthy showbiz career.
You’d have to be made of stone not to like Sinitta. She comes across as a lovely person, big on empathy and an absolute people pleaser. Plus, she’s got one of the greatest smiles. It could light up the national grid.
She’s talented too. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had a career in show business that goes back to the early 1980s when she landed a part in Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.
Later in that decade she burst on the pop music scene with a series of hit records. Once she got her face on TV shows such as Top of the Pops, millions fell in love with her.
Since then it’s been a mix of music, TV shows such as her time as Simon Cowell’s wing woman on X Factor, and - most recently - last year’s live stage show tour of The Masked Singer.
Forty years on, she’s still in show business and in Dublin: you can catch her in Now That’s What I Call a Musical at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
As the title suggests, the show is inspired by the long-running compilation album series NOW That’s What I Call Music, which have sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide.
This fun-filled show is bursting with hits from Whitney Houston, Wham!, Blondie, Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet and so many more - including, of course, Sinitta.
Award-winning actress and former EastEnders star Nina Wadia who played Zainab Masood in the soap and is also known for her BBC show Goodness Gracious Me, makes her musical theatre debut in the show.
Written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans, and directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing legend Craig Revel Horwood, it’s a heart-warming and funny story with an uplifting journey down memory lane.
John Byrne: Hi Sinitta! Great to talk to you. Can you tell me a bit about the show?
Sinitta: It’s about a school reunion, and they go back to the Eighties. It’s about two best friends and their 40-year friendship.
They all go back to this bar/disco they used to go to when they were young, they have their reunion there. And the soundtrack for the entire show and the story arc is from the NOW albums.
So the music that was being played was a backdrop to meeting boys and future husbands.
And it’s just so funny as well. There’s the fashion and the hair-dos, the way we danced then - it just brings it all back. And you feel like you’re in one of those clubs because they don’t have anything like that now.
Pippa Evans, who wrote the show, is hilarious. She has created such a brilliant snapshot of people in the Eighties. Especially as she’s so young. She wasn’t even around in the 1980s! She’s pitched it perfectly.
And the storyline itself is really good. It’s about friendship. And we’ve all been there. You’ve got great friends, but maybe they move abroad, or something happens, or they get married and are no longer in the friendship group.
It goes through lots of break-ups and make-ups, but they still keep in touch. So you get really invested in the story and their friendship.
And the 1980s was a pretty pivotal decade for you too. This was when you were making your stage debut and then having hit records.
This was literally my time! I’d been to that club. I know these people. Because it was the soundtrack to my growing up really. And the fact that I got to be one of the people on the NOW albums as well is just incredible.
Have you performed in Dublin before?
I have, but more in the clubs - that kind of night-time thing. Not at the theatre before. So I’m really looking forward to it.
You’ve enjoyed a varied career - but I’d imagine you’re most at home on the stage?
Yes. Because I started in theatre. Then, of course, the music took over. But I have to say it’s great to be back on stage again. It’s so much fun. And this is a great company.
There’s quite a few people in the show that it’s their very first job as well. So there’s a great energy and there’s lots of excitement.
And of course, you’d be comfortable in a kind of mentoring role as well.
Exactly. Although I have to say, I’ve been blown away by how talented they are. No one’s needing help from me yet.
And they’re so confident! I think people really want it, because it’s hard to get into musical theatre, to actually land a role and be working. And people are so happy as well.
Even the rehearsals are so entertaining because everyone’s putting their heart and soul into it.
Have you ever been to a school reunion?
Do you know what? This is the saddest thing, because I’ve always missed mine. Every time there’s been one, I’ve been away working, or something’s happened that I couldn’t be there.
It’s one of the things that I think I shall regret.
I’m always keeping an eye on Facebook to see when there’s going to be the next get-together.
I did go back and visit my old school a couple of years ago. It’s still standing, even though the school itself doesn’t exist anymore.
You’ve had such a long career in show business that goes back to the 1980s. A musical career can end very quickly, so it’s quite a precarious industry.
And pop music’s particularly like that. I think people see it as quite disposable, so that’s what’s great about the NOW albums.
Songs that were big at that moment in time, the fact that they’re remembered in the NOW albums and are being resurrected and brought back again. Because people are coming to the show with their kids. Women of my age are at the stage door - and they’ve got their daughters with them.
And they’re introducing our songs to the next generation.
You’ve got to achieve so much in your career - did you think you’d still be in showbiz four decades later?
I’ve always felt incredibly lucky. Even in my friendship group back in the day, I wasn’t the most talented one, I wasn’t the best dancer, I wasn’t the best singer, or the best looking.
But you’re just the right person at the right time for certain things. It just happened to be me.
But I also think I’m incredibly lucky to be performing and doing all of this now. Who would’ve thought that years later I’d still be getting calls to come and do this and come and do that? It’s still going on. It’s amazing!
NOW That's What I Call a Musical is at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Jan 21-25. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.ie
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