This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:01] Linzi Hateley: Hello, my name's Linzi Hateley, and you're listening to Eleven, the Official Theatre Podcast.

[0:16] William J Connolly: Hello and welcome to Eleven, the official theatre podcast that brings the biggest stars and creatives together in one place to discuss life in the arts. She's an Olivier nominee and easily one of the most instantly recognisable voices to ever grace a West End or Broadway stage, known internationally for her role as the narrator in the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a role that she originated in the London Palladium production way back in the early 90s. It's a role that brought her international attention and acclaim, bagged her an Olivier nomination, and has brought her back now to that very famous theatre 30 something years later.

Tackling the narrator once again alongside her Joseph castmate Jason Donovan and newbie Jack Carrow in the title role, she's bowing audiences once again as she steps back into her beloved role for a series of special performances. Not her only stage role, she's racked up a series of stage credits that many could only dream of adding to their resume, including originating Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins on stage alongside Laura Michelle Kelly, Donna in Mamma Mia, Roxy Hart in Chicago, Éponine and Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, Nancy in Oliver, and of course on Broadway in the short-lived musical Carrie at the age of just seventeen. She's also a recording artist, has performed at venues including the National Theatre, and is on rather a few cast albums that I know you'll have played over and over again.

Just like me. So here, moments before she's about to step back on stage as the narrator, we talk about returning to her signature role some 30 something years later, being back on that Palladium stage. Some of the changes that have been made to the show and how it differs perhaps from what she did before, including vocally, acting, and character-wise, and why she's not in any capacity trying to be the 20-something actor that first took on this role. She also reveals why she's embracing her age and bringing a new take to the role, which she hopes you'll love as much as she does, which may or may not include her wearing a fake beard and lots of dancing. We also discussed some of her other roles, including originating in Mary Poppins and the challenges that came with carving out a new role that's very different to the one audiences will have fallen in love with on film.

Why she might have stepped back into Les Misérables as Madame Thénardier a little too early, plus why she still feels the challenges and scars of Carrie's historical flop all these years later, but why that will never stop her getting back up on the stage, however difficult it may be. So strap in as it's the gorgeous Linzi Hateley here right now on this, the next episode of Eleven, the official theatre podcast. To meet with current restrictions and to start the possible spread of COVID-19, Linzi and I connected for this conversation digitally. So please forgive any brief moments while we wait for the internet to catch up. Enjoy.

[3:06] William J Connolly: Please help me welcome to this, the next episode of Eleven. It's Western royalty and one of my favourite voices on the stage. It's superstar Linzi Hateley. Hi, Linzi.

[3:14] Linzi Hateley: Hello, thank you for having me.

[3:15] William J Connolly: Thank you very much for being here. And I was saying just before we started recording that I am obsessed with you, and I'm gonna tell you throughout this entire interview how obsessed I am. So sort of just strap in and get ready for the ride, really, because this is gonna be lots of fun for me and hopefully for you too. So thank you so much once again for doing this. And I feel very privileged to get the opportunity to talk to you today because you are literally in the biggest show in the West End, the show that everybody's talking about. And it's of course a show that you know rather well, and it's very, very exciting for us as audiences to get to see you play this role once again. So I guess before we talk about just what it's like being back, I guess being on a stage once again after that horrible, horrible 15, 16, 17 months that we've had must literally must be the best feeling in the entire world.

[3:58] Linzi Hateley: Overwhelming is the biggest word I can sort of describe honestly, it's been unbelievable and very emotional. I think probably most people that you talk to would say the same. You know, it's what we do and it's what we do to make other people happy, and when we can't do that, it's hard and it's been a tough time, but it's wonderful to be back.

[4:22] William J Connolly: Do you remember what it was like those couple of seconds just before you started at the top of the show on that sort of first performance when it was actually happening, theatre was back?

[4:30] Linzi Hateley: Genuinely didn't think I would be able to make it through the show. My heart was just racing something ridiculous. I thought, oh my god, I am gonna die on the London Palladium, which of course there are worse places you could die, but it was very, very terrifying and, like I say, overwhelming to say the least.

[4:47] William J Connolly: So when you get an opportunity like this to return to a role, something that I think it's pretty fair for me to say becomes somewhat synonymous for you, to get to go back into a show, obviously a new production, which I can imagine for you as a creative is very, very exciting. Did you take much convincing?

[5:01] Linzi Hateley: Yes, actually. I think because you know, I do hold it dear to my heart, and it was a special production back in the early 90s. And as much as you know, I was obviously desperate to get back to work and all the rest of it, I was fearful that would I be able to do it? Would I be able to, would people accept the 50-year-old Linzi and not the 20-year-old Linzi? Yeah, it filled me with trepidation. I was quite scared about, you know, would it be the right thing to do or not? But you know, I've got a great agent, and he said, you know, if you don't want to do it, it's fine, but I think you'd be surprised how people will react to it. And I was extremely surprised. I mean, just it's been unbelievable, unbelievable the response to it.

[5:56] William J Connolly: Unbelievable is definitely the right word because when the casting came out that you're gonna be joining the show, like social media exploded. Like, I don't know how much you see, but people sort of just went crazy, and I can imagine for you, must be quite overwhelming as well as exciting.

[6:09] Linzi Hateley: Well, it was funny because my agent said, you know, why don't you listen out for Baz because he will announce it and see how it responds? And I said, well, what time does that happen? And I think he's, I think something like nine o'clock is it? Oh, you know what, I might be in bed by then. So I literally, I didn't even see anything until the next day. And my daughter rang me and went, Mum, have you seen what's going on? And I was like, well, no, because I'm not really that big on the whole social media thing, and she just said, you're not gonna believe it. So, yeah, bit of a shock to say the least.

[6:41] William J Connolly: The reaction has been pretty amazing. And you mentioned just a second ago about, you know, can you do it all these years later? I guess did you get the opportunity to stand there and think I can do this and I know I can do this and I should enjoy it, or was it constantly just like, oh gosh, how am I going to be able to do it? I guess where did your brain go in terms of sort of making yourself feel comfortable saying, actually, I have got this?

[7:01] Linzi Hateley: Having seen the opening night of the 2019 production, I knew that it was a very different kind of narrator, and very much geared around Sheridan Smith's skills, which is, you know, she's great at comedy and she's an all-round, you know, triple threat, she can do it all. And the old version that I did, you know, it was very much about vocal ability and holding a stage and communicating with an audience. So in some ways I kind of thought, well, if I'm going to do it again, maybe it's as well that it isn't the same. That the people aren't going to compare and go, oh well, she's not doing that bit like she used to do, or you know, because it is so very different. I sort of thought, you know, that was kind of almost what appealed to me more than if they'd have said we're doing the original version, will you do it again?

Yeah, because I think that would have filled me with more fear. Whereas this way, I just sort of thought, well, I'm, you know, this isn't the same version, so I'm bringing something new to it, and you know, I'm really glad, I'm really glad that I sort of made that choice because it's been great fun to do, totally different.

[8:06] William J Connolly: That's actually going to be one of my next questions was just about pulling away from what you did before and taking ownership of yourself now, because I guess the changes actually help you to not try and replicate what you did back then because it's physically impossible to do so, therefore it's about celebrating, I guess, where you are at this point in your life now. And I can imagine that's actually like, you know, that's actually a very much a good thing.

[8:26] Linzi Hateley: I hope so. I mean, I, you know, there was no point in me trying to pretend that I'm 20. I mean, that just is bonkers and nor would I want to be. You know, I've had 30 years of experience, good and bad, and you bring what you've now got to the table, and like I say, in some ways, I'm sort of, it's been great that it's allowed me to sort of show my comedy chops and, you know, get my tap shoes on, and you know, the things that I, you know, have sort of always sort of wanted to sort of have a crack at, but I mean, I've done a lot of comedy, but certainly the tap dancing, my Italia Conti days have now come in handy. So yes, it's great fun.

[9:04] William J Connolly: Does it feel at all similar to before or does it feel completely separate?

[9:07] Linzi Hateley: It's weird, it's as though there is part of me that just, it just comes natural to me. There's just something, and I guess it is that thing that because I originated that version, even though it's a million years ago, and you know, I've even sung any of the stuff since, you know, it is just in there, there's just something in there, and I hadn't, nostalgia is a very powerful thing, and I really hadn't realized that. And it's only now that I'm, you know, being allowed to enjoy what was such a celebrated production way back in the 90s, because there are so many people that are genuinely thrilled to see me on the Palladium stage doing it, you know, it's really wonderful.

[9:54] William J Connolly: Is any of it all these years later easier vocally?

[9:57] Linzi Hateley: Well, some of it is because it's in a different key. Which I didn't really have any say over that because it was this was the production, this is what we do, and you're only doing certain performances, so these are the keys it's gonna be in. And I wasn't going to argue with it because quite frankly, it makes certain bits a bit easier. Yeah, your voice changes over the years, you know, certain things are actually easier for me to sing now than they were back then, and other stuff, yeah. No, it, you know, it's never gonna be an easy thing. It goes on and on and on, you know, she's hardly upstage.

[10:27] Linzi Hateley: And I think if you really commit to the energy of it and to sort of really spell out that story, you know, it's quite a demand.

[10:36] William J Connolly: Well, you certainly commit to the energy of the show. I saw a video, I don't know if you saw it on social media, I think it was yesterday actually, of you in the infamous mega mix at the end, just absolutely losing your mind. Like you look like you're having the best time. And I was like, well, this is the best way to show anyone that had any doubts that she's coming back and she's coming back strong.

[10:54] Linzi Hateley: Well, I mean, I keep saying to Jace, do you think we're sort of a good advert for the over 50s? Because one, we're alive, and two, we're actually still giving it large. So, yeah, no, I'm keeping up with the 20-year-olds behind me.

[11:08] William J Connolly: Is it also nice as well to be doing this because you're doing selective performances, but of course, in tandem with Alexandra as well, who of course is a fantastic singer, fantastic performer. And I think having seen her perform in this role, you know, really again, I guess in similar ways, sort of pushes any doubts to the side and completely just embraces it and makes it her own. It must be nice to have that solidarity and sisterhood.

[11:27] Linzi Hateley: I think it's great actually. I think, you know, it's great to have two people that couldn't be more different if you tried. Because it, you know, there is absolutely no competition. It just doesn't feel like that. You know, I'm there to sort of pop in the nostalgia and do my bit, and Alexandra is a star in her own right, and people will go and see her for that reason alone. So it works, it just works.

[11:51] William J Connolly: You went to the press night as well when Alex was performing and you were sat in the audience, which having been in the show, because I think you'd actually done a show and then the show opened, so therefore, was it weird looking at almost looking at yourself back?

[12:06] Linzi Hateley: Yes, I thought so. I'm not gonna lie. I mean, I've seen it quite a few times because I've sort of obviously been, you know, while Alexandra was teching the show and rehearsing and doing all that, you know. I mean, I knew her show and I'd watched the production quite a bit, but you know, it is weird when you're sitting in the audience of an opening night of a show that is so dear to your own heart that you want to be there because you are part of it and you want to be there for the cast and the crew and everyone involved, but there's a little tinge of, oh, I'd like to be up there as well doing it.

[12:41] William J Connolly: Well, you literally have the best of both worlds because you can watch it and enjoy it, and also you actually get to go do it, which most people can't do, which I think that's cool.

[12:48] Linzi Hateley: I know. I mean, on paper it's the best job in the world. I have to be honest, it's quite terrifying as well because you don't have that kind of, you know, regularity of doing a show and you sort of just get, you know, I feel as every time I go on, it feels like a first night again, you know. It's quite sort of, it's just quite full on, but it's what it is, and I shall try and make the most of it.

[13:10] William J Connolly: The point of which we're recording this podcast for anyone listening, you are actually going into the show for an extra performance this evening, right?

[13:16] Linzi Hateley: I am. We've been quite a few actually. I mean, it's just sort of worked out quite well for me because my contract was basically they said, look, if Alexandra can't do certain performances, we'll ask you first if you're available and you want to do it, fine. If not, then we will pass it on to the understudy. So I kind of get, yeah, it's a win-win for me, really, isn't it?

[13:35] William J Connolly: And is this the point of the day where you're like, oh gosh, I've got a marathon to climb it towards the end of it, or you're sort of like, right? I want to get going, let's go.

[13:42] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, I think I'm kind of feeling a bit like that today because I was on yesterday as well, and today I just feel a bit like, oh, I could do with a night off. But it'll be fine. She says drinking her tea and warming up slowly.

[13:55] William J Connolly: Now, not that we like favorites, obviously, because the whole show is great, but are there particular moments that you're like, I'm so glad I came back because I get to perform this number again? And if the answer's not Pharaoh's story, then why not?

[14:07] Linzi Hateley: Um, it wouldn't be Pharaoh's story, sorry. You know, I love Pharaoh's story. Um, but strangely enough for me, the things that I've enjoyed the most about doing this version are all the physical things that I didn't get to do before. I love the dancing in the Hoedown, I love the playing the spoons, I love the tap dancing, and I love the boogieing around at the end. It's just, you know, that makes me feel alive and it gives me just a completely different take on the show. So it's not sort of almost about the things that I already have experienced, but actually the new experiences which are always lovely. You know, it's great to just still feel that you're learning stuff.

[14:45] William J Connolly: I also do feel a little bit sorry for yourself and Alex when you're doing the opening sort of two or three songs because not only do you have to do all of the stuff that the narrator does, but there's also additional parts that have been given to you now crossing over different roles. So it literally feels like, oh my gosh, give her a break for five seconds. You're just literally one line, and then it's you in a completely different voice as a man.

[15:05] Linzi Hateley: I know. I mean, that stupid beard that you keep having to keep pulling on and off. I was just like, really? Do we have to? And of course I dyed my hair red, so I was like, so am I gonna have a comedy red beard as well, then? I'm sure to just like, but you know, it's all good fun.

[15:21] William J Connolly: What's it been like getting, obviously, of course, there are limitations on stage door. I know that it's very much discouraged at the moment, but having interactions with people perhaps as you're walking to the theatre or leaving the theatre or stage door even in brief capacity. What's it been like hearing from the fans and then I can imagine just so pleased to see you?

[15:36] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, they are. I mean, I just, it's just so sad that we can't really connect very well with them. You know, we're all masked up and we can't, you know, I mean, they're trying to do socially distant photos, but it is, you know, we've had so many ups and downs with the show, and now that the rules have changed, it would just make it easier. But of course, we've only got a couple of weeks left. But it really has been a roller coaster, and so we're desperately just trying to get to the end without any more dramas really and we can't do the meet and greet so but sadly, that's the one big part that I've sort of missed out on really because there's been a lot of people that I know would love to have, you know, had the time to say hello.

[15:54] William J Connolly: From an audience perspective sitting in the auditorium, as you will certainly have experienced, it feels incredibly safe, which I think is the number one question that a lot of people have just about returning to public spaces generally, never mind in a confined space like a theatre. For you as an artist, do you feel safe when you're on stage and I guess with the protocols, like do you feel comfortable?

[16:32] Linzi Hateley: I feel as if they've done everything they possibly can. I mean, you know, there's no question about that, but it's a strange way to work. It doesn't feel natural. It doesn't feel how we should, you know, we as artists are the warm people that want to connect and want to encourage, and particularly when you're in a show like Joseph where you want to be able to come in and, you know, sort of get close to people and feel as if we're in this together. It's a hard one. It doesn't make for an easy process, but you know, we're doing the best we can, but I miss the old days.

[17:10] William J Connolly: Yeah, definitely. It was so nice also as well to come and see the show and to have a full audience, not socially distanced, not lines out, seats out, you know, you sit next to someone, they're 20 seats away, which I can imagine. Did you do any shows with a socially distant audience?

[17:10] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, my first shows. I was a bit gutted really because I knew that there was a lot of nostalgia in and then a lot of people that have booked to see me for my first show back. And of course, then it had to be a, you know, a half capacity. So even though you'd never have known, they made such a fuss of me, which was wonderful, but it would have been amazing had it been a full house at the Palladium, which it was, and then of course had to be reduced.

[17:52] William J Connolly: So when you went from that, I guess 50% capacity is perhaps not the right phrase for it, but when you had that half capacity through to the full, it must have just been like a wall of sound.

[18:03] Linzi Hateley: Oh my god, yeah. I, you know, it's, I keep using overwhelming, but it's just hard to explain. And there's something about the Palladium that is so special, not just to me, which it is, but there's just something special about that theatre. It has a warmth that you feel as if you can touch everybody, as you know, right up the top to right to the back of the stalls. It's a very special theatre for connecting with your audience. So yeah, it was wonderful.

[18:30] William J Connolly: When you start the show at the very beginning, do you get that massive round of applause? Is that quite overwhelming?

[18:36] Linzi Hateley: I keep wanting to turn around thinking there's Judy Garland come back from the dead or something. It's a little bit surreal for me. I'm like, it's little Lynn's from Birmingham, and suddenly I've got people whooping and cheering before I've even done anything. It's mental. Uh, it's, you know, I probably should just retire after this.

[18:54] William J Connolly: Well, Sunday at five o'clock, you're gonna have even more whooping because I'm gonna be there and I'm gonna be going absolutely crazy.

[18:58] Linzi Hateley: So brilliant. Should be like, there's that strange man I was talking to through the medium of Zoom.

[19:03] William J Connolly: When you get those interactions with people at stage door and they come up to you and say, it's great to see you, it's so nice to see you in this role. Do they talk about other projects that you've worked on? I guess is it because I always think it's interesting when you, but people become synonymous with roles, that therefore they almost can't necessarily branch away from it because people are so used to adoring them in one specific thing. So I guess how is your relationship with that sort of thing? Like, for example, do people go, oh my god, I loved you in this and I love you in this and I support you in lots of things, or do they specifically just want to see you with one thing? I guess how does it play out?

[19:34] Linzi Hateley: Um, there's definitely no question that in this country, you know, the Joseph thing has had the biggest impact on people with me. You know, super duper theatre fans will have sort of followed me along the way and, you know, seen me from Roxy Hart to Mrs. Banks to Donna in Mamma Mia to, you know, whatever, lots of things. But obviously Joseph for maybe less of a theatre-going audience, but a certain type of person, it's sort of it's the Joseph thing that they hold on to, which I think is why this has sort of become such a talked-about thing, me coming back to it.

[20:15] William J Connolly: Um, like having that sort of legacy. I know that sounds like a silly question, but some people like to just try lots of different things and be known for lots of different stuff. But of course, when a role becomes yours and people say, oh, I love seeing you in this thing, when you do other stuff, I guess sometimes they're like, oh, okay, that's this is cool, but they still support you. So do you like having those sort of checkpoints in your career?

[20:34] Linzi Hateley: I don't know, really. I'm just grateful for jobs, really. If I get another job, then I feel as if I'm, you know, still reasonably successful. But I mean, it is funny because the Joseph thing is certainly the one thing in this country, but I also, my first job was Carrie, which was a musical that I went to Broadway with and was a massive flop, but became a huge cult in America.

[20:57] Linzi Hateley: So I have a lot of people that want to talk to me about Carrie as well. So I've got the Joseph thing and the Carrie thing that are two major talking points that it's just a little bit weird, really, and couldn't be more different. I don't know, I just, you know, I'm like I say, I'm sort of grateful for anything that I get. When people talk to you about things, for example, like Carrie, obviously, we've already talked about Joseph, but do they just tell you how much they love it and, you know, sort of justice for Carrie? Is that sort of the way the conversation goes?

[21:25] Linzi Hateley: Totally. It absolutely that, yeah. Yeah. I'm just, you know, got all the bootlegs things, I've got this, I've got that, obsessed with it. You know, know things about it that I don't remember. I mean, that's 33 years ago. I was 17 when I did that, and it's weird how it won't go away. It just won't go away. And I found it one of the most, well, it was a baptism of fire, really, sort of, you know, a real difficult job. You know, it was very traumatic as a 17-year-old to sort of be given this wonderful opportunity and to go to Broadway and then it to come off and, you know, to be working with the likes of Betty Buckley in New York and Barbara Cook in Stratford-upon-Avon and, you know, amazing people, and it was a very, very quick learning curve as to how cruel the business can be.

[22:10] William J Connolly: I was gonna say, how much did it teach you? I guess the Linzi that I speak to now is sort of influenced by that experience. Do you think that there are certain things that stay with you?

[22:18] Linzi Hateley: Oh, without a doubt, without a doubt. I'm always, I'm always sadly, I don't think I ever enjoy anything as much as I should, because I'm almost waiting for it to go wrong, and that's really sad. But I just think because of that first experience that has very much made me what I am, you know, good and bad. I think that's a, it's protection, isn't it? You know, it's you want to be vulnerable, and I think anybody in the world of theatre has to be vulnerable in order to be able to escape to be another person. And while of course, everything on stage is, you know, isn't necessarily real per se, I think you have to train yourself and believe that you are becoming that person on playing a character and try and play it for real, or else that's sort of where the truth comes. So I guess when stuff doesn't go well or doesn't go well, it's still the same effect on you as an individual.

[23:03] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, and I think it's, um, it gets harder actually the older you get. I think that there's something about age which is a shame really because you'd think the older you get, the less you care, but actually you seem to sort of care more and your skin gets a bit thinner so you get, you know, kind of affected more by things that maybe don't always go the way you want them to and, um, you do feel very vulnerable.

[23:27] William J Connolly: Do you like talking about successes as well as failures? I guess are you completely opposed to one or are you pretty open about it?

[23:32] Linzi Hateley: I'm certainly open about it because it's, um, you know, you're not going to be able to enjoy the successes I think unless you've had some, you know, failures as well and life isn't all a success is it? It's hard work and it's a constant struggle to do the best you can and I think that's all any of us can do.

[23:53] William J Connolly: You have played so many varying different roles and I sort of feel like you're the sort of person that likes to challenge yourself when you take on new jobs, would that be right?

[24:00] Linzi Hateley: I do, but then I totally freak out about it as well. I'd like the challenge and then as soon as I've got it, I'm then questioning whether can I do it or not. Did you have that when you did Les when you went back to the show?

[24:12] Linzi Hateley: No, not to do Madame T. I don't know what it was about that. It was almost a bit of a sort of, um, just a very sort of surreal moment where you sort of think I kind of fancied this but it didn't really feel the right time. I feel as though I could do that in another 10, 15 years and, you know, I almost felt, um, I think probably because, you know, I've been playing things like Roxy and Donna and things where you've got so much going on and then suddenly you pop on now and again and you black your teeth up and you do a little bit and then you go off again and sit in the dressing room, do a bit of colouring and eating sweets and I was a bit like, oh what, I think I'll, you know, I'll come back to this one in a little bit longer, you know, a bit a few years down the line.

[24:58] William J Connolly: Would you do that? Would you be interested in doing that?

[25:00] Linzi Hateley: Well, I never say never to. I mean, well, I say that. I mean, someone said to me not that long before the Joseph thing, would you ever go back to the Narrator? I said, no, no, no, don't be so silly. Look, I mean, so, um, never say never, I think is the is now the answer I shall go for.

[25:17] William J Connolly: I was gonna say, if you say no, that's just a challenge for people like Michael Harrison to be like, okay then, we'll do it.

[25:22] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, absolutely. I remember getting the opportunity to see you in Mary Poppins, and I think like most people were very nervous about the prospect of that being put on stage just because it's, I think one of arguably the greatest stories ever told. And the film itself is iconic. And I wondered for somebody that was at the heart of, you know, being part of creating that musical, did you have the same reservations? And I guess how did you find your way to make sure that it felt authentic to the type of character that you wanted to portray on stage?

[25:50] Linzi Hateley: Um, I found it really difficult. Um, I think I found it particularly difficult because the character I was playing was so unrecognisable from the film, and I felt that I'd been sort of almost given a raw deal because, you know, people do want certain things, and people are going to see Mary Poppins because they like the penguins and they like the colour and they like the, you know, those sort of things. And this version was very much not that, you know, it was going back to the books, back to the original books, and, um, and it was all very much about the dysfunctional family, and that the, you know, the husband and wife, you know, clearly were struggling, and that, you know, she was quite a, uh, a sad vulnerable figure rather than votes for women and, you know, all, you know, good fun and a bit bonkers.

So I found that quite difficult because I just sort of, I thought it was beautifully done and I understood the importance of it, but it was hard to be the first person to play that because it, because people were expecting something else, you know, and I think that, you know, I sort of came on at the end taking my bow as slightly apologetically feeling like, oh god, I'm, you, I don't know what you think of my book, my character, but this is what I'm here to do, you know, this is what I've got to serve and it's a tricky one.

[27:08] Linzi Hateley: And also singing new songs, songs that we haven't heard before.

[27:11] William J Connolly: Yeah.

[27:12] Linzi Hateley: Which is a challenge. It's, you know, it's not easy particularly when people want specific songs which I can imagine again difficult isn't it because you're like great I've got new material, fresh material written essentially for you but at the same time it's new so therefore you have to sort of sell it to the audience.

[27:25] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, and I think there's just, there's a real mixed feeling about being the original guinea pig I always like to call it of a show because you do feel like that, you know, you are a bit of a pawn that you, that you know they're trying to get it right, they, you know, that they're trying to get all the cogs to work and it's, and it, and something like Mary Poppins is a massive feat to achieve and it got there in the end but I mean I saw it recently since it was back at the Prince Edward and now it really has found itself I think and I think that it, you know, it, it's become the show that it was trying to be, but I think, you know, it's always work in progress in the early days of a new show. It just is because there's so much to get right, and you can't get it all right straight away.

[28:12] Linzi Hateley: And I'm so glad that they cut those terrifying toys as well because that was quite an experience.

[28:18] William J Connolly: Oh dear.

[28:20] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, it was, I mean, I was, gosh, I think I was.

[28:24] William J Connolly: So you're about 12.

[28:25] Linzi Hateley: Oh, I literally was about to say I was about twelve.

[28:27] William J Connolly: Yeah, right.

[28:28] Linzi Hateley: Yeah, thank you. I was like 25, you know.

[28:30] William J Connolly: I'm only 25 now, so it can't be that.

[28:32] Linzi Hateley: It was quite funny how specific parts, of course, the flying was all always amazing, but it was just I think the Mary's line, Laura's line into it was just, um, was temper temper, literally as she shut the door, and you were like, this is sort of the thing that your parents joke about when you're a child. Like if you misbehave this will happen, and then it was actually happening on stage.

[28:52] William J Connolly: I know, people terrifying.

[28:53] Linzi Hateley: I think they probably did have a few letters saying I think this might be a little bit too much for the children.

[28:58] William J Connolly: Yeah, I definitely think they've changed it a little bit. I think it might even be a new song, maybe just to let's not have too many kids running and screaming.

[29:04] William J Connolly: Did you get flying envy from Laura?

[29:06] Linzi Hateley: Oh, always, always. I, in fact, I had general envy of everybody else other than me who was stuck in a course, it looked very, very nice. I mean, I did used to pass myself in the mirror and think, blimey Limbs, I've never seen you look so good. But, um, other than that, I think, you know, I sort of envied everybody else because they all seemed to be having a lot more fun than me.

[29:26] William J Connolly: You could do get literally one of my favourite songs though. It's the being Mrs. Banks reprise is just the best.

[29:30] Linzi Hateley: I'm just like it is, it is beautiful.

[29:33] William J Connolly: Yeah, it is beautiful.

[29:34] Linzi Hateley: And it's nice how they've done it now. Um, because I think it's better now. That again, it has a sort of bigger end to it that it wasn't done like that before.

[29:41] William J Connolly: Well, I'm gonna have to let you go in a second because you've not got too long before you're of course, back on the London Palladium stage this evening as the narrator. I guess for you, I know you've of course got quite a few shows still to come, but I guess this entire experience revolving all around Joseph and being back, you know, at the Palladium and getting to play this role for you. I guess if you think back to, or a couple of years later, shall we say, when you first did it through until now just one or two, one or maybe even three. I guess how would you sum up your entire Joseph experience?

[30:11] Linzi Hateley: Unbelievable. You know, I genuinely never would have dreamt 30 years ago that I would be back on the same theatre playing the same part. There's just, it just doesn't happen. You know, I can't think of any other part that I've played over the years that I, you know, I'd probably go back and play again. You know, we get older, we change, we do, we, it just, it's almost a impossibility. And for this to have happened is truly magical.

[30:40] William J Connolly: So Linzi Hateley as Eponine in 10 years' time. Are you up for it?

[30:42] Linzi Hateley: No.

[30:45] William J Connolly: Shall I even think about that?

[30:47] Linzi Hateley: That was very quick.

[30:48] William J Connolly: That was, wasn't even I'll talk to my agent.

[30:50] Linzi Hateley: That was a nah. No, no, like I say, I think I might retire after this one. I think, um, this is going to be hard to top.

[30:55] William J Connolly: Definitely your best of luck, and honestly, thank you so, so much for giving your time today. It's such an honour.

[31:00] Linzi Hateley: Oh, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure.

[31:05] William J Connolly: You've been listening to Eleven, the official theatre podcast. Find out more about Eleven at elevenpodcast.com or via the Broadway Podcast Network.