Interviews with some leading lights of musical theatre by Mark Shenton
Michael Ball | Elaine Paige | Linzi Hateley | Sally Ann Triplett
Sally Ann Triplett
On the journey from Eurovision to stage star
Sally Ann trained at Arts Educational School and previous West End credits include leading roles in Follies, Jolson and Cats. Most recently she led the cast of Anything Goes at the National Theatre and at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
What was your first big break?
'My first job was riding elephants in a circus, but that couldn't be described as a big break, although I could have broken something! But my first big break really was doing the Eurovision Song Contest. I've actually done it twice – the first time was with a three-boy, three-girl group called Prima Donna in 1980. We came third in the competition, but the single didn't do very well in the UK charts. I was still at Arts Ed then – I was in The Hague on Saturday night representing England, and at 9.30 on Monday morning I was back at jazz class in Golden Lane! Two years later, I did Eurovision again as part of a duo called Bardot, and it was mammoth and wonderful and we got to Number 2 in the charts. We were pop stars for a good nine months and did two other singles, but then it dwindled off.'
Why did you leave it behind and go for theatre instead?
'I remember sitting at home one day and thinking, "I went to college to do theatre work and I'm not doing it," so I bought The Stage. I didn't have an agent for years and years; I went up for an audition and I met a musical director, John Owen Edwards, who told me there was something happening in Leeds that he wanted me to sing for, and I got the lead role. It was called Alice, and Anthony Phillips – a founder member of Genesis – wrote the music and Nicholas Hytner directed it at Leeds Playhouse. It was his first musical! I discovered I liked working in the theatre, and I wanted to carry on.'
You've concentrated on theatre ever since. How has it been?
'I've stepped up the ladder sometimes half a step at a time, and maybe even just gone sideways – it's been very, very slow – but now that I'm here, I'm really proud of it! I'll never give up musicals – I've never done anything else. I've loved it and it probably shows when I'm in a good role. I've danced since I was three, and I like singing and acting, and you can do all three in musicals.'
