A new musical version of the classic family tale, 101 Dalmatians, will take to the stage at Mayflower Theatre in Southampton from Tuesday 22 to Saturday 26 October 2024.
We spoke with Kym Marsh, who plays Cruella de Vil, ahead of her Southampton show.
From making her name as part of chart-toppers Hearsay, to her 13-year stint on Coronation Street and beyond, Kym Marsh has always seemed like one of our warmest, most approachable stars. But, now on stage, she’s tapping into her dark side, playing dog-murdering fashionista Cruella De Vil in a new UK tour of 101 Dalmatians The Musical.
“I enjoy playing [villainous] roles because they’re so far removed from me, so you have to really try and get into the head of that person,” she says. “Trying to get into the head of a person who wants to skin puppies to wear is especially alien to me because I’m such a huge dog lover! I’ve got two of my own, and I adore them.”
Cruella isn’t just any villain of course, she’s the most fabulous villain there is, and Kym can’t wait to get in front of an audience.
“I think people are going to absolutely love her,” she says. “The costumes are so brilliant, and when she walks on, she’s just in command of everything – she’s the most fun character ever.”
Best of all, Kym says, is her Cruella hair: of course, she will be sporting the character’s iconic black-and-white do.
“But there won’t be just one wig,” she says tantalisingly. “There’s going to be several changes and it’s not just what you expect from her. We’re like Cruella De Vil times ten!”
It’s not all just fun and games, though: for Kym, one of the big challenges of the role is getting back into singing mode again, after many years concentrating on other pursuits.
“If you don’t sing, you forget,” she says – pointing out that while she had a role in a touring production of Take That musical Greatest Days last year, she didn’t have a lot to sing. “There were no solos, and nothing hugely taxing. Whereas in this, I’ve got my own songs, and there’s a lot to learn.”
Kym rose to fame when she took part in Popstars, the ITV series in which she and four others were selected to be part of a new pop
group, Hearsay. It kicked off a new era of national-talking-point talent shows, paving the way for Pop Idol and The X Factor.
Looking back on it now, Kym says it was a “unique and very strange” time, but a great learning experience, because no-one had undergone anything quite like it before.
“We were guinea pigs and people were watching thinking ‘what’s going to happen now?’… People were very much waiting for us to fail, and every move we made, there was a comment about it. The press back then were very different to how they are now – they’re much more well behaved.”
Her subsequent transition into acting came about by accident, she says. After leaving Hearsay, and starting out on a solo career, she was dropped by her record label – and while pondering whether to go for another deal, she was offered the role of Annette in a West End production of Saturday Night Fever.
“Once I started to do that, I remembered my love of acting which I had as a teenager but had not pursued, because I felt like I could make money singing in pubs and clubs,” she says.
After a few small TV roles, she was then offered the role of Michelle Connor in Coronation Street, and was initially meant to appear in just four episodes – but Kym made such an impression, they asked her to come back and she became one of the soap’s best-loved characters.
“I never in a million years thought or expected [that was how things would go]. I’ve been very fortunate, as I’ve been given some amazing opportunities, and had a lot of people believe in me, even if I didn’t necessarily believe in myself.”
When we speak two weeks into rehearsals, Kym is simultaneously still filming the latest series of BBC school drama Waterloo Road, in which she plays canteen worker Nicky.
“Yesterday I was feeling quite overwhelmed with everything, thinking: what am I doing?,” she confesses. “But in a good way – I’m just going to end up living and breathing her for the next few weeks I think.
“One minute I’m serving chips and beans in the canteen at Waterloo Road, and the next thing, I’m [Cruella] wearing [pretend] giraffe skin.
“It’s a bizarre life I live!”
Tickets for 101 Dalmatians (Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 October 2024) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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