UK Theatre Network

Her posthumous success astonished the feverishly competitive world of pop music. Indeed, Eva Cassidy’s story is so extraordinary that it now forms the basis of a compelling musical play, starring Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jane Buckley as the talented song stylist. She tells UK THEATRE NETWORK all about it.

Eva Cassidy’s success is more than she could ever have dreamed of – and, sadly, it’s a success she never lived to see. The wonderfully talented and spiritual song stylist died of skin cancer when she was in the prime of her life, at just 33 years old.

By the time of her death, in 1996, she was unknown outside her native Washington DC but, within four years, Terry Wogan had discovered and promoted her haunting interpretation of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ to the British public. A camcorder recording of Eva performing the song at the Blues Alley jazz club was shown on the BBC’s ‘Top of The Pops 2’ and, subsequently, sales of her album ‘Songbird’ outstripped top stars including Madonna, Craig David and Robbie Williams.

‘To play Eva Cassidy is quite simply the role of a lifetime,’ says Sarah Jane Buckley, who is starring in the award-winning ‘Over The Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story’. Since its first performance, in 2004, the show has wowed audiences all over Europe and received standing ovations from sell-out audiences throughout the UK and Ireland. In taking on the role of Eva, Sarah Jane follows in the footsteps of some other high profile performers including Carmen Cusack, Nicole Faraday, Zoe Tyler and Faye Tozer.

‘It’s now become one of the most fabulous female roles in musical theatre,’ states Sarah Jane. ‘To sing 24 songs a night, in a lead role, is phenomenally rare and I don’t think it happens in many other shows. I’m on stage constantly and the acting element is as important as the singing. It’s incredibly challenging.’

When she discovered she’d won the role of Eva, Sarah Jane spent months studying Eva’s performance and techniques to ensure that she would bring authenticity to the part.

‘When she sang, Eva breathed in a different place from a normal singer so when she took a breath it kind of coincided with where she took a chord. That’s why her songs are so different, with that breathiness and very individual style of singing, which was amazing to have to copy. She had an incredible gift.’

Many will associate Sarah Jane with her role as crazy Kathy Barnes in ‘Hollyoaks’, but she actually began her career as a singer.

‘Singing has been my bread and butter for a long time,’ she says.

Indeed, she made her first television appearance, at the age of 17, singing on an ITV talent show, ‘Scramble’, hosted by Richard and Judy. She went on to train at The Guildford School of Acting and, upon graduating, entered the world of musical theatre to play roles in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ and ‘Elvis The Musical’.

Sarah Jane went on to form a cabaret duo called The Polka Dots, alongside fellow actress Jo Michaels, and for six years they travelled the world with comedians and artistes including The Chuckle Brothers and Joe Pasquale.

‘In the past, I’ve always sang as myself,’ says Sarah Jane. ‘This is the first time I’ve had to perform as someone as vocally iconic as Eva Cassidy, The thing is, because there’s very little footage of her on the internet, you don’t really see her visually.’

This sad, but uplifting musical play journeys her life – from her idyllic childhood growing up in a musical family, to her studio work with boyfriend and mentor Chris Biondo, to the exuberant live recordings of Blues Alley and, finally, to her tragically premature death.

‘Stephen Leatherland, the producer and director, has done a lot of research into her life and he went over to America to meet some of her family members. He has been very instrumental in directing me in how to behave like Eva. She was incredibly shy and actually preferred recording to performing in front of an audience.’

Sarah Jane admits that she was already a fan of Eva Cassidy’s music before she was even offered the role in ‘Over The Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story’, and she explains that accepting the role was not a difficult choice at all.

‘There was no contest, really. To be offered the chance to play her was amazing and I was absolutely thrilled. It’s such a tough role and I finish each show absolutely exhausted because it’s such a heartbreaking story. It takes you on a very emotional journey, but there’s also lots of happiness to the show. I guess it’s a celebration of her music as well as a tribute to her life.’

FACTFILE

·         Eva is the only female artist to have 3 consecutive posthumous number one albums

·         As a performer, she probably did no more than 80-100 gigs – many of which had audiences of around only 30 people

·         She had an all-consuming love of nature, valuing all forms of life – be it animal or plant – as sacrosanct

·         Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK with over 70,000 new cases registered every year

·         In 2002, after the release of a television documentary, she had 5 albums in the Norwegian charts and at the same time enjoyed similar success in neighbouring Sweden. Her popularity continues to spread across Europe, Australia, Iceland and Canada.

·       Tour Details

·        January 2012

·         26^th                        Camberley Theatre

·         27^th&28^th           Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre

·         30^th                        Milton Keynes Theatre

·         31^st                          Swansea Grand Theatre

·        February 2012

·         1^st&2^nd                   Worcester Swan Theatre

·         3^rd&4^th                   Darlington Civic Theatre

·         6^th-8^th                    Motherwell Theatre

·         10^th                        Derby Assembly Rooms

·         11^th                        Wellingborough, The Castle Theatre

·         12^th                        Richmond Theatre

·         13^th                        Leamington Spa Centre

·         14^th                        York Grand Opera House

·         17^th                        Worthing Pavilion Theatre

·         18^th                        Crawley Hawth Theatre

·         22^nd&23^rd           Winchester Theatre Royal

·         24^th                        Exmouth Pavilion Theatre

·         25^th                        Chatham Central Theatre

·         28^th                        Edmonton Millfield Theatre

·         29^th                        Bradford St George’s Hall

·        March 2012

·         1^st                          Yeovil Octagon Theatre

·         2^nd&3^rd                   Mansfield Palace Theatre

·         4^th                         Glasgow Theatre Royal

·         5^th-7^th                    Shrewsbury Theatre Severn

·         8^th                         Rotherham Civic Theatre

·         11^th                        Manchester Opera House

·         13^th                        Chesham Elgiva Theatre

·         14^th-16^th                 Colchester Mercury Theatre

·         17^th                        Lowestoft Marina Theatre

·         18^th                        Scarborough Spa Theatre

Over The Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story

Interview with Sarah Jane Buckley

Best known for playing Crazy Cathy Barnes in Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks and as the face of the Prince's Trust. Sarah Jane Buckley returns to the stage this Autumn in Theatre Productions seventh UK tour of Over the Rainbow, “a compelling award-winning musical telling the life story of the legendary Eva Cassidy. Following her life through dramatic scenes and stunning live renditions of her most infamous songs, Over the Rainbow is a haunting ode to one of music’s forgotten greats. This Award Winning Show has received plaudits from the Eva Cassidy Band, members of the Cassidy family and contains projection and original footage from Eva’s life.”  http://www.theatre-productions.com/

So how are you portraying the different stages of her life?

I played her last year, I listen to her music, it's a real challenge to be identical, as a singer to someone but you can always get away with adults playing kids, like in Blood Brothers. It's quite a challenging role, 25 odd songs, continuous music, lots of scenes, it's a big role let me tell you. There are 10 or so people, musicians and actors playing different parts. Maureen Nolan is playing my mum, Brian Fortuna from Strictly Come Dancing is playing my brother. When I played it last year, I took over from Zoe Tyler. We went from one end of the country to the other, from Aberdeen to the South Coast! Trying to get people into theatre, that's my passion.

How can you make a career out of theatre in the current financial climate?

Financially, it's a very tough career, a lot of my friends have dropped out. I do workshops for TV as well. If you're asking, should you do it? You shouldn't do it. If you have no choice in your soul, then you should do it. The highs are fabulous and the lows are tough. It has to be your passion, if you make a living out of it that doesn't really matter. You do it for the love of it.

When do you start rehearsals?

In about 2 weeks, they're very short, only 2 weeks. Last time I did a 6 week run, but the tours been going for 6 years. It's been very well received and very well attended. People love her music, they love Eva's beautiful voice, it's so instinctual. Unfortunately she was only really discovered posthumously. That makes it slightly easier to act as there's not much footage on the internet. She was incredibly shy, she didn't like performing.

How did you deal with the issue of making a musical about someone not interested in fame and fortune?

The directors always telling me to look down, a bit lady Diana-esque. No tits and teeth, here!

What songs will you be performing?

All the old favourites, Over The Rainbow, Times A Healer, a fantastic arrangement of Stormy Monday. She covered so many songs. She covered Imagine. She didn't really do any of her own original tunes, she only did a couple of her own songs. She died so young that she didn't really have time. She may have written some, but never released them, Golden Time I think one was called.

How was she discovered?

She used to go out gigging with a band, she did the local gigging circuit, she could have been an artist, she was a great artist and loved to paint, loved nature. It is referred to in the story. In the UK she was discovered by Terry Wogan. She was never married, but she had a relationship with Chris Biondo and even though they spilt up halfway through her life, he supported her all the way through her Chemotherapy till she died from Cancer, she was only 33.

Anything else you'd like to add?

The production's amazing, its fabulous theatre, although its heart wrenching. Please support live theatre, escape from the TV, escape from the DVDs, see real people doing acting. It's hard to imagine what theatres like if you haven't seen it, so come and support live theatre.  


Over the Rainbow – The Eva Cassidy Story opens on 3 September 2011 at St Helen's Theatre Royal. See below for further details. 

http://www.theatre-productions.com/shows/Over_The_Rainbow/dates/