Sponsored by
I get a kick out of playing Reno
She was 'a mere slip of a girl' when she saw Elaine Paige play Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes, but the ambition to step into those dancing shoes has remained with her ever since - and next week it is to be fulfilled.
Jacqueline Willis, now 40, knew she would have 'a helluva lot of competition' when the Portsmouth Players were casting their production of the Cole Porter musical, and she is all the more delighted to have come through.
'I thought my age would count against me,' she says. 'But for me being a dancer, and someone who likes getting an audience to laugh, Reno is special.
'Most lead roles don't dance < ital>and< endital> act, and she gets to act with nearly everybody and do a song with nearly everybody - as well as having the comedy bits with Moonface Martin.
'And of course the music is lovely, with a lot of songs people know such as I Get A Kick Out Of You.'
Jacqueline points out that the musical set aboard a transatlantic liner is about as far from her most recent Players production, The Full Monty, as it is possible to get.
This reviewer wrote admiringly of her 'quirky self-absorption giving way to tender sincerity' there, and she says she loved it.
She had previously played the same role professionally at Stevenage, Herts, and says: 'It's one of my favourites.'
Another joy of both productions was that her son, Ben, was also in the cast. Now nearly 14, he might audition for the Artful Dodger in the Players' forthcoming Oliver!
Meanwhile Jacqueline is busy not only with her dancing school in Southsea but choreographing 'up and down the country - and her husband, Players stalwart Jack Edwards, is going from strength to strength in his professional acting career.
She says: 'I spent Christmas in Vienna with him and my birthday in Munich when he was in the European tour of The Rocky Horror Show, and now he's going into the West End in Sweet Charity with Tamzin Outhwaite.
'He hasn't stopped since he was in Guys And Dolls.'
Anything Goes will be at the Kings, Southsea, from Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.
Tickets: (023) 9282 8282 or kings-southsea.com.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
