Jim Greenhalf talks to one of the stars of the musical Smokey Joe's Cafe, heading for the Alhambra next month.

"THEY'RE a bit fruity in Bradford, aren't they!" exclaimed Hannah Waddingham, and laughed like Joanna Lumley in Absolutely Fabulous.

The green-eyed, six feet two inches tall blonde wearing a frilly white dress, short at both ends, was posing with a tulip glass of champagne in a 26ft-long white Lincoln stretch limo, which was occupying most of the parking space outside the Stakis Hotel.

I felt a bit sorry for her, but not because of the wolf whistles. That morning she had left London in roasting heat to promote the forthcoming production of Smokey Joe's Caf at the Alhambra, optimistically assuming that 200 miles due north the weather would be as warm.

So there she was in her skimpy white Shimmy Girl number, shivering in Bradford's summer chill, waiting for the photographers to finish.

In all probability, it's an exercise she'll be repeating more than once during the next ten months of the award-winning Broadway show's tour of 40 British towns and cities.

Smokey Joe's Caf takes its name from a song by Leiber and Stoller. The show lasts two hours during which time the cast of nine, five women four men, sing and dance 38 of the hit-writing team's hottest hits, including Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock, and Stand By Me. One of the dozen songs which Hannah sings is Teach Me How to Shimmy. "It's a high energy show, the hallmark of American shows. There's no story line, no characters. I would say it's a musical revue of the songs of Leiber and Stoller," she said over a coffee inside the hotel. The white limo, hired for the afternoon, was supposed to symbolise the sexy glitz and glamour of the show.

Glitz and glamour have never been my cup of tea, nor has champagne come to that. But I do know that Leiber and Stoller's songs provided the heartbeat for the 1950s and early 1960s. Hannah was born in 1974, so had she any problem getting into them?

"I grew up with Rock and Roll because my dad (Harry, a marketing director) is a huge Elvis fan," she replied. Her mother's name, appropriately enough, is Melodie. She's an opera singer with the London Coliseum.

To make it in America an actor has to be adaptable. Frank Sinatra won an Oscar for his acting in From Here to Eternity. Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, John Travolta, and a host of others could all sing, dance and act.

This is not a tradition in Britain, which probably explains why Hannah Waddingham has never been out of work in the three years since she graduated from The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. In that time she's danced, sung, and acted. Her roles include Rosalind in As You Like It at the National Theatre.

"It's very unusual, but as long as you can act, dance and sing, there should be work for you somewhere. It works. I've got girlfriends who haven't worked for two years. There's an awful lot of luck," she said.

And an awful lot of disciplined training, again an American tradition.

"To make it look as though you're not putting any effort in is very difficult. I try to emulate that American energy. You've eight shows a week and you've got to do each one as though you've never done it before.

"I love music, I love dancing. When I hear the overture I turn on, no matter what I've been feeling like when I arrive at the theatre. It's discipline. If you catch one person's eye and they are not smiling you've not done your job properly. You have to pretend that there's always someone watching you."

What rigours or routine does she impose on herself to be the soul of life on stage?

"Lots of sleep. I'm an ogre if I miss my sleep. Lots of water for your voice. Before every show I do a half-hour physical and vocal warm-up.

"I don't go in for diets because if I am not eating what I want I would not be happy. I don't go to the gym or anything like that because once I do a show my weight drops. You have to be responsible for your own well-being," she said.

To date the longest show in her repertoire, Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, ran for nine months at London's The Queen's Theatre. From next month, when the tour opens in Sheffield before rolling into Bradford, she'll be on the move week after week. What is that going to mean for her life?

"It means my boyfriend Simon is going to have to spend a lot of money on petrol," she said, and laughed again like Joanna Lumley.

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